5 Things from the Panthers Home Opener You Couldn't See on TV
I had some good time to reflect on driving home from Charlotte to Greenville, NC (4+ hour drive) about the game, and 5 thing stood out that someone couldn't see on TV. I really wanted to do seven, but figured that would get a little long. Just note, the weather was awesome after torrential rains on the Saturday drive to Charlotte and Google Carthage, NC. Trust me, this little town is awesome and if you are from going to G-Vegas,
this is a pretty awesome route. Ok, so here are five things you probably couldn't see on TV.
1) Detroit fans travel remarkably well. Either everyone wants to get out of Detroit or every single person from Michigan is a +Detroit Lions fan, because Lions fans show out. This is my first time ever encountering the Lions fanbase, which is surprisingly active for a team with a pretty miserable history. They were also remarkably upbeat during the tailgate and were just pretty pleasant overall. A pack of fans in pajamas and lion head like toboggans be-bobbed around the Vault and Uptown Charlotte. They may have come upbeat and to have fun, but eventually left somewhat downtrodden. By the end of the game, you could see a little of the defeatist that must hang over a good bunch of these fans.
2) Bank of America was particularly loud. I've never been to a prime time game at Bank of America, but I have been to several Sunday 1 pm and 4 pm games. Today was one of the louder home games I've been to this early in the season. This was a great home-opener. Panthers fans are known for being a little subdued at times, but today there was a real excitement in the stadium. Any times that there was a momentary lull in the crowd noise, the defense made a big play to get everyone on their feet.
3) Greg Olsen photo-bombed Thomas Davis in the Panthers' game program. There was a typo in Thomas Davis's full-page feature, where Greg Olsen's name appeared instead.
4) The new video boards are awesome. When they put these babies on full screen, it's just a work of art. The clarity is insane. I know this isn't an earth shattering revelation, but they looked damn good. The ribbons look great as well. I found the ribbons a bit busy and hard to gleam information from at times. The problem was that the images simply repeated over and over, so be sure to just pick a spot and kind of use that as your go reference point. I found myself scanning around and it was just kind of sensory overload.
5) NFL means No Fun League. An NFL looking official, (more than a ball boy and less than part of the officiating crew) tried to prevent Cam from giving a football to a fan after the 2 point conversion. Cam literally shrugged the guy off and gave the ball away anyway. This wasn't a simple communication failure where the guy thought Cam was about to toss or hand him the ball either. This guy clearly tried to stop Cam. He then went and talked to a member of the officiating crew in what looked to be like he was reporting the incident. I read somewhere a couple of months ago that the NFL made it illegal to give the ball to a fan as Cam has done in the pass. I can't verify if this is true, but surely there is some sort of penalty for giving the ball away, even if it is a small monetary fine. Cam doesn't look to care either. This guy had no chance of stopping Super Cam, lol.
1) Detroit fans travel remarkably well. Either everyone wants to get out of Detroit or every single person from Michigan is a +Detroit Lions fan, because Lions fans show out. This is my first time ever encountering the Lions fanbase, which is surprisingly active for a team with a pretty miserable history. They were also remarkably upbeat during the tailgate and were just pretty pleasant overall. A pack of fans in pajamas and lion head like toboggans be-bobbed around the Vault and Uptown Charlotte. They may have come upbeat and to have fun, but eventually left somewhat downtrodden. By the end of the game, you could see a little of the defeatist that must hang over a good bunch of these fans.
2) Bank of America was particularly loud. I've never been to a prime time game at Bank of America, but I have been to several Sunday 1 pm and 4 pm games. Today was one of the louder home games I've been to this early in the season. This was a great home-opener. Panthers fans are known for being a little subdued at times, but today there was a real excitement in the stadium. Any times that there was a momentary lull in the crowd noise, the defense made a big play to get everyone on their feet.
3) Greg Olsen photo-bombed Thomas Davis in the Panthers' game program. There was a typo in Thomas Davis's full-page feature, where Greg Olsen's name appeared instead.
— Double Trouble (@StevenRVaughn) September 14, 2014
4) The new video boards are awesome. When they put these babies on full screen, it's just a work of art. The clarity is insane. I know this isn't an earth shattering revelation, but they looked damn good. The ribbons look great as well. I found the ribbons a bit busy and hard to gleam information from at times. The problem was that the images simply repeated over and over, so be sure to just pick a spot and kind of use that as your go reference point. I found myself scanning around and it was just kind of sensory overload.