Tom Sorensen manages to reach new lows of pathetic journalism by basically grieving about the departure of Ken Lucas from the Panthers squad and makes a veiled suggestion that the fans started it all and it's their fault he's gone.
It's funny how it works. A cornerback gets burned a few times and fans decide independently and simultaneously that he is a liability and he must go. Carolina cornerback Ken Lucas went Wednesday. The Panthers cut him.
Ok, had all us fans signed off on Lucas' release in the front office, yea, I would probably buy your crappy vengeful ramblings. But the truth is that no fan ever has control or influence on an organization. If teams listened to fans Matt Millen would've been fired a long time ago, Marvin Lewis would be a defensive assistant and Cam Cameron would've been hung by his balls by an angry mob after he drafted Ted Ginn over the QB Wunderkind, Brady Quinn.
They did not cut him because he can't play. They cut him to clear $2.375 million under the salary cap.
Yes, you should realize more than most people, as a beat writer for an NFL team that 24,000 dollars in salary cap space isn't going to afford us even 1 fucking draft pick! What did you think we were going to pay them in soybeans you fucking idiot?
At 30, Lucas is still a good football player. Early in the season, he and Chris Gamble were playing as well as any Carolina cornerback combination ever had. Lucas did slump late. So did the pass rush. Quarterbacks suddenly had time to throw, and they often threw Lucas' way.
LOVE this one. At 30 years old, we are paying a CB with question marks a 9 million dollar figure? Nuh-uh. Oh, also keep in mind, when CBs hit their thirties, they sort of regress and start blowing coverage more and more. Maybe he WAS good, but was he 9 million fucking dollars good?
I'm biased. Lucas is a great guy, smart and unpretentious. He's a different guy, too. He doesn't let you know he's a football player. He isn't one of those guys who introduces himself by saying, "Yes, I do play in the NFL, thanks for asking" even when you didn't ask.
And here it comes, the inevitable "BUT HE'S A GOOD GUY" card. This is the same card that is often used to exempt Jake Delhomme of any responsibility whatsoever after he fucks up a game we would've otherwise had a shot to win. Tom, here's a piece of news for you. Good guys get released all the fucking time, what do you think Lucas is a special case? It's OKAY, HE'LL BE FINE and he'll find work elsewhere, so dry your tears and wipe the runaway snot from your nose.
Lucas loves attention but doesn't want attention. He drove a Rolls Royce Bentley and wondered why Charlotte's pedestrians and drivers would stare in the windows to see who was inside. Tired of the scrutiny, he dumped the Rolls and began driving more pedestrian vehicles -- a Maserati and an orange Range Rover. Hey, he practically disappeared.
Yea this part is just boring and unnecessary. Who gives a fuck if the guy changes vehicles every once in a while?
Now he will disappear, and I hate to see him go. He was popular with his teammates, he desperately wanted to win and he handled the Steve Smith debacle in camp last season with as much grace and class as humanly possible.Ok, I'll admit, Lucas was fun to watch in the 2005 playoffs when he directed a fellow defensive back over to the jumbotron and started dancing when the replay came on after an interception. But he was the only guy in the locker room stupid enough to buck up to Steve. Mind you, this was a guy who already broke Anthony Bright's nose after being heckled in the film room, so can we really say this all happened without warning? Nuh-uh. That's like approaching a ruthless Camorrista in Naples and telling him to go fuck himself in Italian. What do you think he's going to do to you?
A) Kill you
B) Take you to the warehouse and drive nails into your balls
C) Rip your eye out with a corkscrew.
D) All of the above
No comments:
Post a Comment