2C
SPORTS/tElie C^rlotte $iHit
Thursday, February 5, 2004
Paniliers Inve a lot to buiM onf for tl4 season
Continued from page 1C
Davis, pushed out of
Washington by .then-coach
Steve Spurrier, came home
to the Carolinas and rushed
for a career-best 1,444 yards
while setting a single season
mark for the Panthers and
earning his fourth Pro Bowl
bid.
Delhomme, a career back
up, took over the starting job
in the second half of the sea
son opener. He rallied
Carolina from a 17-0 deficit
that day to the win, the first
of eight second-half come
backs in 14 regular-season
wins.
With Delhomme at the
helm, Carolina never consid
ered itself out of the game as
he helped the Panthers to a
7-0 mark in games decided
by three points or less and 8-
0 when scoring at least 21
points.
Still, neither felt like
reflecting on their accom
plishments after losing to
New England.
“I am feeling a httle bad
and sad and mad,” Davis
said. “But nobody in that
locker room can drop their
head because all the guys
went out and proved some
thing this year and we just
feU short.”
Delhomme was already
looking ahead to next sea
son.
“I don’t know if I can take
any solace in getting this
far,” Delhomme said. “I hope
we’re not forgotten and you
always want to come back
here again. Deep down in my
heart, I think we will be.
“I hope we’ll be in
Jacksonville (at the Super
Bowl) next year fighting
again.”
But first, a series of offsea
son decisions will have to be
made.
Smith is a restricted free
agent who took it personally
when the Panthers declined
to open contract talks with
him earlier this season.
Muhsin Muhammad will
count for more than $6 mil
lion against the salary cap
next year - a steep figure for
a No. 2 receiver who has
evolved into a blocker in
Carolina’s run-first offense.
Making a run at a top-
name receiver would not be
out of the question for the
Panthers, who head into free
agency about $12 million
under the salary cap.
Starting safety Deon
Grant is also a free agent,
but said he wants to stay in
Carolina.
The Panthers, who focused
on offense last spring by tak
ing a pair of offensive line
men in the first two rounds
of the draft, will likely try to
shore up its secondary this
time around.
Although rookie Ricky
Manning Jr. had a sohd post
season with four intercep
tions, Carolina is in desper
ate need of a shutdown cor
ner.
If his first two seasons are
any indication. Fox will work
hard to get the Panthers
back to this level again.
“It’s been a great ride and
I’m veiy proud of the way
they fought,” he said. “We
just came up a little short.
We have a lot to build on.”
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Continued from page 1C
Panthers franchise. But it
would be deeply careless to
point to that as a reason to
diminish sports and the peo
ple who play them.
Surely, after episodes such
as the Enron scandal or the
Martha Stewart fiasco,
you’re not going to discour
age your kid from becoming
a CEO.
Now, don’t get me wrong.
I’m not saying playing a
sport is the most important
occupation one could have.
Fm not saying we need to
throw out all of our kids’
textbooks and replace them
with playbooks that show
them how to attack the 3-4
defense with an empty back-
field. Truthfully, we do need
lawyers and engineers and
teachers in our society, and
we need them much worse
than we need professional
athletes.
But to act as if lawyers and
engineers and teachers are
the only types of people who
make a great difference in
our society is wrong.
Remember the days follow
ing the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001? People could
n’t wait until the country
returned to play football and
baseball.
Braves face new challenges as season nears
By Paul Newberry
THE ASSOCIATED EIIESS
ATIjANTA — John Smoltz
isn’t quite as pessimistic as a
few months ago, when he
had just endured another
operation on his elbow and
another disheartening loss in
the playoffs.
Remember, spring training
is just around the comer. The
numbing cold of winter will
soon be replaced by soothing,
sun-soaked days in Florida.
It’s a time for hope, a time for
optimism.
Still, when Smoltz looked
around the Turner Field
clubhouse on Monday, he
couldn’t help but wonder how
the Atlanta Braves will pull
off a 13th straight division
title.
Greg Maddux’s old locker?
Empty. Gary Sheffield’s for
mer stall? Now occupied by
rookie first baseman Adam
LaRoche. Javy Lopez and
Vinny Castilla? They’re gone,
too.
“This is not a team that’s
going to be able to rely on
past experiences,” Smoltz
said, a bit of resignation in
his voice. “We’re not going to
be able to just ride it out and
keep saying, ‘We know we’ll
be there at the end.”’
Indeed, the Braves no
longer have the look of a
favorite in the NL East, not
after the gut-wrenching
changes of this offseason.
Sheffield, Lopez, Castilla and
Robert Fick moved on, taking
away 115 homers and 397
RBIs. Maddux also left,
depriving the rotation of a
guy who has four Cy Young
awards and 16 straight sea
sons of at least 15 wins.
The Braves traded for
injury plagued J.D. Drew to
take Sheffield’s place in right
field. Lopez will be succeeded
at catcher by Johnny
Estrada, who spent most of
last season in Triple-A. The
comers of the infield are now
manned by LaRoche and for
mer utihty infielder Mark
DeRosa. Maddux’s spot in
the rotation will be taken by
journeyman John Thomson.
“We can’t expect the guys
coming in here to be the guys
who left,” said Smoltz, who
joined nearly two dozen play
ers at 'Turner Field for
“Camp Leo,” the pre-spring
training camp run by pitch
ing coach Leo Mazzone.
While the Braves were cut
ting payroll - at least $15
million — the rival
Philadelphia Phillies were
going through a major
upgrade. 'Theyll move into a
new stadium with new closer
Billy Wagner and new
starter Eric Milton.
And, oh yeah, the Braves
also must get by the World
Series champion Florida
Marlins, armed with one of
the best young rotations in
the game.
Atlanta’s cost-cutting man
date didn’t sit well with the
players who are returning in
2004.
“It’s disappointing,” left
fielder Chipper Jones said.
“This kind of situation never
would have happened eight
or 10 years ago.”
Despite all the losses, gen
eral manager John
Schuerholz believes the
Braves still have enough tal
ent to contend for that elu
sive World Series champi
onship. He is quick to point
out that a payroll in the
neighborhood of $80 million
is higher than the last two
Series winners - Anaheim in
2002 and Florida last season.
“We were challenged,”
Schuerholz said. “But under
the circumstances, I thought
we did real well.”
Smoltz wasn’t feelipg too
good as the offseason began.
'The closer underwent elbow
surgeiy just days after the
Braves were ehminated in
the first round of the playoffs
by the Chicago Cubs. He was
ticked off by the impending
loss of so many valuable
players. He floated the idea
of being a starter again. He
even went so far as to criti
cize teammates who hid out
from the media after the
Game 5 loss.
Smoltz said he wasn’t sin
gling out anyone, but it was
viewed as a slap against
Jones, who was nowhere to
be found after the final post
season game.
There are no apparent hard
feelings between two of the
team’s most prominent play
ers, though Smoltz said he
would clear the air if neces
sary.
Explaining his side of
things, Jones said, “After
that fifth game, I didn’t have
anything nice to say. I wasn’t
going to just offer the obliga-
toiy congratulations to the
Cubs. I’m not that kind of
person. If John wants to do it,
that’s his decision.”
Jones said he didn’t take
Smoltz’s comments personal
ly-
“It’s all water under the
bridge.” Jones said. “It was
probably just the frustration
of losing coming out in him. I
understand that. In the
future, I will try to oblige Mr.
Smoltz whenever we get
beat.”
Smoltz approached last
season with a sense of des
peration, believing a champi
onship might keep the team
together.
“If we had won it all, I don’t
think all of this would have
happened,” he said. “That’s
why I was like, “Man, don’t
blow this one.’ I don’t think
any of this was written in
stone if we had won a cham
pionship.”
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Williams, Bulls agree on $3
million NBA contract buyout
Continued from page 1C
team, including the Charlotte Bobcats, who
could bring him in to stock the expansion
franchise with a young player with some local
appeal. The Bobcats open their inaugural sea
son in October.
Williams 22, led Duke to a national title as
a sophomore. He came to the Bulls a year
later with great expectations but had his ups-
and-downs as a rookie, finally losing his start
ing spot. He averaged 9.5 points as a rookie.
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