Lights Cameron Action

Cam Newton put on a show in his NFL debut.  Much to the dismay of all the naysayers out there.  Throwing for 422 yards and 2 touchdowns including a rushing TD.  The two touchdowns going to the reawakened Steve Smith.  Unfortunately it was in a defeat of the Phoenix Cardinals who were debuting a new look at the quarterback position as well, with Kevin Kolb taking the helm and guiding the Cardinals to their first win of the season.

The only thing that would have been sweeter would have been a win, but I'll take it. As a Cam Newton fan for more than a year now, I think the Panthers are pretty Lucky that a certain quarterback stayed in school.

Cam's next test is going to be a fierce one when the Super Champion Packers come to Charlotte for the Panthers home opener.  At least Cam will have a few more believers in the stands.

I Heart Russell Wilson....even as a Badger

Russell put on quite a show for everyone tonight against New Mexico.  He threw for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns including a 40 yard scamper for touchdown.  For NC State fans it was bittersweet, what might have been had he stayed in Raleigh for his senior season.  Now he has a new following in the Wisconsin faithful.  I respect Tom O'Brien's decision to move on with the program but certain players deserve special accommodations especially if they have earned it and Russell definitely did.  Needless to say, I'm happy for him but he will always be a member of the Pack.

Best of Luck Russell, go win the effing Heisman and a National Title.  I know I'll be watching.

Cam must make faster reads

Cam Newton says he knows where to go with the football.

He just needs to get it there faster.

Newton will make his second consecutive preseason start Thursday at Cincinnati and is considered the favorite to be the starting quarterback when the Panthers open Sept. 11 at Arizona.

In his first two preseason games, Newton has done a good job getting the ball to his tight ends. But he's only completed two passes to wideouts – both to Armanti Edwards – and has yet to convert a third down.

Newton, the No. 1 overall pick, said reading defenses is his biggest area for improvement.

“You've got to get in the reads faster and quicker. I'm getting to the right places, but this is the NFL,” Newton said today. “Even though you're in the right place, the longer you're stuck on your reads, meaning the longer you take on making that throw, the longer the defense has to catch up.

“If defensive backs are beat, they have time to get back. Some of them may bat it down. The great ones may pick it.”

Newton has not been intercepted in the two exhibitions. But he's looked uncomfortable in the pocket at times, and has struggled with his accuracy – particularly on deep outs.

But he should be helped this week with the return of veteran wideoutSteve Smith, who missed the first two preseason games. Smith and Newton worked out privately during the lockout, and stayed late after Monday's practice for a throwing session that receiver Legedu Naanee also attended.

In other news …

--Right tackle Jeff Otah (knee) sat out after participating in a limited basis Monday. Otah has been dealing with swelling in his surgically repaired left knee.

--Middle linebacker Jon Beason (Achilles tendinitis) remains out. Panthers coach Ron Rivera gave no timetable on his return.

--Rivera said the team is waiting to see how offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz's hip responds to an injection he received within the past week.

--Joseph Person

Don't buy into Randy Moss' retirement

I might believe that Randy Moss(notes) is retiring, except I know this is the move of someone behaving like a petulant child.

Over the past five days, Moss has been told by not one, but two teams that they preferred someone else over him. In both cases, it was someone Moss thought he was better than. When the New England Patriots traded for Chad Ochocinco(notes) and the New York Jets signed Plaxico Burress(notes), Moss decided to take his Hall-of-Fame talent and go home.

Never mind that plenty of teams around the league think Moss has something left in the tank and could be helpful to their cause, they weren’t the right teams for Moss. He either wanted to go back to the Patriots – a proposition that one source close to Moss said was still alive last week – or go to New York, where he could play for coach Rex Ryan and make a last push for some post-career marketing dollars. A Patriots deal has always seemed like a creation of Moss’ imagination, as if his dissing of the owner and his laconic play were suddenly going to be forgiven.

The rumor of Moss to the Jets, however, seemed to have legs, fed by Ryan’s willingness to embrace rogue characters. For the first few days of free agency, Moss sat quietly as the Jets signed wideout Santonio Holmes(notes) and flirted with star cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha(notes). Sure, those guys were big-ticket items, but when the Jets signed Burress, Moss went into serious malfunction. Yeah, he may not have played well last year, but Burress hadn’t played at all in two years. You couldn’t even justify age as a difference. Moss is only six months older than Burress.

The problem is that Moss is no longer the guy who can toss napalm around a locker room and still play on Sunday. His talent doesn’t outweigh the drama anymore. Both the Patriots and Minnesota Vikings told Moss that last season. He ended up playing out the string with Tennessee, reduced to a footnote as Vince Young’s(notes) career imploded.

This offseason, agent Joel Segal tried to spread the gospel that Moss was working out harder than ever to prove he still had plenty left in the tank. Yet, less than a week into free agency, Moss “has weighed his options and considered the offers and has decided to retire,” as Segal said Monday.

Sure, and I have weighed my options and decided that I should be in People’s 50 Most Beautiful this year.

In three weeks, when Moss gets bored and annoyed that nobody is all that broken up about his retirement, he’ll return. That’s my bet, although I hope I’m wrong. I hope Moss really tells the NFL to shove it and disappears from public view, not even coming up for air when he gets voted into the Hall of Fame.

I say that not because I find Moss annoying. Quite the contrary, for when Moss is playing well he is one of the greatest shows in the history of the game, a legacy worth preserving. Here’s a stat few people pay much attention to: In 11 of Moss’ first 12 seasons, he had at least one catch of 60 yards or longer. In the one season (2006) he didn’t, he had a 51-yard long. Jerry Rice did that in nine of his first 10 years. Bob Hayes, the original deep threat, did it in six of his first seven. Don Hutson did that six times in 11 years. Lance Alworth did it in each of his first nine seasons, then never again.

Ochocinco? Five times in 10 years. Burress? Three times in nine.

The point: Moss is the greatest deep threat in the history of the game and it’s not even close. Longtime NFL cornerback Al Harris(notes) once laughed about what kind of routes Moss used to run.

“Randy doesn’t run any routes, he either runs deep or he runs a crossing pattern,” Harris said. “What Randy does is try to lull you to sleep. He’ll run at different speeds sometimes to make you think he’s part of the play or not part of the play. Then, when he thinks he has you, he just runs past you.”

Of course, a lot of people missed that fact, believing that Moss was a malingerer. That’s a misinterpretation. Sure, Moss was difficult to deal with at times. He quit on the Oakland Raiders when he got tired of coach Norv Turner’s weakness in the face of Al Davis. He was a jerk in two spots last year and basically ended up wasting a year of his career.

But for most of his 13 seasons, Moss was one of those rare guys who was simply better than everybody else. He was a freak, a physical marvel. If not for a miracle catch by David Tyree(notes) in Super Bowl XLII, Moss would have helped New England go undefeated. Instead of railing against him as a malcontent, we would be talking about who’s going into the Hall with him.

Instead, Moss is now a caricature, a guy who isn’t worth the annoyance at this point. As much as he’d like you to believe he’s going out on his own terms, he’s not. Furthermore, he’s probably not going out at all.

Just give it a few weeks.

Report by Jason Cole

NC State Recruit Tyler Lewis headed to Oak Hill

N.C. State basketball recruit Tyler Lewis is taking a step up in competition. Lewis, one of the top point guard prospects in the country, will finish his prep career at Oak Hill Academy.

Lewis, who will be a high school senior, averaged 27.2 points and 7.4 assists last season for Forsyth Country Day in Lewisville.

Lewis, who started as an eighth-grader at Forsyth Country Day, dominated the private-school league and leaves as the school's career leading scorer with 1,927 points.

He joins the perennial prep power in Mouth of Wilson, Va., which counts ACC guards Nolan Smith (Duke), Ty Lawson (UNC), Steve Blake (Maryland) among its litany of stars in the past 25 years.

"You want to play against the best competition," Lewis said. "I think it's the best thing for me to get ready for N.C. State."

ESPN's Dave Telep rates Lewis, a 5-11 point guard, as the 73rd-best prospect in the class of 2012. He joins top prospects Jarnell Stokes (ranked No. 18 by ESPN), D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (32) and A.J. Hammons (63) in the Oak Hill lineup.

Lewis, who committed to State last October, was one of the best players at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in Raleigh in May and has seen his stock rise on the recruiting circuit with a strong spring and summer.

"He will go down as arguably the greatest basketball player in [school] history and his efforts on the court will be hard to duplicate," Forsyth coach Craig Dawson said.

-- J.P. Giglio

Read more: http://aboverim.blogspot.com/2011/07/nc-state-basketball-recruit-headed-to.html#ixzz1TEPjacrp

After losing Nate Irving to the NFL, Pack Defense still tough

With Nate Irving, N.C. State's defense made significant improvement last season.

Without Irving, N.C. State doesn't plan to revert to its subpar 2009 form, senior linebacker Audie Cole said.  "I think we'll be all right without him," Cole said Sunday at the ACC Kickoff.

The Wolfpack's revitalized defense created more turnovers and gave up fewer points during 2010, a combination which helped it win nine games. The defense made a significant jump statistically in points allowed (99th in the NCAA to 29th), takeaways (116th to 18th) and sacks (53rd to fourth).

At the heart of the defense, at middle linebacker, was Irving, who led the team in tackles for loss (21.5) and sacks (7.0) and was second in tackles (92). Irving, an All-ACC selection and third-round pick of the Denver Broncos, had missed the previous season because of injuries suffered in a car accident.

N.C. State's defense was young, inexperienced and often out of position during a difficult 5-7 season in 2009.  The group of Cole, linebacker Terrell Manning, safeties Brandan Bishop and Earl Wolff, cornerback C.J. Wilson and defensive tackle J.R. Sweezy learned from its mistakes and grew up last season.  N.C. State's 41 sacks ranked fourth in the country and its 29 takeaways was 18th. The Wolfpack shaved almost 10 points a game off its average down to 21.3.  Irving's return was a catalyst for the improvement but not the only reason.

"Nate was a big playmaker and he always found himself in the right place," Cole said. "He obviously helped us last year, and we probably wouldn't have been as good last year without Nate. But I think this year with our experience, we're going to be just fine." Cole, who third on the team in tackles with 86 last season, is one of eight returning starters on defense. He will slide over from outside linebacker to the middle to replace Irving.

Irving made the same transition last year from the outside slot to the inside. "It's not that big of a change for me," Cole said. "It's not like I had to re-learn everything."  Cole expects his production to improve during his senior season if only because he won't be playing with a cast. He broke his right hand against Florida State last season and then re-broke during the final four games. He had to wear the cast through the bowl win against West Virginia and for more than three months.  Cole now is cast-free and ready to get back to tackling with two good hands.  "It wasn't a fun time," he said.

While not as instinctual as Irving, Cole flourished under linebackers coach Jon Tenuta last season with five sacks. He led the Wolfpack in tackles as a sophomore with 85 during Irving's absence in '09.  "He's going to fill Nate's role perfectly," senior tight end George Bryan said. "I don't think we'll miss a beat."

Report by J.P. Giglio

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/07/24/2479561/nc-state-feels-it-has-the-tools.html#ixzz1T8bAQBWC

Gottfried: "We've got a long way to go"

So much for optimism, Mark Gottfried addressed the media on Tuesday about the prospects for the NC State Basketball team's chances in the upcoming 2011-2012 season.  I have to give it to him, he is a realist which is refreshing and brutally honest. As a State fan, we try to look for any sense of optimism with our struggling sports programs.  Gottfired did his part to squash any sort of of good feelings in the air.

The Wolfpack return four of their top six scorers from last year. With Sidney's last great class down to Leslie and Brown after Ryan Harrow was dismissed for not showing up to spring workouts.  Richard Howell has made great strides this summer by dropping 20 pounds.  Gottfried and his staff added late recruit freshamn forward Thomas de Thaey and transfer guard Alex Johnson.

With the onset of Gottfried's debut season, there are still many questions to be answered.  Will C.J. Leslie live up to his potential? Will Lorenzo prove to be the point guard we've been looking for more than a decade or more?   Will the newcomers come in and immediately produce?  If all these questions are answered, I think the Wolfpack can get back to the top of the heap in the ACC but only time will tell.  

Goodbye Sidney

NC. State Men's Basketball coach, Sidney Lowe resigned on Tuesday.  Lowe succombed to five subpar years in the ACC.  I respect Sidney for trying but it just didn't workout.  I wish you the best.  .......
Finally....We can start winning again! I compared Sidney to Chuck "the Chest" Amato, they were both great recruiters but they came up a little short on the play calling side of the game.  I hope Debbie is calling Sean Miller and Brad Stevens right now.  It would be a perfect fit for Sean, a wolfpack alum.  He's family tradition runs deep in Raleigh, it would be the dream job.  Even though Zona is a pretty sweet gig.  If we can't get Sean.  I would lean on Brad Stevens at Butler, he is one of the youngest and brightest coaches in the NCAA.  After taking his Bulldogs to the national tile game last season only to come with in inches of being crowned champions.  Choose wisely Debbie and make it rain.

Chipper Jones takes swing at critics - MLB - Baseball - Rumors - FanNation

Chipper Jones takes swing at critics - MLB - Baseball - Rumors - FanNation

Bobcats continue to give away their best player(s)

In the past six months, the Bobcats gave away three of their best four players (Ray Felton, Gerald Wallace and Tyson Chandler) with two first-round picks to show for it: New Orleans' 2011 first-rounder (in the 20s) and Portland's 2011 first-rounder (ditto). That's a catastrophe. Even worse, you can't totally blame them: Nobody goes to their games, nobody watches them, and if they can't compete for a title, what's the sense of competing at all?

Carolina stands tall in Backyard Brawl

The Wolfpack did what I thought they were going to do last night.  They lost to #19 Carolina at the RBC Center.  The Backyard Brawl was actually a dogfight until the last 4 minutes of the second half when Carolina shut the door with a 10-2 run including 2 putback jams by preseason All-American Harrison Barnes.  It was a tough game to watch for Wolfpack fans as the pack watched a 10 point lead dwindle to a 2 point deficit at the half.  Along with a four minute stretch where the pack could not find the bucket when the game hung in the balance,  Sidney Lowe's game plan of forcing the ball into Tracy Smith only works when he's one on one.  It's ineffective against a zone with the league's leading shotblocker John Henson and 7 footer Tyler Zeller, especially when Smith is only 6'8".  The Wolfpack could have used Smith as a decoy.  They could have thrown it down to Smith then have Scottie Wood on the backside wing waiting for Smith to kick it out for the wide open three.  It also didn't help the Wolfpack's cause when freshman Ryan Harrow had a 3 on 1 break with CJ Leslie streaking down the middle of the floor but instead turned the ball over to Kendall Marshall of the Heels with a little over 2 minutes left and the Wolfpack down by 5.  These are the little things that determine the wins and losses and more often than not this season the Wolfpack has been on the losing end.

The Case for CJ Leslie Frosh of the Year in the ACC

CJ Leslie is the Freshman of the Year.  Ever since coach Lowe suspended CJ Leslie for unspecified team rules, he has played like a man possessed.  CJ lead the way in a blowout against Wake including 5 showtime dunks.  On Wednesday against Clemson, he did a little of everything, dropping 18 points including 11 boards and a few blocks.  Not to mention, hitting a couple threes to keep the Pack in it early in the first half.
These are the facts, he's third among freshmen in scoring, first in rebounding(top ten in the ACC), and first in block shots.  If the Freshman of the Year award goes to the best all around player, its CJ Leslie hands down.  Even though, he plays on the second worst team in the ACC.  There's not much else this freshman can do to help the Wolfpack win.  His high-level of play is the main reason for NC State's 2-game winning streak.  Let's see if he can keep it up the rest of the season.

I vote for CJ Leslie

A Tribute to the Birthday Boy

It’s Time To Back The Bobbies

(Quick points about the curious case of the Charlotte Bobcats)

As we enter the All-Star break, one has to wonder where our season goes from here. We’re nipping at the heels of the eighth playoff spot. The exact same position we took last year and failed to win A game against the Magic. Not to mention, we have injuries to the point where I struggled to find a uniform on the bench as we lost to the Bulls last night. Also, my man Steve Martin had a call when Stephen Jackson got taken out of the game early on that went something like this “Jack-off the floor”. He said nothing before that and put the two words together so quickly that it was not great to hear. Now, I may be a bit immature but come on, that’s a miscue. With all that said, it is tough to be a fan, but I still am.

I see things differently with the squad we have. I can feel a new buzz around the arena, the players play extremely hard for Silas, we have young athletic talent that is fun to watch, and at times it feels as if you’re watching a block party on the defensive end.
Shaun Livingston is by far and away my favorite player. Yes, that’s right. A 6-7 PG who is still young and is just now living up to his projected talent straight out of high school. He can handle the rock, bury the mid range jumper, post any guard in the league, and he brings excitement to the crowd. In my opinion, he’s a microcosm of where we’re headed as a franchise. We actually look like a team who plays for our coach and one another (Sorry Larry). We are truly exciting to watch. Whether it is Shaun ballin’, Jack getting T’d, or us swatting away shots, we have that (most over used word) “swag” about us. And that’s exactly what it’s going to take to bring playoff basketball to Charlotte.
If we could get the fans involved we might have something here. Let’s rally behind this ball team! The Hornets are gone…get over it…we have MJ there just about every night…Our arena is top notch…We are fun to watch…who in the hell wants to hear about the Panthers or the NFL bargaining agreement anymore and Hockey’s just not for us and minor league at that.
So, “Get on your feet…and greet…your Charlotte Bobcats.” If we can pack TWC out we will win more games, it would help businesses downtown, we would have at least one respectable franchise in Charlotte, but most of all…it would breathe a new sense of pride into the QC. I, for one, would love that!
We’ve needed Charlotte before, now Charlotte needs us.
“It’s Time To Back The Bobbies”

J.J. Hickson HUGE block on Blake Griffin's dunk (Feb. 11, 2011)

How bout them Bobbies

The Charlotte Bobcats handed the LA Lakers their worst loss in five years. Running their dominance of the defending champs to 8-3 in last 11 games.  Gerald Wallace had a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds.  With the help of his teammates, Gerald shutdown the league's most dominant scorer, Kobe Bryant.  Bryant who was coming off the flu, was held to 20 points.
The Bobcats match up well against Kobe and the Lakers because we have a plethora of small forwards on this team. With the other Gerald (Henderson) coming into his one as of late, we used that depth to wear down Kobe and give every Bobcat fan a nice valentine with a smack down of the Lakers.

Keep it up Bobbies!

Happy V-day from MJ

Great article about the Wolfpack BBall troubles

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14667646/nc-state-fans-must-realize-theyre-the-ugly-duckling

Sidney Lowe needs to go

After an impressive recruiting class this year, the wolfpack fan base had high hopes for this young squad.  Especially after opening up conference play with a beatdown of Wake. I thought we were off and running but after going 1-7 the rest of the way, with embarassing losses to in-state rivals, if we can call them that, this season looks destined to finish at the bottom of the ACC.  Unless Sidney pulls his conference tourney magic and goes on a run.  I think this is the end of the Sidney Lowe experiment.  When you hire a coach with very little coaching experience on the college level, you're betting on hunch and unfortunately for wolfpack nation this has not worked out in our favor. It sickens me as a wolfpack fan to watch UNC-Duke have all this success in basketball, because it was the pack that was the standard of ACC basketball way back when we had David Thompson and Tom Burleson run the show.  College athletic success is built on great coaching just look at the Everett Case, Norm Sloan and the Jimmy V eras.  Nothing but success, don't get me wrong I'm a fan of Sidney but as a player not as a coach.  Debbie its time to make a move.