A story about Darrell Royal, who passed away Thursday

Legendary Texas football coach Darrell Royal died Thursday at age 88, which reminds me of a story.

When I was seven years old, I was a huge Longhorn football fan. Everyone was where I lived back then – my birthplace of Austin, Texas. Royal by then had won two national championships (in 1963 and 1969) at Texas and was, as you might expect, a virtual king in Austin.

Anyway, I wrote Royal a fan letter. I can’t remember much about it, except it included a couple of illustrations of Longhorns doing various great things with the football and maybe a play-calling suggestion or two (yes, I was trying to tell football coaches what to do back then, too).

And Royal wrote back.

I wish I had saved his letter, but I still have the memory. He had signed his letter, I do remember that, and it had my name at the top. And he had thanked me for my support of Texas football and my drawings (there was no mention of the play-calling, however).

It’s very possible a Texas football secretary had a standard letter to send out in such cases and put them in front of Royal by the dozens to sign every day. But in any case, it was powerful to me.

Those sorts of things too often get lost in athletics sometimes now – the power of a letter, or an autograph, or a player or coach taking a few moments to speak with someone who idolizes him. But if you ever had a moment like that yourself with an athlete or coach, I bet you still remember it (and feel free to share it in comments section below).

I wasn’t a big letter writer at age seven – I believe I only wrote two of them to sports figures. But the other one got answered, too. I’ve told this story before in a column from 10 years ago, but indulge me:

In 1972, I was also a big fan of the L.A. Lakers. Back then, I had written a letter to the coach of the 1971-72 Lakers NBA championship team – Bill Sharman.

Although I hadn’t asked for any autographs in that letter 30 years ago, Sharman had written back from California and enclosed a sheet with all of the team’s signatures – Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich among them. I loved that sheet of paper and stuck it on my bulletin board with thumbtacks. But a few years later, I lost it.

Fast-forward thirty years. Sharman’s son-in-law in Florida somehow saw my 2002 column about my original letter. He told Sharman -- who made basketball's hall of fame as both a player and a coach -- about it.

Sharman, who is now 86 years old and at the time was 76, dug through his files. He found a picture of that 1971-72 team and signed it. He found a copy of that original set of team autographs, which he Xeroxed for me.

Then Sharman stuffed all that in an envelope and sent it to me from California along with a note that concluded, “Thanks for bringing back some very nice, exciting memories!” I still have that one.

And I still have the memory of Darrell Royal, too – who originated the Wishbone, famously disdained the forward pass and once made the day of a seven-year-old boy.

Panther Bests and Worsts at midseason -- what do you think?

I know everyone is a little busy with it being Election Day, so please VOTE before you read this.

OK, you're done? Good. I'm writing a column for Wednesday's newspaper and online with the working title of "Panther Bests & Worsts at Midseason." I'd like your help. I'm trying to pick out some of the most extreme moments, both good and bad, at the halfway point.

UPDATE: HERE'S THE COLUMN that resulted -- I did read closely everyone's comments who submitted something down below and they helped very much in making my final selections.

Some of the categories will be pretty straightforward, like: "Best Player." I'm leaning toward Charles Johnson there, although Luke Kuechly certainly deserves consideration. Other categories may include "Worst Single Play," "Best Single Play," "Worst Coaching Decision," "Worst Call by an Official For and Against the Panthers," "Worst Thing An Announcer Said on TV About the Panthers" and so on. They don't all have to be serious -- I plan to have some fun with this.

If you have any input on the categories and what you'd put in them, leave it in the comments section below. Also, feel free to make up your own category. If you post your comment before 4 p.m., I will be able to read it and take it into account before submitting this story and might even quote from it in my story. So let your voice be heard on Election Day -- twice -- and tell me what Panther moments, both good and bad, you remember most from the first eight games.

P.S. -- Also remember that I moderate my own comments below this blog. Anything goes as long as you don't use profanity (this is the No.1 reason when comments don't get posted) or you don't outright slander someone.

You absolutely don't have to agree with anything I write -- I've been a sportswriter for 25 years now, so I have a very thick skin. But since kids read this blog, too (it ranks as one of the 2-3 most popular blogs on the CharlotteObserver.com website), we're not going to have a bunch of cursing and name-calling on it. Thanks, Scott

What does Ron Rivera need to do in the second half of Panther season to save his job?

No one knows the answer to the question posed in the title of this blog except Panther team owner Jerry Richardson, and he’s not talking.

Rivera used the phrase “trend up” again Monday when I asked him what would be realistic for his 2-6 Carolina Panthers over the season’s final eight games.

“You want to win them all,” said Rivera, whose Panthers host Denver and former Carolina coach John Fox on Sunday. “You want to win as many as you can. What that number is I don’t know…. There’s a lot of people watching. We have to make sure they see we are trying to do things the right way. This game is about production. It’s a business of production.”

A 6-2 second half would show major progress and might save the jobs of Rivera and his staff. Anything less would mean a losing record for the 2012 season and could be the kiss of death.

At 2-6 after Sunday's impressive win at Washington, the Panthers would need to go 7-1 or 8-0 in the second half of the season to make a very unlikely playoff run. That is almost out of the realm of possibility, but not quite. Only two teams left on the Panthers’ schedule (Denver and Atlanta, both home games) have a winning record.

Interesting historical note: In 2004, the Panthers started 1-7. Then they went on a 6-1 tear and ultimately needed to only beat New Orleans at home in the final game of the season to sneak into the playoffs at 8-8. But they lost that one, finishing 7-9.

That season came under Fox, as did three of Carolina’s four playoff seasons and the Panthers’ only Super Bowl appearance. Until the last of his nine seasons, when the team imploded and went 2-14 in 2010, Fox was relatively popular in Charlotte.

Rivera was popular last year, too. But the honeymoon has ended and the tough work has begun. Even after Sunday’s win, Rivera is 8-16 as the Panther coach.

A victory over the Broncos would make Rivera’s life a whole lot easier. Then a trend really might start to take hold at Bank of America Stadium.

But a loss to the favored Broncos would push Rivera one step closer to the precipice.

Panthers whip Washington 21-13 in most complete game of season

The Carolina Panthers just played their best game of the season, breaking a five-game losing streak by whipping Washington, 21-13, Sunday on the road.

What was most impressive about this victory? How many contributors there were for Carolina. The Panthers' defense, first and foremost, was the key.

It didn't allow the Redskins and dangerous rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III into the end zone for the first 58 minutes. And when Washington did finally score with 1:28 to go, Steve Smith recovered the ensuing onside kick and Carolina ran out most of the clock. Washington (3-6) finally got the ball back with 18 seconds left, no timeouts and on its own 17-yard line, and only got one play off for a loss before the game was over.

The Panthers got a strong rush with just their front four for much of the game -- Charles Johnson and Greg Hardy both had huge afternoons. The Panthers also made a key stop early in the game on a fourth-and-goal run by Griffin in which cornerback Josh Thomas blew up the play by forcing Griffin away from the sideline so the pursuit could catch him. Santana Moss was also no factor for Washington. Give defensive coordinator Sean McDermott some credit for this one.

On offense, it wasn't just Cam Newton. DeAngelo Williams scored on a 30-yard rushing TD. Steve Smith scored his first TD of the season on a tough catch and forced two important pass interference penalties.

Most unlikely of all, Armanti Edwards -- yes, that guy -- took advantage of a blown Redskins coverage and went 82 yards with his second career NFL catch. Armanti didn't score, but he set up a touchdown with the play, which went from one 9-yard line to the other.

The Panthers' offensive line was much better (albeit against a Redskins defense that doesn't scare much of anybody). And Newton scored on a rushing TD, gleefully doing his "Superman" routine before the jeering fans. Two of the Panthers' three scoring drives were more than 90 yards -- the first time in franchise history they have had two 90-yard-plus TD drives in the same game.

The Panthers (2-6) should have won last week, too, when they nearly doubled Chicago in yardage and still managed to mess the game up in the fourth quarter. This time, they finished the game the way a team should.

There were quibbles certainly -- Brad Nortman seems to shank one punt per game, Newton's throws were on and off and Hardy and Thomas Davis both picked up silly penalties -- but that's all they were Sunday. Just quibbles. The main things went right, as the Panthers won for the first time since September 16th.

One other note: According to the "Redskins Rule," which has worked 17 of the last 18 presidential elections, the Redskins' loss in their final home game before the election means the incumbent party will lose the presidential race and that Mitt Romney will be elected president Tuesday. If that actually happens, a lot of Republicans owe the Panthers big. (The rule didn't apply in 2004, however -- that was the one miss -- so Democrats can take heart in that).

My Panthers-Redskins prediction and some pregame notes

For a game between two losing teams, Sunday should be a lot of fun. That's primarily because we can watch two young quarterbacks -- Washington's Robert Griffin III, shown above, and Carolina's Cam Newton -- as they try to one-up each other.

Griffin and Newton have very similar skill sets, although Newton is a lot bigger. Griffin's hype very much matches Newton's from a year ago -- there's nothing like a rookie coming in and dazzling people to get ESPN all aflutter. Watching him play against a Panther defense that is very used to mobile quarterbacks, having faced Newton every day, will be cool. Middle linebacker Luke Kuechly will be particularly important for Carolina Sunday, because he's one of the few people in the Panthers' front seven who can keep up with Griffin in the open field.

-- There is far more at stake Sunday than a simple football victory. According to the "Redskins Rule" -- which has proven true in 17 of the 18 presidential elections contested since the Redskins moved to Washington in 1937 -- a Redskins win in the team's final home game before Election Day has meant a win for the incumbent party occupying the White House. A Redskins loss has meant a victory for the challenging party.

The rule didn't work out in 2004, but has every other time. Remarkable, isn't it? So if Washington wins, the "Redskins Rule" says that Barack Obama wins another four years on Tuesday. If the Panthers win, expect Mitt Romney to become the next president.

-- You've gotta love this: According to a story in The Washington Post, Redskins rookie running back Alfred Morris still drives a silver 1991 Mazda 626 with 124,000 miles on it. The pastor at his church sold it to him for two dollars.

-- Expect a high-scoring game, because that's the kind the Redskins usually play. The short version of the Washington scouting report: great offense, terrible defense. The Redskins are dead last in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game, and if Steve Smith doesn't get 100 yards receiving Sunday I will be very surprised. But the Redskins have a strong offense and one that is a lot more balanced than Carolina's because the run is mixed in so effectively.

-- The 1-6 Panthers have made an art out of losing close games this season, having lost their past four by a total of 12 points. I foresee the trend continuing. My predictions haven't been very good this season on the Panthers -- I am 3-4 picking their games because I have trusted them too often. Not this time: Washington 27, Carolina 24.

Photo of 7th-graders dressing up as disgruntled Panther fans for Halloween

Five seventh-grade boys at one of Charlotte's private schools banded together to dress as "Disgruntled Panther Fans" for Halloween 2012. (Photo courtesy of Page Hull).

OK, so the Panthers are getting to that jokey stage now -- the picture above only cements that logic. Last year I saw a lot of kids dressed as Cam Newton for Halloween. This year? Well, the Newton jerseys are still out there, but as you can see from the above photo, some youngsters are becoming a little more creative with them in 2012. That's what happens when you start 1-6. Did anyone else out there see any Panther-oriented costumes for Halloween?

Jordan backs Dunlap's l-o-o-ong practices, says Bobcats must get back to basics

It wasn’t the newsiest section of Michael Jordan’s exclusive interview with The Observer Thursday – that would be either the part where he said he was going to own the Charlotte Bobcats for the “long haul” or when he said he had a definite “interest” in renaming the team the Charlotte Hornets if the New Orleans Hornets ever changed names themselves.

But here was one of the most interesting parts to me that came out of Michael Jordan’s 23-minute “state-of-the-team” interview with five Charlotte Observer sportswriters and editors Thursday on the eve of the team's season opener at home against Indiana Friday.

Jordan addressed the Bobcat players Monday to make sure they knew he endorsed new coach Mike Dunlap’s methods, including the three-hour-plus practices that Dunlap has been prone to holding (one even stretched to four hours). Jordan said he knew some players had been grumbling about the extra work – he didn’t name names – and wanted to set them straight.

“This is what championship teams do,” Jordan said he told the squad, adding that those practices reminded him of his own time in the league. “If we did it in Chicago and we became a championship team, why wouldn’t we want to do that here? If you turn your nose up to it, then maybe you need to look in the mirror and see that you’re a part of the problem.”

Jordan said he was particularly happy with Dunlap’s emphasis on fundamentals, such as: “Boxing out. Making good passes. Utilizing each other’s talents. Understanding basic basketball….. One of the reasons I felt compelled to speak to the team was, ‘Look, I endorse what Coach is talking about.’

“Unfortunately we had some guys who were not receiving it that way…. They didn’t want to do it. And I felt the need to step in and say, ‘Look, this is how we’re going to do this. The culture of what’s happening in Charlotte is going to be this. Either you buy in or you’re not going to be here.’

Jordan said he thought his message had been received, but that he wanted Dunlap to reiterate the message of getting back to basics all season.