Clarifying Panthers story

My column today was about a group of Iraq-war vets who were treated to a tour of the Carolina Panthers' operations at Bank of America Stadium. Along the way they met some players. In the column, I wrote this:

The Panthers had the day off but four players showed up -- safety Mike Minter, defensive end Mike Rucker, fullback Brad Hoover and linebacker Chris Draft.


A few readers took that to mean that the other players blew off the event. Not the case. The fault was mine, for a badly worded sentence.

I called the Panthers' offices to double-check. Riley Fields, the team's director of community relations, confirmed what I had guessed -- most of the team didn't even know about the event.

The staff asked only a few players to come -- mainly, players who had helped with other military-themed events. Fields said the team didn't want a big crowd because the tour was intended to be intimate.

My apologies for not writing that better. Now back to our regularly scheduled discussion of the Dallas game...

Tats for tots

If you're thinking about a Christmas gift for the young'uns on your list, you can stop looking now:

The Gr8 TaT2 Maker

And note the recommended age bracket: 6 to 12 years. A guaranteed hit at those first-grade birthday parties!

Boys, remember: The tribal tattoo around the bicep is so five years ago. Like, when you were in diapers.

And girls, don't get a tattoo with your boyfriend's name. Kindergarten romances almost never last.

Never seen THAT on a truck before

Thursday night, driving down Sharon Amity Road, a pickup truck passes on the left. I glance over -- then do a bug-eyed double-take.

There was a guillotine in the back.

A guillotine.

Call 911! Get the license plate! Run him off the --

Oh. Right. It's almost Halloween.

At least I hope that's what it was about.

The whole thing made me think of this record, which scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. I can still hear the creaks of "The Unsafe Bridge."

What Halloween stuff used to give you the creeps? What still does? Add chilling, thrilling memories below.

The church of Snoop Dogg

I love it when churches try to be hip. Last night I saw this sign in front of New Hope Missionary Baptist on Hawthorne Lane:

BRING YOUR SINS TO THE ALTAR AND DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT

The song reference is a couple years out of date, but it's still pretty cool to use a pot-smoking ex-gangster as the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Add your favorite church signs below. And this is also a little out of date, but if you've never run across the Church Sign Generator, prepare to enjoy yourself.