Okay, so now that the move is done, lets get back to looking around the web for interesting stuff — like David Fleming’s attempt to turn the Carolina Panthers into the NFL version of It’s a Wonderful Life on ESPN.com. It doesn’t quite work, but hey, it’s Christmas time, Vince Guaraldi songs are on my MP3 player, and I’m in a generous mood…
Oh, and David? Nobody said the NFC was boring. Inferior, yes, but boring? C’mon, unless you’re a Cardinals fan, how could the NFL in December be boring?
There’s a real honest-to-goodness Christmas miracle going on down here with the Carolina Panthers. Even with five of their best players out for the season, even with a QB playing with a mangled sausage thumb, even with a running back who started the season SIXTH on the depth chart (72-year-old Ric Flair is seventh, by the way), the Panthers are somehow in position to become the first team to make the playoffs after starting 1-7.
And as usual, despite a performance worthy of two NFL Coach of the Year honors, Carolina’s John Fox refuses to accept any credit for the turnaround. It’s the guys in the locker room. Players play, he always says. (Whatever that means.) The guys just stepped up. Give credit to my assistant coaches. I had nothing to do with it. The guys didn’t quit.
Close your eyes for a second — it probably wouldn’t matter one lick if I’d ever been born — and you’d swear it was George Bailey from “It’s a Wonderful Life” talking, and not Fox. Which means Mike Vick, the guy who could spoil everything this weekend, gets to play the mean old Mr. Potter in this column…