Caaaaam..... a Jedi now, you arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre..............

I am almost breathless as I write this -

What we needed to see as Panther Nation , we have seen -

We have seen the continuing maturation of this team into a bona fide contender - On a day where we didn't bring our best game, and there's no question we didn't - Even the best of the teams that play "BIG BOY FOOTBALL" don't bring their  "A" game week after week - we have for the THIRD WEEK IN A ROW -

Pulled VICTORY -

From the jaws of defeat  - in a manner that the recent edition of the Carolina Panthers could not have done in the past. I KNEW this game would not be as easy as it seemed on paper. That's why they "play the games" as it's said in the sporting lexicon...

There are three elements of this "BIG BOY FOOTBALL" team that won this game today -

Number one, and possibly the most important -

The nads of "Riverboat Ron", like the heart of the Grinch in that timeless holiday story, grew TEN TIMES on this day - With his Panthers on their own twenty yard line, and facing Fourth and Defeat, he GOES FOR IT -

to -

Number two, Cam Newton, instead of running for it, knowing that Miami will be expecting it, trusts the Force and Mike Shula to throw it to -

Number three, Steeeeeve SMIFFFFFFFFF who shows again and again, game after game, that HE is the emotional Obi-Wan Kenobi of this team, and WILLS it to VICTORY with a MAJOR, CLUTCH CATCH to extend the GAME WINNING DRIVE -

And Cam ends the suspense with a final lightsaber slash to Greg Olsen, finally defeating the final team these Panthers have NEVER BEATEN - leaving the mop-up work to the defense, who is seriously missing "Big Money" Charles Johnson - but not for long - he's expected back for the now HUGE game against the Sucky-Neers next Sunday.


I cannot begin to contain the excitement I have as a long - suffering Panthers fan at what this victory means -


It means -


Ron Rivera will NOT have a losing season this year.


It means-


This team is now closing the gap in the "close game" albatross that has hung around our neck for the past two years -


It means -


That Cam Newton and the rest of the offense now has the confidence it needs to KNOW WITHOUT QUESTION that it CAN play from behind, and WIN.


It means that the postseason is a virtual guarantee for us -


AND -

IT MEANS -


The pressure is even greater on the New Orleans Saints -

We're here, Drew Brees, Sean Payton, Who Dat Nation -

And we AINT SKEERT of YOU....





AND ----




WE'RE COMING TO KICK-

YOUR-


ASSSSSS!!!!!!


Gotta Comment?

Email me, The Cedar Street Seer -

CaptnTee@aol.com

BIG BOY FOOTBALL

Greetings, FanZ!

As I pound this latest rant, I realize that through this season of success I have a similar problem as I had when we went through the valleys of dismay Post-2009 – how many times could I write, “WE SUCK”, and “FIRE JOHN FOX-HURNEY” and “PEPPERS HAS TO GO”, and plumb the depths of your dissatisfaction and at least make you feel like your angst had a legion of allies and supporters  – Now, I’m finding quite a similar situation coming up the same way, week after week,  win after win –

How many times can I write about how UTTLERLY F**CKING AWESOME it is to watch, tune in, read about, listen to radio chatter concerning THE CAROLINA PANTHERS OF 2013??!!! Of all of the superlatives and hyperbole I could possibly muster out of my expansive vocabulary, could I piece together something you, dear reader, would find interesting and enlightening? Could I take tackle after tackle, score after score, and make an epic storylog  that would prime you for more Pantherfandom?

As Lauren and I sat in the stadium Monday night, after a buzz not achieved in our lot in many a year, I considered all of the witty titling I could give a rant after our sixth consecutive win – But much like last week, all that my mind could process was simple verbiage betraying my almost limitless ability to colourize in word, any possible subject –

“BIG BOY FOOTBALL” –

Ok, so I think you, me, every casual fan and every feverent gridiron-poisoned fan, every talking head on every sports network can agree, that The Carolina Panthers are playing “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”. So, with that said, I would say, that if you are a young man playing football, on the high school level, a blue-chipper playing at a 4A organization, I think you would likely be playing “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”. And like that “HELLO…………………!!!” commercial some telecommunications company aired last year, you’ve got Bob Stoops coming to speak that repeated salutation to you, and before you know it, you are an All-American playing at a Division One school with a chance at glory on a national level. And NFL scouts are looking at you play – “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”… And then you hear your name, possibly on the first day of the NFL Draft at the Music City Hall, and you will now get paid to play – “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”

So – if we take the description, and determine that all 32 teams in the NFL play “BIG BOY FOOTBALL” –

We would be in error.

In my opinion, “BIG BOY FOOTBALL” looks something like this –

It starts with a coaching philosophy.  A determination to use the athletes in your organization to execute your vision in “x’s and o’s, and succeeding. A supporting front office that provides this coaching staff with the college athletes and free agents it needs to continue and cycle the process.

Bill Belli-cheat is a good example of a coach that gets it. His New England-gland Pastry-Rots PLAY BIG BOY FOOTBALL. Year after year. Pete Carroll is another. So is Sean Peyton.

The players are all bought into the system, both offensively and defensively. There’s no self-serving desire for records, for individual milestones for petty bickering about who gets the ball, who starts, who sits who gets the points – all there is, is the singular vision of success, the way the coaching staff builds it in practice. All of the acclaim, the records, the stats, comes as a result of the process. Of course, it all sounds utopian, because there IS a strong sense of pride in every athlete at this level – it’s displayed in various ways, from the boisterous howling of Ray Lewis, to the intense and cerebral mannerisms of Peyton Manning.  They all want to win – and the way that these athletes join from OTA’s  through training camp, to the end of the regular season and beyond, form the very definition of the word – TEAM as we use it to describe clubs in the NFL.  The offense of a “BIG BOY FOOTBALL” team is a system that consistently runs to game plan, and is capable of adjusting to game conditions in REAL TIME.

Note that last part of that last sentence.  It will be an important part later in my rant.

The defense of a “BIG BOY FOOTBALL” team is one that controls the game, snap to snap. It is able to limit yards, points, and consistently gets possession BACK to the offense. It is staffed by athletes of the highest level of performance, who never, ever, stop until the whistle blows.

As I said before, The Pastry-Rots play “BIG BOY FOOTBALL” – The Saints play “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”.

The Pissburgh Squeelers no longer are capable of “BIG BOY FOOTBALL” –

The Detroit Lions are beginning to grasp it – but are not there yet. Same for the Bungles.  The Phoney- Niners play “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”. And believe it or not, it’s coming back to the Noo Yawk Gi-AINTS. Jon Beason has the HEART of “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”. He makes a difference in that defense now.

The Duckies NEVER played “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”. NEVER.

The Green Bay Packers do NOT play "BIG BOY FOOTBALL". One player CANNOT make that big of a difference on a "BIG BOY FOOTBALL" team.  Billi-Cheat lost Tommy Terrific and STILL won 10 games with Matty Cassel who now stinks it up for another team that DOES NOT play "BIG BOY FOOTBALL". If you cut your greasy hair, Clay Matthews, and quit doing those INANELY STOOPID FatHead commericials, you MIGHT sniff a TENTH of Luke Keuchley's "BIG BOY FOOTBALL" quotient.

John Fox can usually coax an unusual brand of “BIG BOY FOOTBALL” out of his teams when Peyton Manning’s not the QB, we’ve been real used to that game we knew as “FoxBall”. Of course, now that Brotha Mannings dealing with a bit of a gimpy ankle, FoxBall makes sense for the Broncoids, who, without question, are playing “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”.

The game last week in San Francisco was a great example of “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”. The game Monday –

WAS DEFINING.  In ways that exceed the best of John Fox’s teams. Why would I say that?  More on that in a few sentences. I turned to Lauren at the kickoff, and said –

“Its time to play some BIG BOY FOOTBALL!!!” , and I was fairly confident that we could. There was no question that the Brady Bunch and his Cheat-a-checks would bring their best efforts. And there was no question that the Panthers would. Even though Brady found his yards, the BIG BOY DEFENSE of the Panthers held this offensive juggernaut to a measly 3 points.  As the game unfolded, I realized the genius of Bill Belli-cheat, and how he decided he was going to play this contest. He knew yards would come at a premium against this defense– there were so many heads to the hydra, so he could only keep so many heads at bay – Brady all but forsook the deep ball, because those extra seconds taken scanning the field would have brought Kraken and Company driving him into the Bank of America Stadium turf. He dumped off, with frequency, and those little 3 and 4 yard gains became 8 and 9 yard gains! And as you saw, they took the lead late on us. This is what “BIG BOY FOOTBALL” teams do.  But “BIG BOY DEFENSE”, which the Panthers have, no doubt, makes the lead by the opposition only 3 points – and gets the ball back to the offense -

And, now, if there was any question, and I had many, about this Carolina Panther offense being able to play “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”, they are dispelled. Like I said, Belli-cheat had made an absolute commitment to stopping the run. Our stable of backs, the “Triple Threat”, didn’t manage 50 yards. THE WHOLE GAME.  In seasons past, this was a recipe for disaster. But we didn’t have Cam Newton then. Jake Delhomme could never have done in this offense what Cam does. What we saw in the past two games was like seeing that idealistic gung-ho farm boy from Tatooine become a Jedi Knight in “Star Wars”. Soooo – If we were not able to get yards running with the backs, then Cam would find the open receiver, because that extra player was in the defensive “box”. And if he found the passing lanes choked off, of course, as the endless loops of highlight reels show again and again – he RAN.  Unlike Forrest Gump, he RAN for a VERY PARTICULAR REASON. And again, I cannot ignore the role Mike Shula is playing in this offense. Remember what I said about “BIG BOY OFFENSE”? I’m going to have to retract my vilification of his system I made early in the season -  When our original gameplan to gash the Pastry-Rot Defense with StewWilliams Cookies failed to produce, he switched gears, mid-game, and the result?

A final drive by Cam Newton and his Cam-a-Lots of the Cat’s Table that was one for the ages. I will save the game on my DVR, and watch it again and again until the Panthers top this one. Which they will. This season.  Like Luke Skywalker severing the hand of Darth Vader, rendering him useless, Cam severed the most important head on Belli-cheat’s hydra, and like Han Solo sweeping in with the Millennium Falcon to clear Luke’s path to destroying the Death Star, the defense, led by our OWN LUKE – finished the job.

And I’m not adding one more f**cking word to the blathering about catchable balls. Period.

And I would be failing you not to mention that this success begins with our new GM, Dave Gettleman, who I believe 100% gets “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”, and makes sure Riverboat gets the athletes he needs to succeed. I would also be failing you if I did not once again retract my earlier statement about Ron Rivera and his inability to win at this level. Like Cam, he’s make a quantum shift in the way he approaches this game, and the results, well, this 6-game winning streak is proof enough.

Do this year’s Carolina Panthers play “BIG BOY FOOTBALL”??? You damn right they do.  Can they continue this string of success? I believe it. If we can go to a place and beat a “team” that’s about five galaxies away from “BIG BOY FOOTBALL” in the Miami Dull-phins, a “team” incidentally, that we have NEVER BEATEN IN OUR ENTIRE FRANCHISE EXISTENCE – with the same intensity we’ve brought to EVERY GAME WE’VE PLAYED this season, you can print the playoff tickets, because we, THE CAROLINA PANTHERS, will be there.

A Crazy Joe Diversion from topic, slightly ……………..

The young Jedi, Cam Newton, approaches a ghostly visage of the Lord of BIG BOY FOOTBALL, Master Lombardi – who tells him his training is finished – already knows, him, that which he needs.

“Then I AM a Jedi” Cam breathlessly tells himself –

“COUGHCOUGHCOUGH” replies Master Lombardi – “NO – not yet! One thing remains – The Dolphins – You MUST DEFEAT THE DOLPHINS – “

“Then, and only then, A Jedi will you be –“

Thanks so much for the diversion. I felt it necessary. In order for the Panthers to be what I feel they should TRULY be, they will need to do what no coaching staff, no front office was able to manage in our 17 years of existence. Beat the Miami Dolphins. Now.

Then,  and only then,

Truly.

A BIG BOY FOOTBALL TEAM, will we be.

The SuckyNeers and the Saints await after that.

As well as your PantherFanz ultimate Tailgate Party!!!

Gotta Comment?

E-mail me, The Cedar Street Seer

CaptnTee@aol.com

WE ARE!!!

About 4,000 years ago, an exiled Egyptian prince scaled the Holy Mount Sinai, and had an exclusive conversation with The Almighty, the Creator of the Entire Universe, the Ultimate Power that controls and moves everything that is, on the sub –atomic level.

The ex-prince, as you probably gather as Moses, the Bringer of God’s Law, asked Him as it related to his discourse with the Hebrews The Lord wanted delivered from bondage-

“Who do I say that You Are??”

The Lord Replied –

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII AAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-

YOU WILL SAY THAT I AM HAS SENT YOU………………………

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to pound the keyboard for this blog, and I sincerely apologize for possibly offending anyone with this Biblical allusion to what we’ve all seen today – but I can’t help but feeling spiritually euphoric at what we’ve seen – only TWO WORDS come to my mind - in the matter-of-fact manner in which THE ALMIGHTY proclaimed his existence to Moses –

WE ARE……………

WE ARE…………………..

Relevant in the NFL.

Relevant in the playoff picture.

THE LEAGUE’S #1 DEFENSE.

Forget the Kansas Shitty Chefs. Forget the Noo Yawk Jests. Forget the overrated Robby Ryan Saints. And now, forget the Sad-FranShits-ko  Phoney-Niners.  This defense took control of this game early, and took enough pressure off of a cautious and intensely pressured offense. I give TONS of credit to Cam Newton, and his OC Son-Of-Jaw for recognizing  this fact – we continued to get enough yards, ON OUR PLAY BALANCE, to give that defense enough of a breather to come back to the field and continue to punch this overrated NFC squad in the mouth, again and again…

WE ARE………………..

Playing as a team, in a way we haven’t done since that mythical year of 2008 – Every unit is playing with a passion and trust in one another to do the things covered in practice. There’s going to be the absolute gushing on all of the media wonkers about our defense, but I’ve gotta give some love to the offensive line – A unit that’s been jury-rigged all season is performing at a level that is not costing us games – they are opening enough holes for the run game, and giving time enough to Cam-A-Lot to make the plays he needs to make –

WE ARE…………………………

A team playing with CLASS. For all of our punishing defense , and smash-mouth way we are running the ball, for the most part we are doing it with CLASS. When Mike Mitchell inadvertadly ends Sam Bradford’s season, he APOLOGIZES the next day! When Mike “Cookies” Tolbert  absolutely FLATTENS a defensive back, he stays with him after the play in genuine concern for his safety – This is a football team void of reprehensible over-juiced egotists – and they play CLEAN.

WE ARE………………….

Now a joy to watch and cheer for! This brand of football that Coach Rivera and his staff have brought to us of late is the kind we’ve been DYING to see – and it can only get better – Do you think that Bill-a-Cheat and his Patsy-Rots are a little concerned in coming to BOFA next Monday after seeing the emasculation we put on the “Vaunted” Phoney-Niners? Oh yeah, that staff is definitely losing sleep imagining that front seven of ours pour through Brady-Boy’s battered O-line –

And now that I bring Coach Rivera up –

WE ARE…………….

As a fan base –

In need to extend to this good man of integrity, inner strength, and humility, a genuine apology for the disparaging malfeasance we’ve heaped upon him in the first quarter of this season. What he, his staff, and Dave Gettleman have put in place is rewarding the patient and trusting fans with the kind of team we’ve wanted to see, and vindicating themselves to the fans (like ME!) that doubted them.

As for me –

I BELIEVE in these Carolina Panthers NOW…

Join me –

Gotta Comment?

E-mail me, The Cedar Street Seer

CaptnTee@aol.com

WHERE ART THOU, O SHLEPROCK???

For years thy visage hung upon thee as a malevolent spectre cast its vile shadow upon the cheeriest of days. Thou arrivest again and again to spoilst the joy of ardent followers of thou gridiron heroes of the Land that His Majesty King Charles dost bequethest his name to.  Game after game, season after season, thy bringest thy darkness to thou warm and illumined halls of celebrations. Tailgate after Tailgate, postgame after postgame, thou has desecrated all thy desires for simple joys, for thou removest victory from thy grasp as a doting mother snatcheth away anything that which harmeth thy child. There is little that thou cannot blacken with the merest whisper of thou possible arrival to the company of thee – Though the intent of thou is benevolent, by the nature of the black cloud thou is eternally bound to, the sight of thou bringeth unintentional ruin to the mechanizations of thy Carolina Panthers.

So, where wast thy visage today, O Schleprock?

Thou expected thy arrival as sure as the winter bringest the snow. When sadness and tragedy befallest our adversary for the weekend, it was sure to be an emotional ally to overwhelmst thou most dogged of efforts.  Thou hast experienced this as recent as last season, when thou broughst the darkness of the fate thou carryest as Jacob Marley is burdenst  with the chain forged by the vice and vile of thy errant life.   Thou madest the Chieftains of the Lands of Western Missourah as a potent force, as toothless as thy were, and fittest to thy love yet another defeat, stinging, demoralizing, and yet, fitting.

Thy expected thy timely arrival today – WHERE WAST THOU, O SHLEPROCK???

Thy must remindst thou, that the company of men with the snarling predator on thy helmeting is the target of the slings of thou odious malfeasance…

And yet, thou desirest to further darkenst the days of the Norsemen… And as thou contemplatest thy absence from thy sideline, the sun breakest the cover of cloud to brighten the skies of His Majesty King Carolus… be still thy pulsing heart – a sign of hope???

Shleprock, O Shleprock, thou hast thy permission to stayest away from this day forward, through thou contest at home with the Rams Of Saint Louis, to thou contest at the Land That Sherman Didst Burn against the Birds that Royalty Dost Sport.

But to be the kind and hospitable member that thou ist,

We leave a spot at the table for thou…

If thy hast a reply, thou mayest

Email thee –

CaptnTee@aol.com

FOOL'S GOLD

As I nurse a glass of red vintage, and put in perspective what I saw with the core Pantherfanz group this afternoon, I’m left again with a very palpable and disgusting feeling, one that hasn’t left me, really, since the debacle we saw unfold in that fateful January evening in 2009, when the Super Bowl was as close as we’ve seen it since the year we’d made it.

The faces have largely changed, save a few stalwart veterans, but the ghosts still haunt us.

I don’t want to revisit that place again, ever, but today forces me to.

On a day where continuing a season of hope crashed cruelly on the shoulders of these same Arid-zona Cardy-Noles, I’m forced to accept a notion that is antithesis to the passion of my fanatic heart –

The 2013 Carolina Panthers are just not a very good team. We have a collection of VERY GOOD players, but those players have consistently been inconsistent in the execution of play in the most CRITICAL of situations. When, WHEN, have you seen Steve Smith drop not one, but TWO balls that would have resulted in either a score or a huge gain? And Travelle Wharton? That safety you gave up in the third quarter??? INEXCUSABLE!!! LaFell? That fourth-down catch you let drop to the Arizona turf? A difference in the outcome!!! 76 yards of drive-killing penalties?

***sigh***

***HUGE SIGH***

The curse of the Cardy-Noles continues, friends. On a day when Charlie Brown could kick not only the ball out of Lucy’s grasp, but Lucy’s f**king head as well, Charles’ Schultz’ eternally downtrodden character performs as expected. And like Charlie, who is easily the most likeable of Mr. Schultz’ creations, Ron Rivera and his Panthers again meet with failure. There comes a point where optimism and “we’ll get ‘em next time” mantras fail to satisfy the desires of the fan base, who fill that stadium game after game, who tune in to EVERY game, vent on talk radio, and support the franchise to whom we are committed.

I’m unsure that blame for this abortion of a game falls completely on Rivera, but in the real world, as well as professional sports, the ones in leadership positions ultimately take the blame for failure. Something is surely going to change with the Carolina Panthers, and I’m sure that the coming weeks will see Dave Gettleman continue to pull the switches he feels he needs to pull to make this team better. To make this team more competitive. To win.

Because right now, we just don’t have it.

Beating the Gi-‘Aints?

It was fools’ gold. Pure, unadulterated fool’s gold. The Gotham Goobers are truly, truly bad, and not a good measuring stick of where we are as a football team, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Now, big picture, we are not mathematically out of the playoff chase, but realistically, the teams we will need to catch are moving forward with their seasons. We are NOT going to catch the Saints for a division championship, I can say that with complete confidence. Today, we went backwards. And we have a pumped-up Vikings team to handle next week. Even a victory there won’t restore the hope I had two weeks ago.

I resign myself to another season of underachieving , and putting my faith in the mechanizations of a general manager that’s not afraid to make bold decisions to improve this football team.

The Braves are on and beating the Dodgers, so I’m also failing at caring anymore about today’s game.

I have other things to care about.  Thanks for tuning into the Pantherfanz “Rant Of The Week”

Chop on.

Gotta Comment?

Email me, The Cedar Street Seer

CaptnTee@aol.com

A NEW HOPE

After Sunday’s joyous blowout win, which was bordering on a religious experience, I was going to name this week’s rant –

“Coming to Jesus” –

Which of course, connotes a religious experience, but after stewing on what I’d seen, and what’s coming down the pike, I finally came up with another titling, which also connotes religion, as Hope is a word of the faithful, waiting for the moments of joyous deliverance – and those of you who fervently follow the Carolina Panthers must CERTAINLY have it by now – if you don’t, you have a cantankerous gloomy outlook that is antithesis to healthy fandom.

At this moment, I am brimming with it –

Mind you, I’m still wary of the coaching staff, but I couldn't help thinking that Mikey Son Of Jaw and Chef Ron had a meeting with The Almighty Himself, who revealed to them their quarterback, Cam Newton, and all of the wonderful things he’s capable of doing when correctly utilized, when SuperCam ripped off run after run on our nemesis, driving us down the field on our very first offensive possession to an ACTUAL TOUCHDOWN!!! You all were there, or you saw it on TV, so I don’t have to go play by play with you – You know what you saw, and to me it was almost like seeing Mother Mary’s holy visage appearing in the frothy foam of your freshly poured beverage.

At this point, it’s all about BIG PICTURE –

It’s about –

HOPE. 

Look at the league, y’all – Look at the wreckage of winless teams - some, expected, like the Sucky-Neers and Jaggy-whyers. BUT – a look at who else is still looking for just ONE win – teams EXPECTED to contend – The DeadSkins, The Squeelers, The Vikings, and most importantly, the team from Gotham we sent TO THEIR WORST DEFEAT IN FORTY YEARS!!!

Think about that – the last time the Gi-AINTS lost that bad, some of you weren't even EMBRYOS – Cable TV was an experiment, there were 5 or 6 channels on your 19-inch TV, which, if you were lucky, was in colour. Computers were hulking tape-fed behemoths that were denizens of huge universities and corporations, or either benevolent or evil mechanizations in sci-fi movies and novels. You get the ideal.

Now, 1-2’s not anything to boast about, but the very nature by how we got this first win, and who we got it against has to be held in comparison to the rest of the NFC – Who else is 1-2? Just about everyone.  Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle are undefeated for now, but are clear frontrunners. Ok, three more spots – the Cowboys are 2-1, as are the Detroit Lions. I know, I know, it’s FAR too early to contemplate playoffs, but as this is the goal of every team in the league, you have to know that OUR PANTHERS are in the thick of the race! Look at the heavy hitters that were supposed to be contenders – the Duckies, snakebit at 1-2, the Packers, also at 1-2, and the Phoney-Niners all of a sudden disintegrating! Do they have our SMOTHERING front 7? Do they have Cam Newton? Do they have the third ranked rushing attack in the NFL? And, do they have hope?

Like us, Green Bay has the first bye of the season to heal and to game plan the remainder of the season. They lost to Cincinnati in the same fashion WE had been losing close games in! And we, we went into the bye with the LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY – EVER-in our history. It seems to be too early for a bye, but a famous coach once quipped, “It’s always the right time for a bye!” And so it is. And so we have two weeks to dream. To imagine the possibilities .

And to hope.

Look at the upcoming schedule – At Arid-Zona, At the Vikings, at home versus the sucky-once-again Lambs, and then to the Sucky-neers before coming home to crush the Duckies in front of our Canadian brothers… Of course, all games are loseable, but the way things are unfolding this year, ALL GAMES ARE EASILY WINNABLE!

A 6-2 record, going into the last half of the season??? In the Ron Rivera Era???

I have something I DIDN'T have last week –

I have –

Hope…

Gotta Comment?

Email me, The Cedar Street Seer

CaptnTee@aol.com 

TICK.........TICK............TICK..............

It’s the onomatopoeia that describes Time.

Time.

A concept of a universal property only recently fathomed by human beings. At its most expansive, it’s fully understood only by those who possess the highest degrees in physics, who see the universe in all of its infinite wonder at the sub-atomic level.

To you and I and almost everyone else, it’s used to measure all the things in our lives.

Anniversaries. How long to smoke that brisket. How late you’re going to tell Dano you will be to the tailgate party. How long you’ve owned that Camaro. How long it takes you to…

You get the ideal.  It’s far more finite in the real world. And although some physicists may argue the notion, it DOES truly appear relative, to accelerate OR decelerate depending on the variables that are constant at any particular moment.

Tick….Tick….Tick….

Like the moment our TIME-challenged coach decided to neglect the surest way to victory last Sunday, giving our latest opponent ample amounts of time to once again display to the sporting world who cares about such things, and particularly, the Members of Panther Nation, that

He.

Just.

Doesn’t.

Know.

How.

To.

Win.

In.

The .

N

F

L.

The statistics speak for themselves. And as it relates to time,

I truly believe that TIME is up for the coaching tenure of Ron Rivera.  Some of you may argue that he was handicapped by the triplicate of injuries to our defensive backfield. Nonsense. You STILL had the Bills PRECISELY where you needed them!   I remember Dano turning to me when we kicked the final field goal, and saying  -

“We’re going to lose this game – you watch”

Tick…Tick…Tick….

And he was right.

My mind goes back to one of my favorite stories in one of my favorite sermons my old pastor preached years ago – Itzak Perlman, one of the monolith violinists in human history, gave a concert in Tel Aviv, and upon starting his concerto, one of his strings popped, to the horror in the audience, but he continued to effortlessly glide his bow across the remaining strings, when – yet ANOTHER string popped! And yet, Mr. Perlman  continued his piece, not missing a note, and concluded to thunderous applause by an emotionally spent audience – When asked  HOW he was able to complete such a complex piece of music with only two strings on his Stradivarius, he replied –

“I used what God left for me”

We have what we have.  A powerful defensive front 7.  A talented group of offensive players and a frustratingly inconsistent GIFTED quarterback that this coaching staff has NOT FIGURED OUT HOW TO USE.  I believe that even an AVERAGE coach would have taken these pieces, with the TIME allotted, to salt away this game.

There other stories about those who took less than they desperately needed to fulfill any particular mission, project, or even to survive, and SUCCEEDED. These are men and women of exquisite bravery and fortitude. They CHALLENGED TIME, and fate -

Tick…Tick…Tick….

Ron, Ron, Ron. You’ve had a little more than two years to figure this out.  It’s not rocket science. The TIME to win is NOW. We cannot allow any opponent, much less an inferior one, off the hook!  The TIME to success in this league these days has shortened DRAMATICALLY. Rookie head coaches, rookie quarterbacks are making the playoffs as regularly these days as Vladimir Putin appears shirtless on Facebook…

It doesn’t appear that you’ve got it, Ron, and

Time

Is

Running

Out. 

The Giants game may be the Alamo for you.

BUT -

You SLOW TIME with a victory, this Sunday - Make it happen...

Tick….Tick….Tick….

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