Sports

Athletes have long been seen as societal role models, whether they like it or not. But in recent years, there's been a push in the sports community to use sports and athletes as agents for change, acceptance and for athletes to be leaders in matters of moral influence. We'll talk with representatives from both collegiate and professional sports programs who will discuss the ways they are pushing athletes in their organizations to use their position to better society and improve the communities in which they live, and more, when Charlotte Talks.

Coaches can have a big impact on kids on and off the field.  With that in mind, a group working to prevent domestic violence gathered together a couple hundred coaches in Charlotte Thursday. They discussed how to grow players into respectful, young men.  

The group A Call To Men knows how to get coaches to listen up.  Call in Carolina Panthers Coach Ron Rivera.

“When I started here, the very first thing I put up on my first PowerPoint: be a man,” Rivera told the coaches.      

The Charlotte Knights are gearing up for their last season of baseball in Fort Mill, South Carolina---their home since 1990. Construction is underway Uptown on the new BB&T Field. That will leave York County with an empty stadium that could become a liability to taxpayers. So the county is looking at what to do with it, come 2014. Duncan McFadyen spoke to Mark Farris, Director of Economic Development for York county. He says a Charlotte company is interested in buying the stadium property, but the county is considering all of its options.

Charter schools are supposed to offer a free, independent alternative to traditional public schools. North Carolina has just over 100 of them, and the state board of education is expected to approve 25 more at its February meeting.

For the past three decades Ron Green Jr. has chased two elusive goals. One is to get a hole-in-one playing golf and the other is to write the perfect golf story. He has come far closer to the second goal and many times over. Green Jr. followed in his father's footsteps into the offices of the Charlotte Observer and after 22 years at the paper he is moving on. Ron Green Jr. joins us to talk about writing for sports, specifically golf, journalism at the Observer and about the next chapter in his career as a journalist, when Charlotte Talks.

  Sports have become big business in Charlotte, but the financial aspects of at least two of our local teams have been the source of controversy. Jerry Richardson, Owner of the Carolina Panthers, has asked the city— - which means taxpayers - to fund $125 million in stadium renovations. Meanwhile the Charlotte Knights are set to build an uptown baseball stadium; also a move met with mixed reactions. We’'ll look at that latest coaching moves, the likely economic costs of these most recent proposals and more when Charlotte Talks.

The Carolina Panthers new general manager says if he does his job right, the team will win a Super Bowl. Those were among Dave Gettleman’s comments at his introductory press conference Tuesday at the Panther’s stadium. 

Panthers’ owner Jerry Richardson laid it out simply for his newest hire:

"One of the things a general manager has to do, is he has to be able to fix things," Richardson said.

Dave Gettleman has a lot to fix. He’s taking over a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in four years and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2006. 

There’s been a lot of BUZZ recently about a certain name returning to Charlotte. Yes, the speculation is the Hornets name could be coming back to the city's NBA team. The New owner of the New Orleans Hornets wants to change the team’s name to something a little more Louisiana-centric. When the news broke December 4 that the NBA team could drop the name as early as next season, it excited a lot of people who were upset when the Hornets left in 2002.