Sweet Carolin-a, bad times never seemed so bad

The Carolina Panthers lost to the Dallas Cowboys Monday 21-7, which caused the Panthers to start the season 0-3 for the first time since 1998.

I have been a fan of the Carolina Panthers since the beginning of their existence in 1995 (Panthers ownder and founder Jerry Richardson first brought up the idea to bid for Charlotte to win the rights to an NFL franchise on July 16, 1987, the day I was born). Every eight-year-old needs a favorite team since that is the age when sports fans first become sports fans. The Panthers were brand new along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, so I picked the Panthers as my team.

It's tough to root for the Panthers because of the organization's inconsistency. The Panthers will have a fantastic season one year, which gets the fans excited about the following year, and the next season they will fall flat on their faces.

In 1995 the team opened their existence with a 7-9 record. This was the best record in NFL history by an expansion team. Kerry Collins led the Panthers the following year to a 12-4 record, the playoffs and eventually lost to Brett Favre and the Packers in the NFC Championship game.

The Panthers did not have another winning season until 2003 when they went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Patriots. As a Panther fan I was invigorated to root for the team I had betrayed during the losing years.

However the Panthers would follow up the Super Bowl season with a 7-9 record. The 2005 Panthers returned to the playoffs, but lost to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship. The Panthers failed to make the playoffs in 2006 and 2007.

In the very competitive NFC South Division in 2008 the Panthers managed to pull away from Tampa Bay and Atlanta with a 12-4 record. I was ready to celebrate another Super Bowl appearance, but Jake Delhomme threw five interceptions to the Arizona Cardinals.

The Panthers have not won a game since then as they sit at 0-3. I was excited again. I went to my first ever Panthers game in 1997 in San Francisco, and I bought tickets to attend my second game this season on Nov. 1 in Arizona. I should have known this would be a bad year. I should be buying my tickets for next year when the Panthers are good again.

Procrastination soup for the soul

The one word college students can all agree is in their vocabulary is procrastination. It is a blessing and a curse.

For so many years I find myself worrying about things of menial value: sports, television shows and video games. Those are the objects that make me happy. I enjoy them, so I take part in them.

The cob webs of summer have not departed from my brain here at the end of September. The easy thing to do is procrastinate, because it's fun.

The blessing side of procrastination is the ability to do whatever I want when I want to do it. If I'm tired after a long day at school and finishing statistics homework I will postpone my other homework. There's nothing like kicking back and enjoying my favorite comedy shows on television.

The cursed side of procrastination is waking up the next morning without a clue that I forgot to finish an assignment that was due that day. The taste of regret entered my mouth when I heard my instructor say, "Your blogs are due today."

I was among half the class that forgot to enter a blog post before 9 a.m. Sept. 24. I do not fear for half credit is better than no credit at all.

The curse of procrastination gave me the bad taste and feeling. The blessing of procrastination helped me realize my follie, so I can fix the problem and get back to work.

Future softball star

A father brought his three-year-old daughter to a Philadelphia Phillies game and caught his first ever foul ball after he had been to so many games over the years.

The father's name is Steve Monforto and after he snagged the foul ball he handed it to three-year-old Emily.  There must have been a sense of devastation upon Monforto's face as Emily tossed the ball back to where it came from.  Instead of frustration Monforto hugged his daughter.

That's a true bummer for Monforto.  You wait all those years of going to games and when the time finally comes for you to make the big catch in the stands the youngster throws it away. But all is not lost, Steve, for Emily's throw signifies an understanding of baseball at a young age. Perhaps the day will come when Emily will be a softball star and you will be able to purchase as many baseballs as you want without spending all that money going to Phillies games waiting for one.

This is a cute story about a father's love for his daughter.  I would definitely be bummed if I was Monforto, but it all worked out in the end as the Phillies general manager went to Monforto and gave him a baseball.  Keep showing the love, Steve!

The article on espn.com also made mention that Phillies fans are seen as having a hard exterior, but this moment between father Steve and daughter Emily showed the light-hearted side of the Philadelphia fans.

Way to go, Steve!  You and Emily single-handedly destroyed a stereotype in one night!

Nothing to apologize for

During the game between BYU and Oklahoma Sam Bradford went down with a shoulder injury that will have him sidelined for a month.

 

The player for BYU that delivered the hit to OU's Bradford was Coleby Clawson.  He apologized for the causing last year's heisman trophy winner the injury, which showed class, but Clawson had nothing to apologize for.

Multiple sources have said the hit was clean, and watching the game and highlights one could see the hit really was a good hit and was not a cheap shot.  Clawson received rude messages on Facebook from Oklahoma fans saying the hit on Bradford was bad.  The full story is at http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4454135.

This is football for crying out loud.  People get hurt playing the game. Bradford won the heisman trophy in 2008 and decided to come back to college instead of going to the NFL, so everyone feels bad for him.  I don't feel bad for him, because if a linebacker from a supposedly inferior school like BYU can hurt Bradford then imagine what would have happened if NFL linebackers like Brian Urlacher, Ray Lewis or Shawne Merriman hit him.

I understand Clawson wanted to show class by showing remorse for Bradford, but he shouldn't feel bad.  If Tulane quarterback Joe Kemp is injured Saturday against No. 9 BYU I wouldn't expect Clawson to apologize for Kemp's injury as well so the college football world needs to get over the romanticism of the sport and realize that these kinds of things happen.