Nov. 2 headlines: Why the Spanish-language Panthers announcers call Cam Newton “dinosaur”

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced you to the Spanish-language Carolina Panthers radio announcers, who’ve become quite famous this season for their calls of Panthers highlights.

Over the weekend, the Observer dove a little deeper into the pair, Jaime Moreno and Luis Moreno Jr. (We highly recommend reading the whole story.)

Among other things, Rogelio Aranda and Sergio Tovar learned about some of the nicknames the pair gave certain Panthers players, including:

– Center Ryan Kalil — “El Sonorense”: His grandmother is from the Mexican state of Sonora.

– Quarterback Cam Newton — El Dinosaurio (“The Dinosaur”): A nickname that began at Auburn. “He’s one of a kind. There are no more like him.”

– Cornerback Josh Norman — El Bandolero (“The Bandit”): “He steals from everybody that throws his way.”

– Linebacker Luke Kuechly — El Confesor (“The Confessor”): “In medieval times, you had the punisher. The guy who would get anything out of you.”

– Wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. — El Aristócrata (“The Aristocrat”): Because “what he does on the field is difficult to find anywhere else. It’s an aristocracy.”

– Linebacker Thomas Davis Jr. — El Capitán.

– Tight end Ed Davis —  El Bolichero (”The Bowler”): “He loves bowling a lot.”

– Coach Ron Rivera — Rico: “He doesn’t know it. We have to ask for his permission.” (During his playing days in Chicago, Rivera’s nickname was Chico.)

– Running back Mike Tolbert — El Tanque: “He’s a tank whenever he gets the ball.”

– Former Panthers receiver Steve Smith was the first — “Manos de angel.” It means “hands of an angel” because “his guardian angel helped him make many catches,” Jaime Moreno says.

Another thing we learned: Did you notice that Jaime screamed “mayonesa!” (mayonnaise) after Greg Olsen’s game-winning TD pass against the Seattle Seahawks?

He was referring to a dance song from 2000 where you “whip it like mayonnaise.”

In other headlines …

– Charlotte is far behind peer cities such as Tampa, Nashville and Atlanta in attracting venture capital and nurturing start-ups, according to a recent study partially funded by the city.

– People who hope North End becomes the next South End think the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte and Urban Ministry Center need to move, saying they’ll discourage developers and homebuyers and frighten away customers of new businesses.

– Meet the Charlotte guy whose hand-drawn renderings of buildings brings planned developments to life.

– Panthers traffic on game day can be maddening: blocked-off streets, hard-to-find taxis, surging Uber fares. But all those annoyances provide a boon for one hard-to-miss industry: pedicabs.

– The Panthers will try to stay undefeated tonight against the Indianapolis Colts. A few blocks away, the Hornets moved to 0-3 after losing to 94-92 to the Atlanta Hawks in Sunday’s home opener.

– Quit playing games with our hearts: A developer refiled plans to build apartments on the Elizabeth corner that includes Jackalope Jacks after withdrawing the plans just a couple of weeks ago. These new plans won’t face the probability of a protest petition, since the state took that power away from neighboring property owners.

Photo: Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer 

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Nov. 2 headlines: Why the Spanish-language Panthers announcers call Cam Newton “dinosaur”."