RESPECT

Respect. Everyone talks about it, everyone wants it........or do they??? So far this year I've been the happiest who in whoville, barring one game/kick that my anger management teacher says I shouldn't discuss. But even as I'm glowing that the Panthers are 3-1 and on top of an underrated division, I find one thing about this season that is starting to get on my nerves.....lack of respect.

Does it really matter??? No.
Does that imply that it doesn't mean anything??? No.

Although a few of the "experts"(and I use that term very, very loosely) on a site or two are giving us a little respect, most are still waiting for us to lose so they can say I told you so.

Everything I've read from the Panther's camp has stated that they don't care one way or the other if they get respect......and to tell you the truth I don't either as long as we keep winning. I'd just like to know that people other than the ones on this board acknowledge the fact that we aren't a bad football team, in fact I'll go out on a limb and say right now we are a good football team.

Any guesses on how long it will take to erase the memory of last year and 1-15 in people's minds????

 

winning football games earns respect

 

and more importantly, wins mean not losing. I couldn't give less of a fuck what some writer in Detroit thinks about Carolina, whether they feel a team's worth respect, much less enough to be so bitter to be using that old tired "so called expert" thing.

 

The Panthers earned more respect with the loss to GB than all 3 wins put together. After 4 games, Buc fans are worried, they're worried about playing the last place team in the division too. The Saints had a wake up call. At this point, 3 of the 4 teams in the division could be in the play-offs. We have the leagues #1 defense, up 30 places. Foster and Moose could be back in two weeks. If we beat Arizona, it'll be the best start in franchise history. I don't know how much more we could ask for at this point really. Trust me, there's respect.

 

We got very little respect in '96, remember?
People started jumpin' on the bandwagon, yet still saying we were "overachievers" after game #12 when we beat the Giants on National TV handily, on ESPN. We went to 8-4 that night.
Tho, people were still saying it was an aborration and San Fran would beat us in the next to last game so we wouldn't sweep them and they would win the division and repeat the SB. Then we beat them, but said they'd win the div anyway because we would lose against Pittsburg the last game, and they would be one game up. The Panthers proved all the nay-sayers wrong that year, big-time.
I don't want to be hyped up too much. I'd rather go 8-8, or sneak into the playoff quitely, than get a bunch of hype now and go 7-9, or worse, and be labeled a dissapointment. The pundits are just chomping at the bit, waiting for that to happen.

Just wait, if the Chargers start losing any at all, they will lose what respect they have been getting.

 

with Peete at QB we will never, ever get respect.

i don't care if we win the SB. course that'll never happen but if it did they still wouldn't give us any respect. instead, the purists will try to figure out how in the hell the nfl got so messed up that such a lousy team from hicksville could win the SB with such a lousy QB.

to help prepare an explanation for the improbable event of the Panthers making the playoffs, the nfl has already begun the process of trying to create superstars outa some of our players -- Rucker to name one. this is an entertainment business. the money is in creating stars not the hard work and the boring meat and potatoes, just try not to lose the game brand of football the Panthers are playing. not that Rucker doesn't deserve some attention. but nfl player of the month? come on. he's a good player but he is no superstar. and that's the problem with the Panthers. they're a team without any superstars (and hardly any players that could be considered a star). for the most part, we are a bunch of no-names and rightly so.

so, look for the nfl marketing dept. to start working overtime to try to create some stars of the Panthers if they keep on winning. but i don't think anyone outside Carolina is gonna bite. they considered us a fluke in '96 and will consider us one again. the cowgirl fans will continue to look down their nose at us even if we beat them again in a couple of weeks. (course, that's a cowgirl fan for ya. biggest bunch of dipshits in the entire country, and that's saying it nicely.) best we might get is Cinderella Story or David vs Goliath or Accidents Happen. but afterall, we have Peete and we're nothing but a bunch of dumb, friendly hicks.

course with winning, no matter how ya do it, comes the making of heros in the hometown, which our boys will soon be if they keep it up. hope they handle it well.

me, i don't care if they ever give us respect. i'm just gonna take the wins when we get them and enjoy it even more knowing that we beat the crap outa whoever with R. Peete and Co . . . and i'm really going to enjoy reading as their press starts whining and calling for coaches and QB heads (and receivers heads). i'm also gonna enjoy seeing the naysayers on this board eat crow.

You don't think the AZ coaches and Plummer aren't sweating blood preparing for this game. Like GB, they will come out with all sorts of smoke and mirrors early trying to jump up on us and slow down Peppers and hurt Peete. best case for AZ -- they're gonna be in for a long day and lose a close one. worst case -- they're gonna be in for a long day and get embarrassed. the Panthers are for real. get use to it.

damn, i think i'm already starting to buy some of that nfl marketing dept. hype. just call me shallow headcase.

anybody else wonder about who's working on Fox's image? carrect me if i'm wrong, but didn't he start out on the sidelines and doing interviews chewing tobaccy, then switched to a huge wad of gum, to the last game of having nothing in his mouth? i worry about these things. i personally liked the tobaccy. i'm thinking a NASCAR cap and buckle and some Panther blue 'gator skin cowboy boots would be good too. Seefart just always looked outa place here with his California shades and cool demeanor.

 

Headcase.. are you sure you're a Panthers fan?

Most of that post doesn't sound like it.

 

How could one not respect the leagues top rated D? We're giving up 10.3 ppg, only 41 points. Some D's are giving that up per game right now, close to it anyway.
Granted, our offense is a mild flavor of vanilla and we haven't played any real good team yet, but we've won when most thought we wouldn't and we took GB to the wire.
I don't know that our D will finish the season #1, but I'd bet they'll be top five, baring the injury bug. The offense, while not electrifying, is efficient and WE control the pace of the game.
Respect is a dish best served later for this team. Keep putting them down, I like the way they step to the challenge when placed behind the 8 ball by the pundits. I fear if they were to get any respect, the product might be damaged.