I have heard of arm-chair quarterbacks, back-seat drivers, and know-it-alls, but Saturday, I am not really sure what I encountered. My wife and I went up to the ECU-UNC game at Kenan stadium. We were sitting in Section 105 about halfway up and the man (I wanted to say gentleman, but cannot) sitting behind us, was, well, in his mind, a member of the coaching staff in the stands for the game. Almost every play he had something to say: “Watch for the screen (on 3^rd and 1), run up field, hit the hole, block the end, etc, etc, etc.” I am not sure if this guy was an angry person or what, but he had no regard for anyone in the surrounding sections, especially the children across the aisle from him. A little girl just kept looking at him every time he would add a four letter adjective to the phrases above. I am all for people standing and cheering for your teams, but I do think you need to show some respect for those around you. I do not think I heard him say anything positive the entire game, except on plays we scored, and even on those he had some issues. I distinctly remember on the Yates-Boyd TD pass, he yelled at Yates for throwing into coverage, and then once the pass was caught, he bragged that he saw it all the way.

 I know I have been very fortunate over the years to learn A LOT of football and reading formations and coverages from former college and NFL players. They have taught me more than I ever thought I would have an opportunity to learn, and even explained when to look for certain things in certain situations (definitely works at Panther games). This guy, I am almost certain, has never had that opportunity. My wife made several comments to me during the game, requesting this guy to stay under control or at least. Why was he requesting Ryan Houston to break runs to the outside, and Shaun to run up the middle more? These things contradict their strengths! Maybe this guy had gotten into the 1/5^th of Captain Morgan’s taken by the Usher about 10 rows down from us.

My suggestion is for everyone to go to games and have a blast. If you want to discuss specific plays or suggestions, keep them to your group of friends, not the entire section. If there are children around, refrain from swearing. I know that is not always easy, but try your best. I let a word or two slip in inappropriate locations or times, but never the G-D or f-bomb in front of children. Passion for your team does not have to include profanity. 

 

Well, this week’s goat to the fans is Julius Peppers. Jake was the goat in week one. Julius Peppers had 2 tackles on Sunday, which equals $500,000 per tackle. I have said it before, but will say it again: no matter what Julius does, he can not win here. Do well, you are making $1 million a game, do poor, and you are making $ 1 million a game. Sitting at the Rusty Rudder on Lake Norman watching the game with some friends, this point became painfully obvious. One of the other comments that was made was last year you were waiting for someone in a Panthers jersey to make a big play, this year you are waiting on the opponent to do the same. I know we are only two games into the season, but people are beginning to walk the plank already. With Dallas losing this past week at home Sunday, this Monday’s night game at Dallas has the Panthers in a bad spot. Dallas is not going to want to begin life in,” the 8^th wonder of the world,” at 0-2. The Panthers do not want to be 0-3 staring into the bye week. John Fox’s goal has always been to break the season into 4, 4 game seasons and try and go 3-1 in each mini-season. This obviously is not going to happen in this segment. 

The offense played much better this past week, but it was the defense and special teams that let them down. If you lose in 2 of the 3 segments of the game, you are not going to win a lot of games. Hopefully things get better this week, but I do not see that in the cards.

 

9-6 for Season (4-1) last week.

 

 

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