Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.
Meet the ... Super Bowl Champions. Look, people can claim they're not homers all day long, but the fact of the matter is, I read/watch/write re: the Panthers a lot. (Well, as often as I can anyway.) And maybe I'm a little biased, but they're going to win the NFC South this year and they're going to do it by scoring a ton of points. Of course, if Jake Delhomme goes down again, I may look stupid. But it wouldn't be the first time.
The Breakout The bad news? Jonathan Stewart is already getting a lot of preseason love (check him dead center of the sixth round in an average 12 teamer). The good news? The love is warranted. Stewart was thought to be a top choice of plenty of teams in the draft, but a turf toe injury let him hang around for the Cats. Note that the Carolina team doctor performed his surgery
Lost in the dismal implosion of the Bobcats last season, which was neither a bang, nor a whimper, but a kind of depressing grunt, was the myriad of injuries they were forced to endure. The biggest of which was Sean May.
Now, May wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire before his succumbing to microfracture surgery last October on a knee that's been bothering him since he was drafted, but he is a valuable asset to the new Bobcats regime. On top of that North Carolina connection that the Cats are so fond of, May provides them with a scoring presence inside, which will help to ease the dismay held by Bobcats' fans after their selection of D.J. Augustin.
So it's good news then, that May is reported to be cleared for basketball activities, will be hanging around the team in Las Vegas for Summer League, and will "definitely be at camp in October." May may not be the key to unlocking the puzzle of the Bobcats' stagnant growth, but he could be a significant improvement for the team under new head coach Larry Brown.
Chelsea might have a reputation among Premier League clubs for buying stars on the transfer market rather than developing them within the club -- they've already opened the silly season by signing Deco from Barcelona for £8 million-- but that doesn't mean the club's academy is lying dormant. In fact, the big London club is using its youth development program to reach out to America. Chelsea has struck up a partnership with Capital Area Soccer League, a large youth soccer club in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is already sending coaches to work with CASL youth players.
Since this is happening in my neck of the woods, I went to Raleigh to chat with some folks about this partnership.
Prior to the recent announcement that Michael Jordan would be the 2008 Citizen of the Carolinas, his greatest accomplishment in life was his minor league batting title. Well, whew. Now we don't have to worry about MJ's self confidence, as the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce awarded him the title this past weekend.
The basketball legend is this year's Citizen of the Carolinas, joining the ranks of his former Tar Heels coach, the Federal Reserve chairman and other VIPs with Carolinas ties, the Chamber announced Friday.
The award is given annually to a person from North Carolina or South Carolina who has brought positive recognition to the states.
Jordan made the cut because of his success on and off the court and his charitable contributions, Chamber officials said in a press release.
And because the Bobcats have been so freaking good since he got there! Zing! (What? It was way more appropriate than making some "Free Lexus to College Students Program" joke.)
Now, it is interesting and great and all that Jordan won this award. My issue is that the award really only seems to focus on glad-handing a famous celebrity, since it, by very definition, requires previous public recognition to actually be achieved. Plus, all charitable donations aside, it totally fails to acknowledge the recent less than stellar news about Jordan regarding his personal life that have come forward. Oh. And the Bobcats.
One of the biggest complaints about the announcement of USA Basketball's 12-man roster is the lack of big men. We are sending just one true center (Dwight Howard) along with two true power forwards (Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer).
Hmmm. This sounds an awful like how Mike Krzyzewski ... coach of Team USA ... constructs his usual team: the Duke Blue Devils.
Anyone who has followed Duke knows that they team has really had issues with depth and talent in the frontcourt in recent years ... while running a bunch of same-sized players on the perimeter. It works alright for a while, but them crumbles as the season wears on.
It could happen in Beijing as the group that Team USA will be in is rather weak, but they will see the big dogs in single-elimination play.
HBO is planning on doing a documentary on the Duke-North Carolina rivalry. The documentary is scheduled to air next February, maybe just in time for the two schools to meet up in their annual post-Super Bowl bonanza.
"Jim Lampley (a UNC graduate) has been telling me about the rivalry for 20 years or so," says HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg. "I was also aware of the subculture of both universities, and even though UNC was the state school, they think of themselves as the dignified force in the rivalry. They think Duke is a bunch of animals even though Duke is supposed to be the Ivy League of the South. That never meshed right with me and it was interesting. Plus, you had all these legends coming out of these two schools, the [Michael] Jordan's, the [Christian] Laettner's and the [Mike] Krzyzewski's and [Dean] Smith's. Unbelievable iconic names have floated through both places and it makes for a great documentary."
HBO was praised for their look at the Ohio State-Michigan football rivalry last year.
Greenburg also says that he wants to hold a special screening in Raleigh, NC and fill the auditorium with Blue Devils fans on one side and Tar Heels fans on the other. Most of the interviews have been finished for the documentary, with just one guy left on the wish list: former Tar Heel Michael Jordan.
"Jamie is an outstanding young man with much to contribute to Wake Forest, both on the basketball court and to the University," said Gaudio. "However, sometimes good people make poor decisions, and that is what happened here. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for the young man that will help him grow as a person."
The 2008-2009 season is shaping up to be a big one for the Deacs. Despite missing the NCAA Tournament the last three years, this team is loaded. They were on a nice upswing last season, finishing 7-9 in ACC and upsetting Duke. They also will welcome in Skip Prosser's final recruiting class, which is rated one of the best in the nation.
That's why Skeen really hurt himself with his off-court issues. Minutes were already going to be at a premium at the forward spot and, with him out for the first part of the season, the team may figure things out without him.
To his credit, Jarrett said all the right things following this conviction:
"This is a thing that happened and you learn from your mistakes. ... You always have to take the right steps in everything you do. That's life in general. I took full responsibility for what happened."
Jarrett had a forgettable rookie season with the Panthers, which likely prompted the free agent signings of D.J. Hackett and Muhsin Muhammad. Is this guilty plea a sign that Jarrett is finally maturing and will own up to his mistakes on the field, too? It's a good sign, but it's just a starting point for him, really, if he wants to be the kind of receiver in the NFL that he was at USC.
That would be NC State's J.J. Hickson, who some feel brought down the program last year. Oh, he was a heck of a player ... but the team's chemistry (which was so high at the end of 2006-2007) was just missing.
"It's going to be my way and that's it," Lowe said. "It's real simple. They're the players and I'm the coach and they're going to do it my way. And if they don't. They're not going to want to be here."
"In my dictionary, chemistry only means one thing and I'm going to stay away from that," Lowe said, then later offered his definition. "It's just players not accepting and players being selfish."
There were some cryptic signs that Lowe doesn't mind Hickson leaving ... though he tried to duck answering any direct questions. But he did find time to blame media attention, parents, girlfriends and AAU guys as clutter around the players' psyches.
I like Sidney Lowe and I think he's a good coach. But Raleigh is a very fickle place when it comes to their coaches and Lowe just struck out with his first NBA-talented player and his ability to incorporate him into his team. His upcoming season will see a lot of juniors and seniors in his rotation ... and hopefully he can recapture the magic of February/March 2007.
"No one should be able to name their own successor," Krzyzewksi told the newsppaer. "Maybe if you own your company or whatever ... but I should not have the right. It's not even the right. It's not a position I should be in, though I should give a lot of input."
Um, okay. You don't want to name your own successor ... but you want to tell the University who is should be.
This all came about when Stanford hired away Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins. During the press conference, Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby mentioned that Coach K said Dawkins was his heir apparant at Duke.
K has dimissed all of that, but did say he would recommend Dawkins to be his successor.
Krzyzewski is right: he doesn't have the right to tell the school who his replacement will be once he hangs it up. If you retire or whatever, the school must move on without you. However, I do understand the reasoning behind leaving your program you built into a powerhouse in trusted hands.
Of course, the school may end up with a short leash. Remember that Sean Sutton ... Eddie Sutton's son and hand-picked successor at Oklahoma State ... was lopped off after this past season.
Lost in the dismal implosion of the Bobcats last season, which was neither a bang, nor a whimper, but a kind of depressing grunt, was the myriad of injuries they were forced to endure. The biggest of which was 
Prior to the recent announcement that 
One of the biggest complaints about the announcement of USA Basketball's 12-man roster is the lack of big men. We are sending just one true center (
HBO is planning on doing a 
Wake Forest has suspended junior forward 
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, who was 
This is how screwed up the ACC has been: 
The trendy thing in sports now is naming your own successor. It's happening all over college basketball (and has even entered the NFL).
