FanHouse Football

Seven-year NASCAR Busch owner Armando Fitz loves going home to Nashville:

"I love coming to Nashville. There's not another race track I'd rather win at. My sister lives here, I've got family here, It's fun."

The former Vanderbilt linebacker always enjoyed the thrill of competition and now lives it every day in the "ultra-competitive world of motorsports." He draws parallels between competition on the gridiron and the racetrack:

"It's teamwork. Like a pit crew, there's seven guys that go over the wall. They've got to operate like an offense or defense in football. The jack man is like the quarterback."

Fitz, who owns Fitz Motorsports with his wife Mimi Sabates, sits just outside the Top 15 in owner points and heads to Music City with 2002 NCTS Champion and Cup driver Mike Bliss behind the wheel of the #22 Dodge and one immediate goal:

"We want to take home one of the [Gibson] guitars for our trophy case as well and know we have an excellent shot of doing just that."

His ultimate goal: The big leagues--a Nextel Cup team by 2009.

The Fanhouse thinks he's on the right track.

It's like adolescent kids trying to slow dance and walking all over each other's feet. Except without the hormones and awkwardness. Or friendliness, for that matter.

The latest: USC and Arizona State have bumped their 2007 battle to Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving.

That runs right up against the NFL's football monopoly. Hmm...

The reasoning is sound as the Pac-10 is looking to move all its rivalry games to Dec. 1 of next year, but it makes you wonder. The NFL has given NCAA football deference on Saturdays, electing to not schedule Saturday games until the regular season is over. But there's also been a gradual creep of NFL games into the midweek Thursday night slot (and sometimes other nights). That's long been the territory of college football.

For its part, college football is now scheduling games almost every day of the week not named Monday. A flurry of articles were published last year about this, suggesting that high school football is made to suffer most as middle aged adults are ditching the high school stadiums for the recliner, a six pack and a handful of NCAA games.

Can you feel the tension?

Oh, and in the photo the evil robot represents the NFL and the pretty girl represents the NCAA. That should be obvious but just in case...

Class, we're going to do something different today. We've been focusing entirely on the history of American football, but we all know that's not the only type of football played on our little planet.

The most popular form of football around the world, of course, is Association football, or soccer, which attracts huge crowds in Europe, South America and many parts of Asia. As I've mentioned before, American football is a direct descendent of Rugby football, which became standardized in England a few years after soccer and is still played in many corners of the world.

These are not, however, the only types of football played in the world. There's also Australian Rules Football, which was formulated in the mid-19th century and influenced by two games: Cambridge Rules football, which was drawn up at Cambridge University in England in 1848, and an aboriginal game called Marn Grook, which English settlers first saw in 1841. In that game, one player drop-kicked a stuffed possum-skin ball high into the air, and other players jumped up as high as they could to catch it. Whoever caught it got a free kick.

The Englishmen who saw this game were so fascinated by Marn Grook that it became a staple of both the Cambridge Rules and Aussie Rules games. If you watch any Australian football match, you will notice a lot of high kicks and a lot of players jumping up to catch the ball and claim a mark, which gives them a free kick.

Meanwhile, our friends in Ireland play something called Gaelic Football, a game unique to the country, yet somewhat similar to the Australian game. Gaelic Football was standardized in 1887 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, a group that sought to promote Irish sports and reject the "foreign imports" from England. Gaelic Football involves both carrying and kicking the ball, though you can only run about five steps before you have to kick the ball to yourself (which is called "soloing") or to a teammate. It has a soccer-like goal, but also has goalposts that stretch high above the crossbar. Kicking the ball through the uprights is a point, and kicking it in goal is three points.

Why do I mention all of this today? It's because the Australians and the Irish are about to reach a compromise this weekend...

The North Carolina offense is banged up after returning home from a tough trip to Miami where they lost 27-7.

Freshman wide receiver Hakeem Nicks suffered a high ankle sprain (see photo on right) on a beautiful 37 yard reception in the first half and did not return to the game. Nicks is listed as doubtful for this week's matchup at home against South Florida.

Freshman quarterback Cam Sexton also had to leave Saturday's game late in the second half after suffering a mild concussion. Backup QB Joe Dailey filled in nicely, but it looks like Sexton's been able to shake off the cobwebs enough to return to practice this week. He should be ready to go against South Florida as well.

Click here for final game stats from AOL Sports.

So let me get this straight.

You're playing at home against the Cleveland Browns, a team that came in 1-3, was down 21-3 to the crappy Oakland Raiders, and doesn't have either of its starting cornerbacks on the field... and you can't convert one single bloody third down? Are you freaking kidding me????

Sure, those AOL Sports stats says Carolina was 1-for-12. Where was the one? I didn't see it, and the stats at NFL.com say otherwise. Did someone at AOL feel a little sorry for Carolina today or what?

This win belongs entirely to the defense. Julius Peppers and the Panthers harassed Charlie Frye all day and forced him into three turnovers -- 2 interceptions and a fumble. One of those interceptions was returned for a touchdown by rookie Richard Marshall. That actually put Carolina ahead for good in the first quarter, though the offense's complete inability to convert a 3rd down prevented this from being the blowout that Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer predicted. Carolina didn't even cover the 8 1/2-point spread. Nice call, Scott. Have you been hanging out with Paul Charchian lately?

Start of 4th: Panthers 17, Browns 6.

I am still waiting for Carolina to convert a 3rd down. That's just atrocious...

Not so atrocious, however, is the Panthers defense, which holds Cleveland out of the end zone yet again after they set up on 1st & goal from the 10. Phil Dawson kicked a 22-yard gimme to make it a one-possession game. If you've got Dawson on your fantasy team today, good job.

4th Quarter, 12:54 left: Panthers 17, Browns 9.

Starting this drive, DeShaun Foster has 85 yards on 17 carries. On the other hand, he hasn't converted on 3rd down yet, either...

Oh, and Jake Delhomme completed 2 of 6 passes for 29 yards. I haven't looked, but I'd be willing to bet all those incompletions are on 3rd down...

More hot liveblogging action after the jump.

Halftime: Panthers 14, Browns 3.

Some thoughts and stats at halftime:

For as bad as he's looked on 3rd down, Jake Delhomme isn't doing too badly overall. He's completed 14 of 18 for 110 yards and a TD. Three of those incompletions, however, were on 3rd down, forcing Carolina to punt every time. Maybe we can convince him it's always 2nd down or something...

Take away Reuben Droughns' 22-yard run, his longest of the day,
and he's only got 15 yards on 9 carries. Down by 11 points, though, the Browns may have to pass more often than Romeo Crennel would like, and that means more big plays for Julius Peppers, who's going to be in Charlie Frye's nightmares tonight. Peppers has three tackles, three pressures (at least), one sack and one forced fumble so far...

Steve Smith: 5 catches, 42 yards.
Keyshawn Johnson: 4 catches, 45 yards, 1 TD.

I think they're getting along just fine...

Geico's new caveman commercial with the caveman on the moving sidewalk in the airport? Well done, sirs...

3rd quarter liveblog begins after the jump...

Start of 2nd: Panthers 7, Browns 3.

Browns open the quarter with a 3-and-out, thanks in part to Julius Peppers hitting Reuben Droughns for a 5-yard loss. Remember that performance Droughns put on in Denver two years ago? Yeah, don't expect a repeat of that...

Has anyone else noticed that DeShaun Foster is trying really hard to be Stephen Davis circa 2003? He's running straight up the middle and pushing the pile a lot more than he's done in the past.

Panthers fail to convert on 3rd down again. That makes 4 punts in 4 possessions. Carolina is 0-4 on 3rd down conversions so far today. I'm starting to hear the voice of that psychologist in the New York Knights' clubhouse. "Losing is a disease, as contagious as syphilis..."

More snark after the jump.

Remember this guy? Carolina Panthers fans should.

That's Reuben Droughns, formerly of the Denver Broncos. When all of Denver's other running backs got hurt in 2004, Droughns was a surprise starter against the Carolina Panthers. He responded by gaining 193 yards on 30 carries, prompting millions of football fans to ask, "Who the $#&! is Reuben Droughns?" It also prompted the Cleveland Browns to sign Droughns to a 4-year, $13.5 million deal.

I'm pretty sure the Panthers haven't forgotten Reuben Droughns. Anyone who makes his name against your defense has to be on the radar, right? Droughns is in Charlotte today with the Browns for a 1:00 PM game this afternoon, and I suspect the defensive line has no intention of allowing him to have a repeat performance today.

Here are the key matchups to watch today:

1. Reuben Droughns vs. Carolina's D-Line. Actually, this should probably be Cleveland's battered O-line vs. Carolina's D-Line, because not only do Julius Peppers, Kris Jenkins, Ma'ake Kemoeatu and Mike Rucker (and Damione Lewis, can't forget him) have to keep Droughns out of the secondary, but they have to apply pressure on Charlie Frye. Cleveland has allowed 14 sacks in 4 games so far, though half of those were against Baltimore -- a game the Browns almost won. Stopping Droughns, however, should be the highest priority for the defense.
   
   
2. Jake Delhomme vs. the Browns secondary. Both of Cleveland's starting cornerbacks, Gary Baxter and Leigh Bodden, were on the injury report and probably won't play today. You're going to see the Browns drop back into zone coverage a lot to try and minimize the damage that Steve Smith can do. It's up to Jake Delhomme to find those open receivers, and it's up to Smith and Keyshawn Johnson to find the weak spots in the zone. If Jake gets intercepted today, it's entirely on him.
   
   
3. Carolina's O-Line vs. Cleveland's 3-4 front. If there's any day for DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams to shine, it should be today. Cleveland's ranked 29th in the NFL against the run. However, the Browns' ability to get to the quarterback is steadily improving, and it'll be up to the Panthers' offensive line to keep Jake Delhomme upright.
   
   
4. Richard Marshall vs. Braylon Edwards. This will probably be the biggest matchup in the secondary today. If Marshall can take Edwards away from Frye, that eliminates Cleveland's biggest deep threat. I hope the rookie is up to it.

This has all the makings of a classic trap game for Carolina. Hopefully, memories of Droughns' performance against Carolina two years ago will prevent the Panthers from getting trapped.

Guess what, folks? I'm at home today trying to shake off a cold. That means the liveblog for today's Panthers game will be right here in the Panthers Fanhouse! Of course, I'll be covering other NFL action, including tonight's Steelers-Chargers game, over at Dave's Football Blog, but you've got me here at the Fanhouse for the full afternoon. (Note to AOL: If you guys would ever make this site easy to update from a Treo, this might become a trend.)

Stick around, folks. We're not paying the bandwidth...