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I looked back last week at some words I typed only 10 months ago and shook my head.
The words came from my florid pregame description of Carolina's "Monday Night Football" game Dec. 8, 2008, against Tampa Bay - a game that I predicted at the time would be the most significant regular-season game the Panthers had ever played.
The column started like this:
"Tonight is theoretically just another football game in Charlotte. Of course, Stephen Curry is theoretically just another college basketball player. The Eiffel Tower is theoretically just another building."
The same two teams will meet today at 1p.m., this time in an off-off-Broadway setting. To apply the same logic:
Today is just another football game in Tampa, Fla. Of course, Mike Paulus is theoretically just another college football player. The Vue is theoretically just another building.
In other words, these are the same teams, but this sure isn't the same game.
(If you're unclear about the references, Mike Paulus was supposed to be an incredible college quarterback but can't get off the bench at North Carolina. The Vue is the luxury condo tower in uptown Charlotte where work temporarily stalled because the general contractor wasn't getting paid).
In December 2008, Carolina and Tampa Bay entered that showdown with 9-3 records. The winner was likely to take the NFC South. Indeed, Carolina did win - 38-23 behind 100-yard rushing games from DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart - and then grabbed the division title as well.
Tampa Bay started a death spiral that night, losing its final three games of the season as well. Coach Jon Gruden got himself fired (and then hired, ironically, to analyze "Monday Night Football" games like the one he just lost for a living).
In fact, the Bucs haven't won a real game since they made that trip to Charlotte. New coach Raheem Morris has started 0-5, which means Tampa Bay's overall losing streak is nine straight. They are getting into Detroit Lions territory.
Carolina (1-3) waited a month longer to start descending, but since then has almost caught the Bucs. The Panthers, as you well know, hadn't won a game of any type for 287 days until a week ago, when they came back from a 17-2 deficit to edge Washington and barely keep this game from being a battle of winless teams.
So what we have today is a rivalry that has run out of juice. If this were a college football game, you'd be forced to watch it on ESPN360.com.
Since it's technically an NFL game, it won't be quite that difficult to see. (And the announcers, Dick Stockton and Charles Davis, actually do a pretty good job. I'm not sure what they've done wrong to keep getting assigned to the Panthers).
Be warned, though: You might want to skip in and out of this game, especially if it turns into a nice day inside.
In 10 months, an NFL team can fall into the center of the earth. The Bucs already have. The Panthers have fallen at least halfway.
And like any long ride down, it's a lot easier to keep falling than to get back up. This, by all rights, is a game the Panthers should win. If they don't, their problems are even more serious than we imagine.
