In Charlotte, Scott Fowler writes Sunday's Cowboys-Panthers game is the "most heavily anticipated Panthers home opener in more than a dozen years." Tickets are "selling on the secondary markets for triple -- or even quadruple -- face value." The "going rate" for tickets is "about $200 (including the dreaded handling fee) for nose-bleed upper-level seats, and $500-$1,000 for seats in the lower deck" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/4).
ORANGE CRUSH: The Bears will wear their "alternate orange jerseys in two games this season," as they will be "back in use" for the first time since '11. The Bears will also "wear their classic 1940s jerseys Oct. 28 at home against the Jets." For the remainder of their home games, the team will "wear their traditional navy jerseys," and for the seven away games, they will "don their traditional white tops" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 9/3).
FOR THE TAILGATE CULTURE: In S.F., Scott Ostler cites sources as saying that Raiders Owner Mark Davis "rejected any plan or idea for a stadium" in Las Vegas that did not include acres of parking at the venue because he "believes tailgating en masse is integral to the Raiders' culture." Any proposal that had "one less parking space than the Raiders have" at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum was a "nonstarter for Davis." The Coliseum site has "more than 8,000 parking spaces" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/4).
