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It’s been quite a while since I last posted here, on some of the latest goings-on around the web on our Carolina Panthers, but the going was slow, and now that their first preseason game is tucked away, news seems to be shooting through the roof — more than what I’ve become accustomed to of late, anyway.

There’s another talker out there, who has an opinion on Steve Smith; this one coming from SI.com. GK, my partner in crime, has the story for you already. However, I still have to offer my two cents.

I have to wonder, how is the New York Giants’ Steve Smith a more stable option than Smitty, based on one full season of play? I could be sarcastic with my multiple interpretations of the meaning behind the title, but I’ll be straight forward, as it’s obviously about fantasy football.

Is Steve Smith, Jr. the No. 1 wide receiver for the Giants now? Will he be the go-to guy for Eli Manning when it’s crunch time, if the Giants have fiddled away most of a game with questionable plays?

Last I checked, there were at least two — maybe three — other very good and capable receivers along with Smith: Ramses Barden, Hakeem Nicks, and Mario Manningham.

I’ll finish by saying, if you want to be the man, you have to beat the man. So far, Junior hasn’t shown a whole lot to convince me that he is better or more stable than THE Steve Smith. Might he be? Sure. But at this point, Junior has a ways to go before he catches up to Smitty, who has five Pro Bowl appearances and a “Triple Crown” winner on his resume. Not to mention, Smith has accomplished a lot more with less. You can throw in the argument of “which receiver has a Super Bowl ring?” But that’s the easy way out. And to you I ask, who put that win away for the Giants? In the end it was David Tyree and Plaxico Burress.

Don’t make me go to YouTube and drag out the recent highlight reels of our Steve Smith.

Anywho…onto the multiple Panthers tidbits from around the web. (more…)

“Are we there yet?”

I must confess. I remember two years ago at one of the forums I haunt, posing the question: “Are we on the tail end of an era or starting a new one?”

Turns out, I got my answer. Not long after that, general manager Marty Hurney was making deals with the Philadelphia Eagles to obtain offensive tackle Jeff Otah, in a deal that would eventually land defensive end Everette Brown a year later. It ended up that he was, knowingly or not, crafting the beginnings of a new era of Panthers football. (more…)