Phelps, Berens, Robison and the UltraSwim

Michael Phelps and Ricky Berens both won big events on the final night of the Charlotte UltraSwim -- Phelps to avoid a shutout at the UltraSwim, and Berens to win his first event at the meet in about 10 years of trying.

Those two should be teammates on the 2012 Olympic team -- Phelps of course will make it and Berens will be favored to make it in either the 100 or 200 freestyle (or both).

Phelps had a down meet here for him -- he won only once in three events and, startingly, finished sixth in one of them -- but he's a gamer and surely will improve his stroke when it really matters.

But keep an eye on this name, too -- Scot Robison. He's also from Charlotte. At 22, he's a year younger than Berens, and hasn't been as highly publicized because he didn't make the 2008 Olympic team. However, he has improved to the point where he's on the 2011 U.S. team that will go to the world championships in Shanghai, and he's a definite contender for 2012 as well. Berens and Robison were the only two swimmers to break 50 seconds in the 100 free Sunday night, both going slightly over 49.

Robison went to Virginia, where he was an outstanding swimmer, and will continue to train in Charlottesville as he attempts to make a run for those same Olympics. He's got a shot, as do several members of SwimMAC Carolina's Team Elite (Cullen Jones and Nick Thoman prominent among them).

Bottom line: Charlotte should once again have a strong connection once again to the USA swimming team that represents America in 2012 at the London Olympics.

The Steve Smith saga continues

Interesting reading this week in "Pro Football Weekly," which had an interview with Steve Smith. Here's the link to the full story, written by the fine reporter Eric Edholm, who is a friend of mine and has also gotten close to Smith over the years -- the two of them have at times worked on a not-yet-published biography of Smith.

Here are a few excerpts from the PFW story I found particularly interesting as Smith danced around whether he wanted to be a Panther next season or not (he still has two years and close to $15 million remaining on his contract):

-- On the trade "demand": "First of all, have I demanded a trade? I have not demanded a trade. What I have asked for is to be in a competitive situation. I sat down with Marty a lot of times prior to the lockout. I am respected as a veteran amongst the players as well as the front office. So there has been dialogue (about his future in Carolina) prior to the lockout."

-- On his house being on the market and what that means: "I think it's important that people realize I am not packing my bags. As far as why my house is for sale, we built this huge house and we just don't have any business living in it. It seemed like a great idea, and then we moved into this big house.
"We started cringing at all that space we had. For me, it was a little bit vain that I have this big house with this big yard. People saw my house was on sale and said it was me sending a message. Really the message I sent was to my kids: Dad made a mistake. This isn't how we are supposed to live. This isn't what I should be projecting. If we don't do this now, what incentive do I give my kids to reach for? You make a lot of money and then you go blow it? I don't want to be a statistic. I want to be a good steward."

-- On if he expects to be traded (San Diego and Oakland have both been mentioned as possible destinations): "Do I expect to be traded? Really ... to be honest, I am not sure what to expect. That's the truth. Could I see a situation where I stay (in Carolina)? In my mind, I have played out every scenario: I could be moved, I could be cut, I could stay or I could be locked out. Honestly, my family and I are prepared for whatever steps are presented in front of us."

-- On what he wants in 2011 wherever he plays: "The thing that is important to me is that wherever I am (next season), I don't want to go through the mental grind that I have experienced the last two years professionally," he said. "In the last two years, my actions a lot of times have given people the impression that I am disgruntled. That is the emotion that sometimes gives people the opinion that I am volatile.
"What I have been through, really the last two and even three years, I started to doubt my ability. I have been insecure about playing. At times I often have lined up on Sundays — before and during games — wondering if I would be lucky enough to catch more than one pass."

Smith's numbers last season were the worst he has had in a full season since his rookie year (46 catches for 554 yards and only two TDs). PFW reports Smith also played through a quad pull, a left leg injury and a rolled ankle for much of the 2010season.

"Did I lose a step?" Smith asked in the interview. "Anyone would lose a step when you're playing on one leg. I just tried to play through it, and ultimately I looked slow. Instead of 31 (years old), I looked 41. Instead of coming out and gathering myself and taking a backseat, I tried to play through it — and it backfired."

Smith also said the changes the Panthers have made in the offseason were "foundational" and that he "wasn't upset" about them.

So where does all that leave us?

Not much farther down the road, I guess, but at least with a better sense of what Smith is thinking. And, still, with no idea really whether he has played his last game for the Panthers or not.

That's one big ol' honkin' TV ya got there

I wrote my column for Wednesday's newspaper about the new high-def TV screen at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which in true speedway style is apparently the biggest one in the world. It's 200 feet by 80 feet, or 16,000 square feet, and since it's 30 feet off the ground to begin with that means the whole thing is 11 stories high.

The screen itself weighs 165,000 pounds, so more than a couple of folks would be needed to carry it up the stairs should you decide to get one. Cost? Undetermined, but the Dallas Cowboys Stadium video screens (2 of 'em, but each about 30 percent smaller than this one) cost a total of $40 million.

It's really, really cool, and I'm not that much of a gadget guy. But this will change the way people watch races at the speedway, forever. DO NOT ever buy a ticket where you can't see that screen -- and there are some -- because your experience will be diminished for it.

I also proposed in the column that if the TV is ever non-operational that everyone in the speedway should get at least a 20 percent refund on the cost of their tickets. Because once they see that screen in action, they aren't ever going to want to watch a race without it again.

One note: The screen won't simply broadcast the TV feed of the race (the big ones this year are the all-star race May 21st and the Coca-Cola 600 on May 29th). It will have access to that feed, but it will also have access to a number of other in-house cameras and will be going from one thing to another. The sound won't be the TV feed, either -- at least not usually. It will still be the vroom of the cars.

Why would Newsome leave Butler for Kannapolis?

Let’s say you’re a high school football coach. You went 31-0 the past two seasons, winning two straight state championships, with some of the best talent not only in North Carolina but in all of America. You won your last state championship game in a nailbiter – 44-0.

Why would you leave that job for another head-coaching job in another North Carolina town?

Because that town is Kannapolis, and that school is A.L. Brown.
What Mike Newsome is doing today – leaving the "31-wins-in-a-row" Butler dynasty to take over at A.L. Brown, which is a smaller school in a smaller place – may not make sense to outsiders but makes perfect sense to me.

If they filmed “Friday Night Lights” in North Carolina, they would film it in Kannapolis. Newsome, 39, told me Monday night he had never actually been to a Friday night football game at A.L. Brown, because he was always coaching in one. "I've only heard about it," he said. Well, he's in for a major treat.

Bruce Hardin knows this. The legendary high school coach now coaches Providence Day, but he spent 11 glorious years at A.L. Brown before leaving in 2000.

“The football game is the social event of the week there,” Hardin told me Monday afternoon, “and I say that in a very respectful way. People absolutely loved it. Everyone pitches in to really make the program work.”

Although the textile mill that long nurtured the town is now closed, Kannapolis retains that small-town, 1950s feel. In the late 1990s, I wrote a four-part series for The Observer about the A.L. Brown program, spending hours with the team and in the town. I left Kannapolis each time feeling a little like I had emerged from a time capsule when I got back on Interstate 85 and headed out – the whole place felt a little like the land that time forgot.

“There would be times,” Hardin said, “where I’d be putting out the padding on the goalposts at about 1:30 p.m. on a Friday. I’d see people already up at the gate, which was locked. I’d ride up there and say, ‘Folks, I’m sorry, but we’re not open, and I won’t have anyone here to open the gates until 6 p.m. They’d say, ‘That’s OK, coach, we just want to be the first ones in.’”

Sure, the Butler-Independence rivalry is big-time, but for my money A.L. Brown vs. Concord surpasses it in terms of sheer fan fervor.

In terms of sheer talent on the field, no. In terms of passion? Yes.

“People really care about football there, and that’s all the time,” said Hardin, who during his 11 years at A.L. Brown and also coached his twin sons Justin and Blair (now coaches) to very successful football careers. “Mike will need to feed that, and I’m sure he will.”

Unlike Hardin, who was both football coach and athletic director at A.L. Brown, Newsome will concentrate on coaching football and teaching science. He won't be the AD.

"That's fine with me," Newsome said. "I'll have plenty to do."

Clemson dominates at Wells Fargo

It was pretty cool to see the Wells Fargo Championship turn a vibrant shade of Clemson orange Sunday evening, as two former Tiger teammates and close friends fought their way into a sudden-death playoff – and then found themselves facing each other.

Lucas Glover and Jonathan Byrd played college golf together for three years at Clemson. Before that, they had played junior golf against each other in South Carolina. But while they have played hundreds of rounds together, they had never battled in a PGA Tour playoff until Sunday.

The bearded Glover won with a four-foot par putt on the one extra hole they played, No.18 at Quail Hollow Club, shaking his left fist at the sky as the ball found the cup.

Byrd had made a dramatic birdie at the same hole 20 minutes before to force the playoff – a birdie Glover had correctly predicted in an interview during the CBS telecast.

When Byrd dropped the 14-foot putt to a thunderous roar from the sellout crowd to force overtime, Glover said simply: "Told ya."

But Glover – who had not won a tournament since the 2009 U.S. Open – stayed tranquil. He gave Byrd a hug shortly before the playoff. Then he striped his drive down the center of the fairway, while Byrd hit his into a fairway bunker and never could recover. Glover parred the lone playoff hole, Byrd bogeyed it and that was that.

Glover won $1.17 million for his victory -- his first since the 2009 U.S. Open. Byrd got $702,000 for second place. So that's a whole lot of green for both of them -- and a whole lot for the folks clad in orange to be proud about.

Racing, Revolution and the Ron Greens

I have been remiss in not posting the links to two columns I wrote earlier in the week. One was on the renaming of Revolution Park Golf Course for Charlie Sifford, which officially happened Tuesday. Sifford, 88, joked that the greens fees would be going up the following Monday.

The other was on Mucho Macho Man, a Kentucky Derby horse who runs Saturday. Jim Culver, who lives in Hickory and is in the horse business, owns 10 percent of the horse and is in Churchill Downs hoping to catch "lightning in a bottle," as he says. The Derby is Saturday. Mucho Macho Man is 12-1.

I'm at Quail Hollow today, intending to write a column on the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship. It is a testament to our outstanding lead golf writer, Ron Green Jr., that when I was at Revolution doing the story on Sifford this week, I was three times mistaken for Ron. I understand.

The thing is that people always expect Ron to be at anything important that happens in golf around Charlotte, and since I bear a passing resemblance to him, that sort of thing will happen. I'm sure it will happen at Quail Hollow, too.

When they start asking about how my dad is, though, and I know they mean esteemed longtime Observer columnist Ron Green Sr., I tell them he's very well but then I have to break the news to them that I'm really not Ron, I'm Scott.

Their faces almost invariably fall at that moment.

A BIG May ahead in sports

While the NFL draft is over (and the players remain in limbo because of the re-instituted lockout), we've got quite a May coming up in the Charlotte-area sports world. May is one of my favorite months on our local sports calendar, as it includes more variety than almost any other month.

For instance:

1) The Wells Fargo Championship runs Thursday through Sunday -- here's an excellent story from Ron Green Jr. about the preparations.

2) The Charlotte Checkers -- one of the few successful pro sports franchises in Charlotte in terms of win-loss record -- are in the playoffs. You can get ticket info here.

3) The UltraSwim, which once again will feature Michael Phelps and also this time a unique "duel in the pool" between two Olympic-level swimmers who live in Charlotte, runs May 12-15.

4) The Kentucky Derby is Saturday. Not a local event, I know, but it has a Hickory connection this year. Watch for my column on that in Tuesday's newspaper and online.

5) Last but not least, Charlotte Motor Speedway will host its two biggest races of the year in May -- the all-star race May 21st and the Coca-Cola 600 May 29th. NASCAR's induction of its second hall of fame class also comes this month.