Wes & Walker
After a disappointing result over the weekend at New England, Charlotte FC returns home, looking for a win over Toronto, to get back on track. The return home is a welcome sight, as Charlotte FC will play six of their next eight games at home, a place that FC has only lost once in their last 20 home matches. A big reason for FC's slow start has been the inability to capitalize on the scoring chances that they've created, a sign that they haven't fully adapted to Dean Smith's system.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are considered the best playoffs in sports, and believe it or not, they are right around the corner, as the NHL regular season is winding down. Entering the 2023-24 season, the Hurricanes were the favorite to win their first Stanley Cup since the 2000s, after making the Eastern Conference Final last season. After a slow start to the season, the Hurricanes have rounded into form, and along with the Rangers, are among the favorites to come out of the East in the 2024 playoffs.
The 2023-24 NBA season is one to forget for many Hornets fans, after the team was basically eliminated from the postseason, by Christmas for the second straight season. Yes, injuries played a role once again in Charlotte's struggles, but that excuse can only go so far and be used so many times. Even with the struggles this season, there was a chance that head coach Steve Clifford would be back for next season, given his relationship with the new President of Basketball Operations, Jeff Peterson. That skepticism came to an end last week, when Clifford announced that he's stepping down from his role as head coach, for a role in the front office. Charlotte joins Brooklyn and Washington as open jobs as we enter the final week of the regular season, with many more openings projected to become available once the season comes to an end.
When NC State arrived in Washington, D.C. for the 2024 ACC Tournament, they entered on a four-game losing streak, and questions surrounded the program about the future of Kevin Keatts as the head coach. For just the second time in college basketball history, a team won five games in five days, as State won their first conference title since 1987, to earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Entering the Big Dance, the question was how far could State ride that momentum, and that answer has resulted in a trip to the Final Four, their first since 1983, completely changing the outlook for Kevin Keatts and the program in general.
After a difficult three-game road trip, The Crown returned to the friendly confines of Bank of America Stadium last Saturday, and in the process earned a 2-0 win over the Columbus Crew. The win was just the second of the season for Charlotte FC, but breathed life back into the club, after the lengthy road trip, that followed the season-opening win. At 2-1-2, Charlotte FC finds themselves in the middle of the table in the Eastern Conference, heading into Saturday's home match with FC Cincinnati, the club that sits atop the Eastern Conference.
With the initial rush of free agency behind us, the focus is starting to shift towards the NFL Draft, while we wait for veterans to find their NFL homes for the 2024 season. For the Panthers, who don't own a first-round draft selection, they are trying to shore up their roster, to identify the best way to make the most out of their two, second-round picks.
While many sports fans will be focused on the NCAA Tournament, which officially gets underway starting tomorrow, in the Queen City, that doesn't mean that the sports world will come to a complete stop, as the NBA and MLS will continue their regular season play during over the weekend. The Crown finally return home, after a three-game road trip, that saw the club only earn a point, with two tough losses overlooking a draw. As Charlotte FC returns to The Bank on Saturday, they will meet last year's champion, followed the next week by last year's regular season champion, as the schedule doesn't lighten up for a club that's struggling to put the ball in the back of the net.
Whenever you think of the glory days of the Charlotte Hornets, one of the first players that you think about is Jamal Mashburn, who arrived in Charlotte after being included in a trade for Eddie Jones and Anthony Mason. In Mashburn's two seasons with the Hornets, before they left for New Orleans, he averaged over 20 points per game and helped guide the team to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2001. Despite playing just two seasons in Charlotte, he's still among the all-time best players to ever play in the Queen City.
It's been an up-and-down start to free agency for the Carolina Panthers, headlined by trading away Brian Burns and seeing Frankie Luvu sign with Washington Commanders, but they responded by signing two interior offensive linemen, adding a linebacker that has experience playing in Ejiro Evero's scheme, followed by the addition of a pass rusher, to hopefully replace the loss of Burns.
Monday was a rough day for Panther fans, as they saw Brian Burns get traded away to the Giants, and not get a first-round pick in return, and they saw Frankie Luvu leave the team in free agency, signing with Washington. While Carolina added two offensive linemen to help protect Bryce Young, it didn't do enough to help overcome the loss of two of the better defensive players on the team. Yesterday though, Dan Morgan was active, looking to get Brycec Young a weapon in the passing game, and he found one in the form of Diontae Johnson, striking a trade that involved a pick swap, along with sending Donte Jackson in Pittsburgh, finding a willing trade partner, before outright cutting him.