NFL Week 14 Status Update: Motivation

Smokey: Sensing my ennui setting in after reading last week’s column, Mickey knew drastic measures must be taken. It was clear I was spiraling into a pit of despair, despite the Panthers solid victory against the Bucs. In a move requiring both cunning and daring, he forwarded along some pithy, far-flung anti-Obama email he’d run across. Suddenly the sullen sulker from the Sunday before found his dander up. And best of all, we had a rematch of our franchise’s only Super Bowl to play!

I spent the rest of the week talking myself into a Panthers victory. “Brady’s injuries are worse than anyone’s letting on! He’s on high-alert because of Tiger & knows having a baby and a mistress at the same time would be bad! This is some sort of trap game! Has anyone’s life ever been enriched by a forwarded message, ever!?”

Of course, the Panthers lost. They lost despite forcing turnover after turnover. They put together mighty, clock-chewing drives, then would counteract them with several 3-and-outs. Now, the clever analogy here is that this game was a relatively minor one on the weekend. People are using the words “woeful” when describing the Panthers, and the Pats are leading their division. For all intents and purposes, this game shouldn’t be a blip on anyone’s radar…

However, it’s my belief that the Panthers, like Mickey, know that the outcome of the game matters less than what you take away from it. My fire for football is hitting it’s late-season stride, and I’ll be in attendance for next week’s game. The Panthers might’ve lost, but have dominated the Monday news cycle. Expect big things from both myself, and the Panthers, for the rest of the season.

(or expect them to frustratingly lose out the rest of the games and enter us into a Big Question sort of off-season)

Mickey: I’m glad I could whack Smokey out of his sulky doldrums, but man, I’m not sure I can equate that game with “motivation.” That was one ugly game to watch.

Some Cats fans and I snuck behind enemy lines this past weekend and went to the same Manhattan Pats bar I had been to for the Pats-Colts game for Sunday’s Super Bowl XVIII rematch. We were setting ourselves up for some fantastic hate, but it was really a win-win situation. We figured in the extremely odd chances the Panthers win, it would be doubly sweet to see the Pats fans upset at a clearly-inferior team beating them. And if (when) we lost, we could easily keep to ourselves, shrug, and leave the bar relatively unscathed.

The more probable of those two situations happened, but there was some smug self-satisfaction that the Panthers were able to bring the Pats down to our ugly level. Matty Moore was doing his part, gifting so many would-be interceptions, and the defense did as much as they could do, and just eventually wore down.

So we look forward to Week 15, where Smokey and I will attend a Panthers game in Charlotte and sit together for the first time together in several years. SInce we started bloggin about the Panthers in the summer of Aught-Seven, we haven’t seen a game seated with one another. I think our parents kept it that way, for fear that the power of our obnoxious fandom combined would be too much for the Club Section. Well, that changes this year with Old Man Wrangler coming in town.

And now, I’m sufficiently motivated.