The NFL Panthers are "trying to win back some of the fans they lost during last year's dismal 2-14 season," according to Joseph Person of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The arrival of rookie QB Cam Newton has "helped energize the fan base." First-year coach Ron Rivera and his staff "have installed an attacking defense and an exciting, pass-first offense that features a heavy dose of deep throws." Still, Rivera "understands establishing a home-field advantage is a process." He said of the crowd for Sunday's game against the Redskins at Bank of America Stadium, "It was a pretty raucous crowd with a lot of Redskins fans in the crowd. We want to look up and see a sea of blue." With more than 60,000 PSL owners, the Panthers "have a strong season-ticket base for their roughly 73,500-seat stadium." The team has "sold out 89 consecutive games." But the stadium is "not always filled with Panthers fans, particularly in down years or weeks when teams with strong, traditional followings (Pittsburgh, Dallas, Washington) come to Charlotte, a transient city that has had an NFL entry for only 17 years." Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said, "I've come to realize that these fans, when you put a good product on the field, they're one of the best fan bases in the NFL" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 10/25).
SELF-ASSESSMENT NEEDED: In West Palm Beach, Ethan Skolnick writes under the header, "Miami Dolphins Owner Steve Ross Adding To His List Of Missteps." Skolnick writes Ross "inspires little confidence as a franchise leader." Skolnick: "Funny that Ross will be the one to assess [coach Tony] Sparano's performance, when Ross' own performance Sunday was infinitely more deplorable. ... As Sparano was coaching for his career, that owner was caught by cameras smiling while engaged in sideline conversation with Urban Meyer, the former University of Florida coach (and eternal coaching candidate)." Skolnick notes Ross has "built, and earned, too much in his real estate career for anyone to reasonably question his intelligence. So maybe he just doesn't care about how his actions come off" (PALM BEACH POST, 10/25). Also in West Palm Beach, Ben Volin noted it is "probably fair to say that no NFL halftime shows has ever earned" as many boos as when the Dolphins honored the Univ. of Florida's '08 BCS National Championship team Sunday. Ross "took a lot of heat, both locally and nationally, for the odd decision to honor the opposing team’s quarterback (though the team continually stressed that the day was a celebration of the entire UF team, and not 'Tim Tebow Day')" (PALMBEACHPOST.com, 10/24).
