Friday, October 30, 2009

Panthers have found the answer

 The Carolina Panthers discovered the answer to their offensive problems two weeks ago, but they seemed to have forgotten it this week in Buffalo. A running  game helped carry them to victory against the Redskins, but Sunday they seemed determined to trust Jake Delhomme’s arm when offense was needed the most. He disappointed the team again, and it is time for somebody to be responsible for the results.
John Fox said this week Delhomme continues to be the best quarterback on his team. That is a sad statement on football in Charlotte, if it is true. It also explains the offensive game plan he has used in recent weeks. He at least has a reason for his madness. Maybe his quarterback isn’t the only one who needs replacement.
There comes a time in most great coaching relationships when separation is inevitable. It happened in recent years with Joe Torre and the Yankees. It happened to North Carolina’s Dean Smith when he knew he had to leave the team that made him a legend.
It is now happening with Coach Fox, though he is not in the same league with Torre or Smith.
There is no doubt Fox is going to go down in Panthers history. He led the team to a Super Bowl after all. He came within seconds of beating the Patriots in the big game in  one of the greatest fourth quarter performances in Super Bowl history.
Those days are in the past. It is time for him to step aside to make room for the next step in the Panthers history. He should do so with dignity before the team is forced to embarrass him with a dismissal. That would be a sad end to what has been a relatively happy story. 
The Delhomme situation is complicated. There may or may not be anyone better, but it is hard to imagine anyone worse. The best offense for the Panthers this year has been when Delhomme hands the ball off instead of passing it. When a ball leaves his hand in the air, it seems just as likely to end up in the hands of a defensive back as it does in those of a Panthers receiver. He has the not-so-great distinction of being the most intercepted quarterback in the league this year. He will not want to remember that when the season is over. Delhomme’s best days are behind him, and it is time the Panthers' organization deals with the reality. That goes all the way to the general manager’s office, where they need to find a draft choice to fill the shoes of the team leader.
All the blame for a disappointing season so far can’t go on the quarterback. Julius Peppers has hardly lived up to his franchise player status. Also,it was a fumbled punt last week that denied the Panthers a shot at a come back. 
A team effort is required to win games, and it takes a team effort to lose. Carolina needs good leadership and right now they aren’t getting it, either from the coach or the quarterback.
One or both of those situations needs to be addressed so the team can move forward

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Umps and instant replay

I don't fault the umpires who made some of the worst calls in recent memory in this years baseball postseason. It happens to the best of us.
What I do fault is McLelland after he missed an obvious out at third. He admitted his mistake, kudos for that. He then went on to say something to the effect of- if there was no instant replay it would have been a better situation.
I do not think baseball needs instant replay. At the same time lets not blame the system of showing fans plays after the happen.
You screwed up, again it happens, umpires are human believe it or not and they will mistakes. This year it just seems they are more prevalent than usual

Friday, October 23, 2009

Coaches at Crossroads of Careers

There is a reason ESPN picked the game between the University of North Carolina and Florida State to be its national game of the week Thursday. It looked like a battle between two of the nation's all-time great coaches and that is what it turned out to be. It was also a battle of two coaches in similar situations. Times are  different now for Bobby Bowden and  Butch Davis. Now, one is trying to hang on to a hall of fame-like legacy, and the other is trying to figure out where his career is going.

 One would never have thought the words fire and Bobby Bowden would have been in the same sentence. He has, after all, won more games than any other coach in college football history. Still, some in Atlantic Coast Conference circles are saying it is time to make a change. Funny how sitting in last place changes people’s perspective.

There are a lot of absurd things that seem to surface in the world of sports from time to time, but none more so than the idea of firing Bobby Bowden.

There is likely no one in Florida with the fortitude to pull that off. Last place this year doesn't replace years of first place finishes and national championship games. Seeing teams ahead of them this year doesn’t change the fact his rear view mirror has been full almost every year he has been in the league. Coach Bowden should stay as long as he wants.

Then there is the case of North Carolina’s Butch Davis. When he came to

Chapel Hill, there were some, including me, who thought the football program would soon be on the same level as Roy Williams' Tar Heel basketball dynasty. Bowl championship competition seemed to be on the horizon. So successful at Miami, and with pro experience, Coach Davis seemed to be in another class of coach from previous leaders.

It just hasn't worked out that way. The team has been respectable, and pretty good at times. Last night they showed that in the first three quarters until the defense fell apart. On many days Coach Davis has struggled to establish his identity in Kenan Stadium and his future is, like Bowden's, a little murky.

Last night was important for both coaches.  For Coach Bowden it was basically a no win situation. If the Seminoles won, the critics will say they were supposed to and the coach won't receive a lot of credit for it.

Coach Davis had something to gain. Beating Florida State is an accomplishment, on any day, no matter what kind of year they are having. Tarheel fans are faithful ones and will give their team another chance.

The game of the week was a great one but it was not between two teams in the bowl championship hunt. It was instead one with two great coaches at a crossroads of  their careers  in very disappointing seasons.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Where's the Defense?

10/16 Corner

Mom Has A

Question For Pack

Coach Tom O’Brien, my mom has a question for you, Where is the defense?

She asked that some time in the third quarter as we watched the N.C. State vs. Duke game Saturday, along with 50,000 other people in Carter-Finely stadium. It was right after a touchdown that was part of one of the Wolfpack’s worst losses in recent memory. It was a legitimate one a staff will spend hours studying this week.

When Coach O’Brien watches the game films he won’t be able to answer the question. He won’t be able to find his defense on the field.

Literally, they were standing there but apparently they weren’t doing much more than that. Missed tackles, blown coverages and simple breakdowns made the team simply look bad. Perhaps the quote of the day that best describes the day came from Duke quarterback Thad Lewis. On one of the post game interview shows he made the comment that he was able to toss the ball around pretty much the way he wanted to.

That sums up his day and that of the North Carolina State defense. There were blue streaks flying through the North Carolina State secondary from the moment after the initial kickoff and Lewis simply had to find them.

On most plays he had his choice of which one he wanted to throw to, with little worry of any disruption from the Wolfpack defense. He had plenty of time on almost every play because State rushers left him alone almost all day long.

It is not often I say I am embarrassed for a team but that was the case Saturday.

It is not often a team is beaten as badly, in such a surprisingly easy way, as State was.

The offense kept pace with the Duke offense early on but Russell Wilson could only carry the team so far on his legs. This team depends on him for more than he can deliver and that became obvious Saturday.

It might be a little more expected if it was Virginia Tech putting the beat down on the boys in red. Even Carolina would have been more acceptable than the Blue Devils. It was, simply put, a bad day to be a Wolfpack fan.

Things dawned a little brighter for the Carolina Panthers over the weekend.

Like the Wolfpack, the Panthers have disappointed early on but made a statement Sunday. Jake Delhomme showed he is the leader once again. His late game bootleg at a critical time was classic. He literally carried the team to a win over the Redskins.

The history books say it is almost impossible for a team with a 0-3 record to make the playoffs. There is no doubt getting to the post season will take a monumental effort. A loss Sunday would have sunk the nail even deeper into the Cat’s coffin. The hard fought win at least leaves a crack of light open for the season. More than anything else, the Panthers at least showed they have the ability to compete.

The only question now is if they have the desire it will take to salvage the current season. The combination of Delhomme, his favorite target Steve Smith seem to have it but they will have a hard time passing it on to their teammates.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Rush is out of football

No Rush to judgement

Apparently someone in the NFL doesn't want Rush Limbaugh as an owner. He says it is a "conspiracy of the left."
Not quite. Rush has great perspectives in many cases but sometimes his mouth gets ahead of his head. No team wants the headache of trying to control him.
Rush needs to stay behind the microphone, and away from the owner's box.

The countdown to this week's Corner is on. Check back Friday a.m.!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Corner 10/9

Another Memory Goes up in smoke



WOERNER’S CORNER

It happened again this week in major league baseball. Another team is closing its old stadium for a new, modern facility, with a corporate name. Unlike previous cases such as Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Atlanta, this time is a good thing.

The Metrodome, now the former home to the Minnesota Twins, will bite the dust in the near future. A tear probably fell on Minneapolis as Kirby Puckett, one of the greatest players of the last generation, watched the last games in the building where he starred from his stadium seat beyond the clouds.

He would be one of the few in the game who cared. The Metrodome was known more than anything else for what became known as the Hefty bags behind the home run fences. It was rarely accused of being one of the great baseball venues of its generation.

Pitchers didn’t like the building because of the short home run fences. Hitters liked those short porches but with the exception of the designated hitters in the American League town, those hitters had to play the field.

That meant catching fly balls, or at least trying to, looking up at that white roof. That meant the notoriously poor turf that threatened knees and other joints when cleats got caught. Most will agree when the dome over that building finally pops, it will be a good riddance for the game.

Apparently, most people in Minnesota agree. There are Web sites counting down the hours to the opening of Target field. There is a surprise, have to get that corporate sponsorship in the name. It joins the likes of PNC Park Field, Coors Field and others.

Kudos from The Corner to Twins ownership who will provide outside baseball for fans in what is likely the coldest baseball city in the country.  Sorry all fans of the Red Sox, Yankees, Cubs or Mets, I think Minnesota weather has you beat.

The Twins are betting $544 million that they can beat the chances of snow in April or the need for winter coats if the World Series comes to town in October. They understand the need to thank fans who have been so loyal by provid?ing them with a true baseball experience.

Despite its so-called stadium, Minnesota has been a great baseball town that is just about to get better. The likes of Kirby Puckett, Ken Hrbek, Greg Gagne and others put together a product over the years that has always been competitive. This year was no exception as they extended the regular season one extra day in what was the best pennant race of the season.

Any teams who want to build new stadiums need to follow the Twins example. The theory of the Astrodome is gone. Like disco, it was a bad idea of a bad generation.

Most stadium builders in recent years have seen this. Even in the Canadian north, in Toronto, the roof on the building formerly known as Skydome can be opened to allow the affect of the outdoors to drift in. Admittedly, that is a unique affect.

Baseball is better outside, and if they can do it in Minneapolis they can do it any where in the country. Hopefully the Metrodome is a sign of what is to come, with domed, indoor stadi?ums becoming a thing of the past and baseball on the real grass, an exclusive experience of the game.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The Corner-Oct. 2

10/2/2009
Wild card still great


Wild Card
Still Great
I have said it before, and will again, that the wild card system in professional baseball is one of the best inventions in the sporting world in the last 20 years.
For many years teams out of the divisional race were already getting ready for winter break and looking down the road to spring training. Now, several at least have some reason to maintain hope, thanks to this great system of competition.
Any Braves fan will tell you they’re enjoying this year’s chase, I promise that.
The system is giving a little more life to a career that is quickly winding down. Bobby Cox is a hero to Braves fans of the ’80s and ’90s, taking the team to the World Series in 1991 after so many years of less than mediocre performances. Only a few lucky breaks for Kirby Puckett and the Minnesota Twins kept that team from the championship.
If memory serves that was before the wild card was in place. It was also in the days before expansion, when the Braves were in the weird position of playing in the National League West.
The end of the season usually meant keep a close eye on Dodger Stadium or Candlestick Park to see how the Dodgers or Giants were doing. There was no hope if the first-place team didn’t falter.
Cox announced earlier this month he will hang up his cleats after one more season. Somebody better clear out a space on the wall in Cooperstown for the plaque bearing his likeness. The strange system of choosing hall of fame members never guarantees anyone entry into baseball’s holiest shrine, but I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more than Cox.
That would be even more true if the wildcard system leads to a World Series title this year.
The Braves aren’t the only ones who benefit from the wild card this year. When was the last time you heard the words Texas Rangers in playoff talk late in September. It happened this year, thanks to the wild card.
Raleigh’s own Josh Hamilton at least had a chance to show off his skills on a big stage. That would have been a great curtain call to what I call one of the great stories in baseball of this decade.
I have to say I am disappointed the Rangers won’t be there in the postseason even though I have always called the Red Sox my favorite American League team. The fact they were as close as they were gives hope to fans of the Pirates, Nationals, Mariners and other long-suffering squads who just haven’t been able to put it together.
Even though they have been there before, it is good to see the Colorado Rockies back in the playoff hunt, even if they are the ones who are competing against the Braves.
They are one of the four newest teams in the league and have turned into one of the most successful in the time they have been in the league. They have, of course, had their down years, but overall I would have to say they have been successful, at least considering how hard it is to blend into the league as an expansionteam. Hats off once again to baseball’s wild card season. It has turned a good season great and given fans a way to warm up for October.

The Corner is open

It has finally happened! The doors to Woerners Corner are open to the world through the genius of blogging.
This will be the site for the web posting each week of the unique world of sports columns that have become known in Dunn North Carolina as Woerners Corner.
Each week the doors to The Corner open with my unique, and award winning, perspectives on the world of sports. Each Thursday readers eagerly await my words that fill the space on the sports pages of the Dunn Daily Record. Now that same opportunity awaits the world!
Friday will be the day each week my words leave the printed page for the world wide web!
Ten years of community journalism, 14 years of youth umpiring, preceeded by graduation from professional umpire school, and a long history of loving sports give me a perspective available no where else.
The North Carolina Press Association has recognized this for three years with its editorial contest, sports columns, prizes including first place in the entire state of North Carolina last year.
Additionally I have twice been recognized for humorous columns, a characteristic that only adds to the appeal of The Corner
Check out my first posting below, and welcome to The Corner!