Thoughts on No.1 pick

If you haven't read this story yet from Joe Person about the eight primary candidates for the Carolina Panthers and their No.1 pick, you should. Go ahead, I'll wait.

OK, finished? Now here are my thoughts on what the Panthers should do with that No.1 pick they earned by virtue of their 2-14 record in 2010. I haven't moved much off my position stated in this blog a month ago -- that the best option is to either pick Auburn DT Nick Fairley or trade the pick.

But I am OK with one more option now, too -- drafting Auburn QB Cam Newton.

As I've said before, Fairley reminds me of Kris Jenkins in his prime at Carolina, before he got too fat and his knees could no longer support that enormous body. Jenkins made life so much easier for everyone else on the defense -- but particularly the Panther linebackers and their defensive ends -- because he either took up two blockers on every play or he disrupted everything.

Like Jenkins, Fairley has his own baggage. But I’d still pick him over Clemson’s Da’Quan Bowers. I’d do that in part because the Panthers need DT help more than DE help (this is assuming they keep Charles Johnson, of course).

But... and this is a big but... I'm all right now with drafting Cam Newton, too.

The more I think about it, the more I believe picking Newton would be worth the risk on character issues and strong-but-erratic arm issues. He wins everywhere he goes, and he's charismatic and he plays what is easily the most important position on the field. I like him more than Blaine Gabbert, who strikes me as a little too similar to Jimmy Clausen. Keep his father way, wa-a-a-a-y away from everything, and I think he could work out here, too.

So with less than two months to go before the draft, I'm restating my position from my Jan.28th blog just a little. With the No.1 pick, I believe the Panthers should either pick Fairley, pick Newton or trade it away.

Brad who?

The Charlotte 49ers didn't exactly make national headline news by the hiring of Brad Lambert as their first head football coach -- which is expected to be officially announced Tuesday at a press conference but our David Scott is reporting today.

Lambert is an obscure assistant -- as just about all assistant football coaches are -- who is currently the defensive coordinator for Wake Forest. He's coached some very good players at Wake, but his most recent defense was pretty horrible in the Division I-A statistics.

So the hiring will, of course, be ripped by those who love to jump to conclusions with Internet comments and on talk radio. Lambert is not a "name" and is not currently at a football power. Thus, many will conclude, he must be the wrong guy.

The hiring reminds me of UNCC AD Judy Rose's recent hire of Alan Major -- also in his 40s, also a career assistant and also really wanting to start his own program. Major has struggled mightily in his first season as a 49ers coach. He did have one advantage when hired in that his most recent employer was Ohio State, which currently has a great basketball program. That bought him a little more credibility.

Lambert, though, will have to do this the hard way. He doesn't have the name recognition of a Chuck Amato (who certainly shouldn't have gotten the job) or a Mike Minter (who was also interested)or anyone like that. He will have to recruit for a program that won't start playing football until 2013 and won't play it at the highest level for many years after that.

Still, I say you've got to give the guy a chance. With what UNCC was paying, they weren't going to get Steve Spurrier.

Lambert obviously must have wowed with his interview, because he's not the obvious choice. And so what? The "name value" of a coach has a very short shelf life once you start playing games (ask the Carolina Panthers about their experience with George Seifert). I'll be interested to hear what Lambert has to say Tuesday, because he just signed on for a difficult job that also has some massive potential.

Mike Maloy, MJ and March Madness

A few weekend notes:

1) I wrote my column today on Mike Maloy, the mysterious former Davidson basketball star who once led the team to two NCAA Elite Eight berths and then basically disappeared. A Davidson student named John Rogers got interested in Maloy's story after hearing about Maloy's death in 2009, and in large part due to Rogers' efforts (and a 20-minute documentary film he and two other students produced) Maloy will be honored today at Davidson.

2) I have already written in this blog about MJ's big gamble in trading away Gerald Wallace (see the post after this one), but watching the Bobcats on TV Friday night I was surprised to see how happy MJ was when Eduardo Najera sank a late 3-pointer under pressure when the game was already put away. The basket had MJ on his feet, laughing and smiling, and you'll notice he hardly ever stands up when seated courtside (MJ owns the 4 seats nearest the Bobcats bench). He sure loved that one, though, and so did Najera -- who slapped hands with a half-dozen fans courtside as he jogged back down the court.

3) March is almost upon us, which means it is time for the greatest college tournament in sports -- the men's NCAA hoops tourney. Remember, Charlotte will host eight teams March 18 and 20 (teams to be determined March 13 on Selection Sunday) in 2nd and 3rd-round games. Less than 3,500 tickets remain.

Jordan's big gamble

Anyone who has been to a Bobcats game knows the "Gerald WALLACE Wall-ace wall-ace" cry that comes from the P.A. man after every Wallace basket. It's an inspired bit -- my kids love to repeat it to each other, at random times, with the name fading away at the end just like the P.A. man says it.

Now Wallace has faded away for good from the Bobcats, and that means this is a sad day in franchise history. Wallace was the last remaining player from the original Bobcats in 2004, and so in some ways this day feels a bit like the one coming sometime when John Kasay and the Panthers part ways.

The trade? It's easy to say the Bobcats got creamed, for what they are getting that is coming in on the airplane is nothing like what is going out. The players, on the other hand, are mostly throwaways.

But two first-round draft choices? Now that you can do something with -- if owner Michael Jordan makes the right choice. And how confident can you be of that? Adam Morrison, Kwame Brown, etc etc.

The visceral reaction I have to the trade is I hate it. Without Wallace, the Bobcats just went from a team with a 50 percent chance to make the postseason to about a 25 percent chance. He was one of the team's two best players (along with Stephen Jackson), and you have to love anybody whose nickname is "Crash." Wallace is a fearless player and a high flyer who was the Bobcats' only all-star (ever). He is also honest, and a good guy.

Then again, his production has been a bit down this year. Sometimes on offense, he just camps in the corner and watches. He's got some miles on him now, and Gerald Henderson (who will play a lot more now) does a number of the same things, although he won't make ESPN SportsCenter as often.

So my more realistic reaction has to be: "We'll see." The picks that the Bobcats make for Wallace, the money that they now have to spend (if they spend it, a huge if given what they did in the Dampier situation) -- that determines if the deal was successful or not.

Maybe the Bobcats finish 11th in the Eastern Conference this year instead of 8th and another first-round sweep or 4-1 series loss, which was going to be inevitable. Does that really matter? Not much. What matters is becoming a truly elite team, which the Bobcats are gambling they can do with this deal.

Ultimately, maybe it works. For now, though, I know my kids -- and a whole lot of other folks -- are going to miss the sound of "Gerald WALLACE wallace wallace" fading away at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Bobcats are less athletic and less interesting for the rest of this season, and if I'm Paul Silas I'm not too fond of this deal in large part because my rebounding and defense just took a major hit, and I got nothing short-term to help me.

As for Jordan? He's playing blackjack again, and with this deal he just took a hit on 16.

Panthers should franchise DE Johnson

I read Darin Gantt's very interesting breakdown of the Panthers' three possibilities for "franchising" in today's newspaper, and here's what I think:

Franchise Charles Johnson.

If the choices are Johnson, center Ryan Kalil and RB DeAngelo Williams and I'm the Panthers, I certainly want to keep all three and hope I can do so.

But if I can only make one of those a near-certainty by franchising him, I'll go with Johnson and here are my 3 reasons why.

1) He plays such a significant position. Having a pass-rushing defensive end is huge, and if you teamed him with Auburn DT Nick Fairley as the No.1 pick, that'd be a heck of a twosome to start your defensive line with. Johnson had 11.5 sacks last season and even though he knew he was playing in a contract year, so what? He still had 11.5 sacks. I don't think he will suddenly get fat and lazy once he gets paid.

Incidentally, I think the Panthers should either draft Fairley or trade the No.1 pick, as I've written before -- I like Fairley a touch more than Clemson's Da'Quan Bowers. But that assumes Panthers keep Johnson, so they already have a guy similar to Bowers on line.

2) As for DeAngelo, I love the way that guy plays. Tough, strong, effective. But Carolina is blessed with two other very good backs in Jonathan Stewart and Mike Goodson. I still think DeAngelo as a runner is the best of all of them, but it's fairly close at this point. It's the one position Carolina has extreme depth, so I wouldn't franchise DeAngelo -- would just take the chance on signing him back in the open market.

3) As for Kalil, he's a smart, strong player. But I think Carolina can get him back -- Kalil has always struck me as a reasonable guy, and like Jordan Gross, I think he would ultimately like to stay in Carolina and will make that happen. Could be wrong, but if they lose someone it's better that it's a center than a pass-rushing DE.

Put it this way. If these three players all hit the open market, Johnson is going to draw the most interest. That's not the only reason you would use a franchise tag on someone, but it gives you a sense of what other teams are thinking.

Bottom line: Try hard to keep all three of these guys, but franchise Charles Johnson to make sure you keep him.

Just what NASCAR needed

If you were the head of NASCAR, I'd say your best-case scenario Sunday would have been a win by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Daytona 500 on the 10th anniversary of his father's death in the second race.

That didn't happen Sunday -- Dale Jr. finished 24th, although he ran up front most of the day. (He crashed late).

But your second-best scenario would be an unlikely winner -- a "Hoosiers" or "Rocky" sort of story. And that NASCAR got, with a win by 20-year-old Trevor Bayne, who is easily the youngest winner in the 53-year history of NASCAR's biggest race. (Here's my column about him).

Bayne drove with the poise of a veteran to hold off Carl Edwards at the end, and he won a lot of people over with his post-race humility. His victory wasn't that fluky -- he had been running in the front pack in every pre-race event there was.

Still... Trevor Bayne?! He's a 20-year-old kid who mainly runs in the Nationwide Series, where he has never won in 51 attempts. This was his second Sprint Cup race.

As I write in my column for Monday's Charlotte Observer:

Bayne is a God-fearing, apple-cheeked, personable 20-year-old. He likes to play the guitar, wear T-shirts, snowboard and Twitter (although not all at the same time).
In other words, Bayne hits an ideal demographic for NASCAR, whose television ratings and attendance dropped dramatically in 2010. But the sport’s next major star might have been born on Sunday.

Bayne is obviously a lot of fun to write about, because he's an unknown, and an underdog, and apparently a good guy who is still too young to buy alcohol. He missed the turn to Victory Lane Sunday; that's how raw this guy is. But what a talent, and what a place to display it.

As Dale Jr's world turns

I wrote my column today on Dale Jr., asking readers to put themselves in the shoes of the 36-year-old driver whose father was NASCAR's Elvis.

It's the third column I've written about Earnhardt Jr. in the past month, and probably the last for awhile. But I felt like I had a little more I wanted to say about racing's most popular driver, and so this was the result.

Now I'm sitting here watching my first-ever Daytona 500 on a beautiful day in Florida. How I've missed this event all my life I'm not sure, but am glad to be able to check it off the bucket list.