Harlan says Panthers won’t ignore Chiefs
Kansas City’s
Kevin Harlan, who will work today’s Chiefs-Panthers game with
Rich Gannon for CBS, said that after spending Friday with the Panthers’ coaches, it’s clear that Carolina won’t be looking past the Chiefs.
“That win over Denver, who Carolina has a lot of respect for, got the Panthers’ attention,” Harlan told me. “Carolina will be ready.”
What also struck Harlan in his conversations with the Panthers’ staff is how they perceive the Chiefs with Damon Huard at quarterback vs. the Chiefs without Huard.
“They looked at the film of the Chiefs vs. Denver and the Chiefs vs. New England,” Harlan said, “and they compared it to the Chiefs against Oakland and Atlanta, and they said it was like two different teams.
“The energy level was completely different for the Chiefs against Denver and New England, they said. Now, they wouldn’t say it was because Damon Huard was the quarterback and not Tyler Thigpen. But it’s pretty clear that the only difference in those situations was a different quarterback.”
Harlan said he believes the Chiefs will somehow have to manufacture the same enthusiasm as last Sunday and carry it into today’s game.
“Carolina is a tough, tough team to beat,” Harlan said. “And the other thing is: They have no reason to take the Chiefs lightly. It’s not like the Chiefs are coming in at 2-10 or something. The Chiefs are 1-3. And the Panthers won just seven games last year, so they have something to prove, too.”
New hitting coach?
It’s never fun to write about coaches getting fired, and this is the case as we ponder replacements for Royals hitting coach Mike Barnett, who was let go earlier this week.
Barnett, without question, was dedicated and hard-working. But it seemed like Royals hitters never connected with him during his short tenure in Kansas City.
Barnett had no real success stories in regard to the young Royals’ hitters.
Replacements? One possibility might be Omaha hitting coach Terry Bradshaw, who is credited with Mark Teahen’s stunning turnaround in 2006. And that was a turnaround that faded, for whatever reason, under Barnett, even though Teahen seemed to find some answers at the plate in September.
Most influential
Business Week recently came out with its list of the 100 most influential people in sports, and not surprisingly, Tiger Woods, Roger Goodell and David Stern were one, two and three on that list.
Other notables:
•AEG’s Tim Leiweke was listed at No. 23.
•Danica Patrick was No. 50.
•Former Chief and current super agent Tom Condon was No. 70. (Seems a bit low, don’t you think?)
@ Go to
KansasCity.com to read more from Jeffrey Flanagan in his blog “Over the Top.”
To reach Jeffrey Flanagan, call 816-234-4492 and leave a message or send e-mail to jflanagan@kcstar.com
