Week 1: Champagne Dreams

Nacho: 16-0

This might be the High Roller* talking, but: The Carolina Panthers will be the first team since Miami to go 16-0. Did you not see Jake and Steve play with Saint Louie's D like some cat with an injured mouse? Did you not see our D force two fumblerooskies from perenial 2nd-all-over-fantasy-pick Steven Jackson? I did. I'll turn it over to Brethren and meet up with y'all after the jump, complete with champagne dreams.

Brethren: Football hath returned. And in the first time in four years, the Carolina Panthers have started out 1-0. There were some great games on today; I told anyone who would listen yesterday that all I could think about was how last night felt like Christmas Eve.

So what was under the tree today? A sweet fucking 27-13 win over the St. Louis Rams. Nacho and I's cross-country thoughts and hyperbole, desde..




Brethren (cont'd): I was situated on the Upper East side of Manhattan at 77th and 2nd at a little Southern bar/restaurant called Brother Jimmy's BBQ. Felt at home. A North Carolina state flag is painted on the wall. A Natty Light neon sign with the outline of the state of North Carolina hangs on another wall. I ordered pulled pork NC BBQ and $3 16 oz. Natty Light cans and settled in for the game. My thoughts:

- I'm not mad at that game. The O-line played well, the running game was effective, and the general game plan of feeding the maniacal and awesome Steve Smith worked plenty well. All that was missing was a big Julius Peppers moment. And I say that even though he recovered a fumble. I have high expectations for the man whose jersey I wear on GameDay.

- Otis! My man! I join Tom Sorensen in welcoming everyone to the Otis Grisby bandwagon. The substitute defensive end made his mark on the game, with several third down big hits. Wait til Otis sees us! He loved us!

- I've said it before, I'll say it again: Steve Smith is tenacious. Good Lord he's a scary 5-foot-9 dude. All week he was giving quotes to the Observer and the media about how excited he was for this St. Louis game plan. And if I were him and the first 3 passes were thrown his way, as they should have been, I would have been excited too. I'm not at all frightened that so much of our game plan revolves around that man. Especially not when Drew Carter finds some time to catch 2 touchdowns.

- Jake Delhomme, fantasy all-star? He looked smarter today, yet still fiery and confident. Exactly like the Cajun we knew back in the day.

- The De's ran well. If those fumbles actually had hurt us, I would have been a little more pissed, but the running game looked as new and fresh as advertised. I like!

- Brother Jimmy's was a good atmosphere; the table we were sat at directly faced the only TV showing the Panthers game. However, most of the other patrons were rooting for their fantasy teams more than an actual team. This seemed forced and a little douchebagish. It's no Big Wangs, but we won, so I'll be going back.

- $3 Natty Light cans rock.

- Fuck you, Scott Fowler and Tom Sorensen. You both picked the Rams to win - ha! Unless you were going for that reverse jinx shit. And in that case, well played, sirs.

- One last parting thought: We played well. We can play better. Bring on the Texans next week, but let's all remember one thing: the Cats play well when nothing is expected of them. So while 1-0 certainly means we can go 16-0, let's stay focused. With that said, welcome to the 2007 season, muthafuckas.

Nacho: Seriously, what's to stop us from going 16-0? The Texans?

Don't get me wrong, they embarrassed the Hard Knockers sumptin' good, but I'm so jazzed about these Cats I can honestly see us being perfect. Poor David Carr, he'll end up selling Vidal Sassoon in the Queen City.

I got to the bar around 9am, ordered a 90oz Tower of Budweiser Select (my first of three on the morning) and began talking shit to the assistant manager of the bar, who happened to be a Rams fan, and thusly, we got the highest-quality tv on which to watch our game.

Breakfast.

Beer was drank, ribs were eaten, smack was talked. I was told by patrons leaving that I'd "made their morning." Also, I solidified my dominance in Obnoxious Bar Guy Wizardry. As Drew Carter caught his 2nd touchdown of the game, dragging his feet and forcing St. Louie into making a terrible challenge, I ordered the High Roller and the rest is history.

Bring on The Shaub and Andre Johnson next week, and lets keep this ball rollin'.

* = the High Roller is an order of 18 chicken wings and a bottle of Moet champagne (non-vintage; estimated value: 30 dollars) for seventy-five dollars. The Sports Brethren are classy like that.