For the first time this past week, I traveled west. I stayed in Las Vegas as much as I could but I also explored Arizona and Utah. Needless to say, I had an amazing time but I always seem to find the sports trends wherever I go. Vegas is mostly tourists so my time there had me finding jerseys from every team imaginable. Utah and of course, Arizona, however, were made up of Cardinals fans. I watched the NFC Championship match-up of the Carolina Panthers vs the Arizona Cardinals from a restaurant in Utah made of mostly Cardinals fans and realized something: so many people still have no idea who the Carolina Panthers are. As Carolina demolished their team, their fans never booed they just remained silenced as they looked confused and left before halftime.
It made me realize how true this meme that is currently going viral is.
I live in Charlotte but am not a Panthers fan. I'm a Patriots fan from Boston who couldn't enjoy my hike in Utah because I was in a open field where the best signal was listening to my team lose the AFC Championship. I respect Carolina's team as a football fan because they are a having an insanely good season. What is the stigma against them? Is it because Cam Newton celebrates often? As he puts it, “I’m an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing they can compare me to."
One can understand where Newton is coming from. However, he is the sixth African American to start a Super Bowl and he has drawn comparisons to a more athletic Randall Cunningham or Donovan McNabb his entire career. Is it because Carolina has an unorthodox roster on offense? Jerricho Cotchery, Tedd Ginn Jr. and Devin Funchess on paper sound like a group of receivers that you would not fear going into a game. However, they lit up Patrick Peterson, one of the league's best corners, easily in their blowout win over the Cardinals.
If you were to match up defenses, this would lead you to believe that this would be a defensive game. Denver has the best we've seen in years and Carolina's is stride for stride nearly as good. However, Seattle and Arizona set high defensive standards this season and Newton had no problem carving both.
I think there are two factors leading to the average fans lack of faith in Carolina: what is already established and what can happen. What is established in the NFL is that the same teams are always the winners. The Patriots, the Steelers, the Seahawks and the Packers are always there in or close to the big game. When someone goes against the status quo, typical fans become confused and can't buy it.
What can happen in the NFL is anything. This is a sport where we have seen the most ridiculous of endings, most insane comebacks, most depressing collapses and most shocking upsets. Aaron Rodgers threw two Hail Marys to stay alive in games this season. I have been watching all my life and still can't fathom that that has happened.
As I walked through the casino's of Vegas following the end of the NFC Championship game, I looked at the sports monitor for the betting odds. The casino I was at had Carolina as a 5.5 point favorite. This is by far the largest point spread for a team in the Super Bowl that Vegas has ever predicted. It has fluctuated a little but it still means that bettors can win big if Carolina wins by more than 6 (very possible) and bettors can win HUGE if Denver wins at all (also possible). I plan on betting and you should as well. It's interesting to say the least that it took a Super Bowl appearance for Carolina to get credit.
