Winners of the 7-9 contest are....

My crowdsourced column on “The Curse of 7-9” is in Sunday’s Charlotte Observer and can also be found online here. In the column, I pointed out the Panthers have gone 7-9 seven times – including in 2012. And I asked fans how it felt. I used 20 of the more than 200 responses I got in the published column (many of them came from an item on this blog asking for submissions).

The 20 that made the column are listed below. If one of them is yours and you want a FREE signed copy of my 2004 book on the Panthers published shortly after their Super Bowl appearance – called “Tales from the Carolina Panthers Sideline” – as a token of my appreciation, let me know your name and address and which one-liner you wrote. I have several of the winners' names already but need more of them.

Many more responses were very good and could have been published as well –there were many references to “Groundhog Day” and takeoffs on "it is what it is" -- but I ran out of room. Thanks to all who participated.

A list of the winners….br />
Every time the Panthers go 7-9, it feels like: br />
…. you were promised a trip to Athens and Rome and ended up in north Georgia.

.... watching an insect continually fly into a closed glass door.

…. Jennifer Aniston is off the market again. I know I didn’t realistically have a chance, but it still sucks.

…. making it all the way home just to find out they forgot to put your fries in the bag.

....that time at the bar when that smokin' hot girl locked eyes with you and smiled, but only because you had a peanut stuck to your cheek.

…. that boy who loosens his arm will soon be signed.

… it must be time for the annual Jerry Richardson Celebrity Golf Cart Classic.

…. trying to get excited about prom night when you are home schooled.

……my PSL stands for Panthers Stink, Lose.

…. the terrorists are winning.

…. A ticket price increase is coming.

…. winning 100 percent of the time 43 percent of the time.

.…. Cam Newton just called me sweetheart.

…. my Kerry Collins jersey fits a little tighter.

….. the numbing mediocrity of taking a lukewarm bath at an two-star airport hotel on the last night of a semi-fun, semi-miserable family vacation.

…. rain when they were predicting snow.

…. DeAngelo Williams’ acting career – dreadful.

… someone is owed a beating with the “Keep Pounding” hammer.

…. a family reunion of hope and despair.

.… we have to help the sportswriters come up with something to fill their columns.