Real Fans Go Through Thick and Thin

The view was pretty good until the game actually started.

I see so many Facebook updates from Panthers "fans" saying they refuse to spend their hard-earned money to go watch the losing product.  Honestly, I can't take these people seriously.  If you're from Charlotte and want to be called a sports fan, then the Panthers are your team, and you had better support them through thick and thin.  Besides, it's not like we haven't had success here; a lot of real fans around the league would love to trade their last fifteen years for ours.

I had planned to write a lengthy dissertation about the state of the team, essentially centered around the poor draft selection outside the first round and an inability to develop another quarterback to take over when the wheels finally fell off for Jake Delhomme.  My most passionate rant was going to be centered around owner Jerry Richardson's disconnect with the fans and a lack of explanation from the front office as to what in the world the plan was this year and in the years going forward, with so many veterans having been released in favor of a youth movement under the guidance of a lame-duck coach.  That rant was tossed aside, however, when Richardson and team President Danny Morrison (formerly the athletic director at Texas Christian) began calling and e-mailing fans who had voiced their displeasure with the current state of affairs.  I have never, in my twenty-plus years of following sports, ever heard of an instance where a team owner and president were actually making personal contact with fans who were upset about a losing season.  So much for my rant about everybody being disconnected.

Here's the thing, though:  imagine how cool it would have been had I written that post when I originally planned to, then been able to come back and explain everything Richardson and Morrison were doing?  I guess the lesson here is that if I want to be taken seriously as a writer, I cannot procrastinate.

The Panthers lost to the Saints 34-3; luckily, the company was good and we had some drunk rednecks in our section to keep our eyes shielded from what happened on the field.  I don't think I have to tell you that I will be paying to go to more games this season, though.  I am a real fan.  This is my city, and whether your like it or not, the Panthers are my team.