Back in October 1997, Dean Smith tried to get motivated to start his 37th season as head basketball coach at UNC and found he couldn't muster the fire.  Coaching is a hard job and requires immense amounts of commitment and intensity.  When it's not there, you can't fake it.  Coach Smith knew the signs and so retired.

Now don't get me wrong.  I'm not really comparing blogging to coaching an ACC basketball team, but like Dean Smith, I just can't summon the necessary motivation to keep this thing going.  Life has stepped up around me - work, family, work #2 - and to compete with that and keep this blog as good (OK, nearly as good) as I want it to be would require effort I can't provide.

I've known this for a while now but just couldn't bring myself to write a coda.  I like this blog!  It's been a lot of fun and while it didn't turn out to be what I wanted, it did become more than I ever really deserved.  Even now, due largely to the bizarre workings of Google Images and despite the lack of any significant content in months, this site gets quite a bit of traffic.  Sure, it's not really good traffic, but it still amazes me that so many people click over here, even by accident.

So, this is it.  Sure, I could find time here and there to write little posts about things I find interesting or amusing (like before and after pics of Ralph Friedgen), but I think it's best if I just walk away.  Leave it as it is.  It's really best that way.

The one thing I'm unsure about is my content.  What to do with it all?  Do I take it all down?  Leave it up there to collect dust and cobwebs like your grandmother's attic?  I really don't know what's best.  For now, I'm going with "leave it up there," but at some point I might have to rethink that.

Lastly I want to thank everyone who has ever read, commented on, emailed about or linked to one of my articles.  Those little nuggets of feedback, whether it was a whole blog post about what I wrote or just a counter-tick on my web stats, kept me going. 

Thank you.

(p.s. As a final gift to you, my readers - Sail With The Pilot!)

You like that cheesy title?  I knew you would.  To continue my recent trend of providing ACC football previews without actually writing my own content, I give you three outstanding compilations of links from the ACCBasketBlog (they aren't just for basketball anymore!).  I mean, why duplicate what they've already done?  There are enough links on these three pages to keep you busy for a week.  Granted, a lot of the stuff is duplicate content generated from the ACC Football Kickoff weekend, but still.  Read all of this and you'll be ready to sound like you know what you're talking about.

ACCBasketBlog Links I

ACCBasketBlog Links II - This Time It's Personal

ACCBasketBlog Links III - Enter The Deacon

Last week I posted the first part of a guest preview of ACC football. MadduxSports.com gives us part II now - the Coastal Division

ACC Coastal Division Preview from MadduxSports.com

Defense, defense, and more defense, that is what the ACC Coastal is about. The Coastal is a rather interesting division to break down. Between quarterback battles, new coaches, coaches on the hot seat, national title contenders, and surprise teams, the Coastal division expects to offer many story lines in the 2007 season. Here is how the Maddux Sports college football picks team predicts the conference slate to pan out.

1) Virginia Tech - When you look at the Hokies' defense on paper you have to be in awe. They return 8 starters from a crew that allowed 11ppg and 219 ypg overall. Both stats were good for #1 ranks in the country. From our preseason rankings Virginia Tech has the best secondary in all of College football. They also have a top 10 unit in the linebacking core, and although the DL has to replace 2 starters, 7 of the top 8 guys return. Bud Foster appears to be in line for another Broyles award at seasons end.

With a stout defense setting up for endless short field scoring opportunities, the offense won't have to do much to win games. Junior quarterback Sean Glennon will be more of a game manager, being called upon to just not make silly mistakes. He will have an all ACC tailback in Branden Ore to help him out. Ore rushed for 1137 yards and took it to the house 16 times last year. Ore accomplished all of this while missing 2 games and running behind a below average offensive line. Five guys with playing experience are back on the OL so count on this unit being much improved. As long as the Hokies stay away from injuries and Glennon limits the mistakes, the defense should carry the team to the coastal division crown and possibly a national title appearance.

2) Georgia Tech - Even though the Yellow Jackets lose a four year starting quarterback in Reggie Ball and the College player of the year in Calvin Johnson, there is reason for optimism in Atlanta. Ball's replacement is junior quarterback Taylor Bennett. Bennett has good size and a strong arm. He will be protected by one of the leagues best offensive lines that returns 4 of the 5 starters. Running behind that line will be tailback Tashard Choice. Choice is one of the most underrated backs in the country. In 2006 Choice rushed for 1473 yards and finished off the season with 7 straight 100 yard rushing games. On defense the Yellow Jackets return 8 players from a unit that was 27^th in total defense. With an accommodating schedule we see Georgia Tech set to capture the 2 spot in the Coastal and should be a lock to reach their 11^th consecutive post season bowl game.

3) Miami - The Hurricanes fired Larry Coker and replaced him with former defensive coordinator Randy Shannon. Shannon, like the Hurricanes, is looking to prove himself. If past results can be an accurate predictor of future performance, expect the new coach to be just fine. In the 7 years when Shannon ran Miami's defense, the unit finished in the top ten in total defense 6 times. This year should be more of the same as he has plenty to work with. The defense returns 7 starters including future first round draft choice Calais Campbell. Campbell led all ACC defenders with 20.5 tackles for loss and racked up 10.5 sacks. The linebackers are the soft spot of the defense as the unit lacks a playmaker. Fortunately they will get plenty of help from the secondary that returns all 4 starters. The offense should make or break Miami's season. There is QB battle going on between Kyle Wright and Kirby Freemen. A starter won't be named until late fall but expect scoring to be back up in the high 20's regardless which kid wins the job. The road schedule is brutal, having to face Oklahoma, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Boston College on the road, but if Kyle Wright lives up to the can't-miss potential he once garnered, the Hurricanes could reach double digit wins.

4) Virginia - After starting out the season 2-5, the Cavaliers finished with some momentum earning victories in 3 of their final 5 games. A big reason for the slow start and good finish was freshmen Jameel Sewell making good progress and showing nice potential as a college quarterback. Coming into last season Virginia had to replace 2 NFL draft choices, including D'Brickashaw Ferguson. Consequently, the offensive line was very inexperienced and labored to open holes for the running game. The unit also had trouble keeping opposing defenders out of the backfield and allowed 35 sacks for the season. This year the OL returns 6 players with starting experience and should be an asset instead of a liability. The defense is well-stocked, returning 10 of the 11 starters that allowed 17.8ppg and was 17^th overall in total defense. Virginia's defense is loaded and should keep the team in many tough ACC games. The Cavaliers are one of the most improved teams and will earn a post season bowl birth. Don't be surprised to see Virginia occupy the 2^nd spot if the ball bounces their way.

5) North Carolina - After a 1-6 start, coach John Bunting was canned. The team seemed to respond well to the change, playing competitive against 3 ranked opponents, then finished the season with two wins over NC State and Duke. Butch Davis is the man in charge to rebuild the program and with one of the highest rated recruiting classes in the country, he is well on his way. Bunting didn't leave Davis with much talent, as only 9 starters return. Expect the new coach to try and play his guys making the team very young and raw. It will be a rebuilding year for the Heels, but anticipate them to be in a spot to challenge for the ACC Coast Division title in the not so distant future.

6) Duke - In seven of the last eleven seasons, Duke has failed to win at least one ACC game. Last season was more of the same as the Blue Devils took the doughnut in conference play and finished 0-12 overall. Although it should be noted that they were very close to upsetting ACC champs Wake Forest & national power Miami. It took a blocked field goal on the final play of the game for the Demon Deacons to hold off Duke 14-13. Against the Canes, Duke was intercepted in the end zone and just missed pulling off a momentous upset, going down 20-15. I don't think either of those scares were aberrations and it wouldn't shock us to see the Blue Devils win 2 games in 07. With 11 starters returning on offense and one of the ACC's best QB's Thaddeus Lewis (yes we said one of the best) Duke has closed the talent gap on the rest of the Coastal division foes. The problem is the schedule which could be the toughest in the entire conference. Is Duke Improved? Yes. Will it translate to wins? Probably not, but don't be surprised to see the Blue Devils putting a scare into a team or two.

MadduxSports.com is an expert college football prognosticator but also knows the pro football teams well. For more predictions including weekly NFL picks visit Maddux Sports today.

Wow.  This is terrible news.

Skip Prosser apparently had a heart attack this morning while jogging and died.  He was 56 years old.  By all accounts, he was an extremely likable and good man.

Sad, sad, sad.  I feel terrible for his family, his friends, his current and former players and all Wake Forest and college basketball fans.

I had even planned on writing a post this week about how Prosser had earned himself two more guaranteed years at Wake by signing two outstanding players a couple of weeks ago.  I hope their commitments made his final weeks happy.

More links:

Dime Magazine

Mike DeCourcy

Dick Vitale

News & Record

I mentioned previously that I would be posting a third-party football preview, and here it is!  Tom from MadduxSports.com put together a nice preview of the 2007 ACC football season for me simply for the quid pro quo of linking back to his site.  The Coastal Division is coming next.  Enjoy!

ACC Atlantic Division Preview from MadduxSports.com

When we were constructing our NCAA football predictions yearbook and free season preview, the ACC Atlantic division was without a doubt the most challenging to predict. After Florida State, the skill level between Atlantic teams 2-6 is microscopic. When we come across a scenario like this where the teams are so comparable, we have to really rely on the schedule to sort out the order of finish. Add some new coaches to the mix, Cinderella stories, bizarre stats and the challenge to take the ACC Atlantic expects to be one thrilling race this season.

1) Florida State - After a 3-5 ACC record in 2006, most prognosticators are down on the Seminoles. Maybe it is the fact that Florida State has lost 22 games in the last 5 seasons and is not just the dominant Seminole team of old. Or it could be the fact Bowden has a plethora of new coordinators. I am not buying it. Last season they were young and had very few seniors. Seventeen freshmen saw playing time, but guess what all those guys have experience now. As for the coaches, Jimbo Fisher, Rick Trickett, and Chuck Amato are all viable head coaching candidates; these are not your normal run of the mill coaches.

FSU will be lead by their defense that only allowed 92.5 ypg rushing in 06. The defensive line is arguably the best in entire nation and goes 2 deep at all 4 spots. Former JUCO All-American Paul Griffin is back from an early season knee injury which will move tackle by trade Andre Fluellen back to his normal position. The linebacking corps loses a couple of players to the NFL including stud Lawrence Timmons. Early injuries to the line backers hurt last years output but if the Seminoles can stay injury free you could actually see melioration in this unit.

The offense will hinge on how fast Drew Weatherford learns Jimbo Fisher's playbook. If the learning curve is quick, the Seminoles will be explosive and should average 30 ppg. Don't forget that while he was the offensive coordinator at LSU, Fishers offense's averaged 30 points a game against SEC defenses. How do you think his troops will do playing against inferior competition? I fully expect a return to prominence for the Noles and anticipate seeing them in a BCS game in January of 08.

2) Wake Forest - No one is giving the Demon Deacons a chance to repeat as ACC champions, but I'll bite. We all know that Wake Forest was very fortunate having the ball bounce their way in 2006 (+13 TO margin & +3 in close wins), but a lot of the success has to be accredited to perhaps the ACC's best coaching staff lead by Jim Grobe. To dismiss the TO issue, the Demon Deacons are normally on the plus side of the turnover numbers because of Steed Lobotzke's confusing innovative offensive schemes and Dean Hood's ball hawking defense. Wake Forest returns 14 starters, including 9 on offense which should get the Deacs scoring back in the mid 20's. Their ACC schedule is also the weakest in the entire conference and they get the lucky draw of playing the 2 bottom feeders from the Coastal; Duke & North Carolina. We won't go out on a limb and say they repeat last year's magical season, but there will not be that huge drop in the standings that you are reading about everywhere else.

3) Clemson - After starting the season 7-1 the Tigers fell flat on their face finishing at 8-5. They capped off the late season futility by losing to Kentucky 28-20 in the Music City bowl. Even with the dynamic running back duo of James Davis and CJ Spiller, the offense could be in some trouble. No Tiger quarterback has played a meaningful snap and the offensive line must be retooled. The defense is one of the ACC's best and will need to carry the club until the offense gels. Clemson is young only having 8 senior scholarship players. The schedule is one of the more manageable ones in the ACC which is we are calling for a 3^rd place finish and 5-3 record in ACC play even though some teams listed below the Tigers are more gifted.

4) NC State - Last years 9 losses (most since 1959) sparked the Wolfpack to fire Chuck Amato and hire rival BC Eagle coach Tom O'Brien. O'Brien immediately brings a no-nonsense attitude guaranteeing to repair the undisciplined penalties and turnovers that plagued NC State during the Amato era. NC State was hindered by a -11 in turnover margin and 5 close losses in 06, so better luck is anticipated. If the Wolfpack can solve the QB quandary and the defense retools after losing their top 2 tacklers, expect to see the Wolfpack bowling again.

5) Boston College - The Eagles had to a hire a new head coach after Tom O'Brien bolted away to rival NC State before last years bowl game.  Jeff Jagodzinski is now the man in charge and inherits O'Brien's talented recruits.  Jagodzinski is a young and innovative offensive coach who spent some time in the NFL before taking the position.  He also has some familiarity with Boston College as he was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles from 1997-98. Senior quarterback Matt Ryan is one of the best and toughest guys in the country passing for almost 3,000 yards while playing most of last season with a broken foot. Boston College returns 17 starters from a team that won their 7^th straight bowl game the year before. Why are we so down on the Eagles? BC benefited from a +15 turnover margin in 2006. They also have a new head coach and are running new offensive schemes. Add to it that BC has arguably the toughest ACC schedule drawing the top three Coastal division teams and we have to place the Eagles in the 5^th slot.

6) Maryland - We are still scratching our heads trying to figure out how the Terrapins finished with a 9-4 record last year. In the 2006 season Maryland won 5 ACC games by a combined margin of victory of only 13 points! They were also outgained by 85 yards per contest in all ACC games. They had six close wins overall and tremendous fortune like that doesn't often repeat itself. Maryland does return 8 starters on offense so expect improvement on the 21 points per game. Maryland's club is refined but the win/loss record won't reflect it.

If you took pleasure in reading our predictions on the ACC, join Maddux Sports for free football picks on the weekly college slate. Maddux offers both free and premium football picks as well as weekly game break downs all season long.

Yawwwwn.  Strrrrrrrrrretttttch.  So, what did I miss?  Anything?

[Thumbing through the news of the last couple of months ...]  OK, it looks like a few things happened while I was napping.  Guess this is as good of a time as any to shake off the cobwebs and get back to it. 

But not just yet.

First, I want to do a little self-promotion.  As you may recall from a previous post and that little box over there to the left, I have a little side-bidness called BrightCar.  Well, BrightCar has a big 50%-off sale coming up on Tuesday, July 24.  We are running a promotion in conjunction with a cool little site called Bits Du Jour.  BDJ(as the cool kids call it) is a site that advertises one software product per day at a drastically reduced rate, like a software version of Woot.com.  Well, BrightCar is going to be that product this coming Tuesday.

If you want in on this, and I know you do, you can either go to BitsDuJour.com, check out the coupon on the BrightCar site or just go to the BrightCar purchase page and enter BitsDuJour as your referral code.

So, I'm taking a little break. Some time to recharge the batteries.

I'll still be around, checking and posting in the message board, but I don't think I'll be posting too many (or any) articles until football gets going.

If you have something you'd like to talk about, feel free to start a thread. I'll notice and I'll comment. Hey, I'll even spot you a few topics! What do you think about the ACC's recent release of the school payouts? Does that justify expansion? And compare and contrast that to the debate over adding two more games to the basketball schedule. And what's up with Gus Gilchrist reneging on Virginia Tech supposedly because of the shootings there? Does anyone believe that excuse?

I think what it boils down to is that he's just incredibly comfortable with who he is. He never pretends to be something he's not. Every single personality you see on TV, hear on the radio or read in the paper is trying to put forth an image that's greater than the real thing. Not Barkley. He is who is and he's perfectly happy with that. You wouldn't think that sort of self-confidence would be rare, especially in a world filled with professional and former professional athletes, but within seconds of hearing Charles talk, you can see the facade. Not his facade, but everyone else's.

In this interview in The New Republic, Barkley talks about politics and current social issues, including the Imus and Duke lacrosse cases. As always, he's worth listening too.

Another factor that diminishes this ranking a bit is that the inherent strengths and weaknesses of programs can change drastically over time. Duke was once a national power football, but those days are long gone. Likewise, before Florida became the unquestioned greatest source of college football talent, Florida State was a very mediocre program. Yes, Bobby Bowden deserves TONS of credit for building a national power, but let's face it, it's immeasurably easier to win in Tallahassee now than it was 30 years ago.

But back to the ratings in that article. Ralph Friedgen came out on top, with an improvement of .143 over Maryland's historical standards. Jim Grobe came in second followed by the two aforementioned giants, Saint Bobby and Beamer. For some reason (and I can maybe guess why), Eagle did not rate Jim O'Brien, considering him a new coach at NC State. It would make sense to me to include O'Brien's record at BC for his rating. Same with UNC's Butch Davis. It would be interesting to see how his years at Miami would rate, although to be fair, he was only there for a few seasons and had to deal with probation.

The Duke Basketball Report found an article from a small paper in Ohio about one of those times when K was an outstanding human being. He somehow heard about a family in Ohio who had recently lost their teenage son (a Duke fan) in a car accident. Krzyzewski tracked down the father's cell phone number and, out of the blue, gave him a call. He followed that up with a box full of signed memorabilia that the family could use in an auction to raise funds for a scholarship in their son's name.

It's really a great story.

Wow.

And it's going to be a hell of a book. The whole thing will printed as three volumes, each 8.5 by 11 inches and 800 pages. That's a lot of book.

When I first read the headline and saw what they were talking about, I was really hoping that they were talking about a database, preferably a freely accessible database, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I can dream though.

Well, I was wrong. Maryland basketball is in a bit of hot water. According to The Baltimore Sun, as paraphrased at AOL's NCAA FanHouse, two of Maryland's seniors this year are not on track to graduate. If either of them fails to catch up and earn his sheepskin on time, the Terps will fall below NCAA standards and be punished by losing two scholarships. Ouch. Two scholarships is a pretty serious penalty, but on the plus side, think of all the extra excuses it could provide Gary Williams!

When the old fat dude who couldn't even play ball when he wasn't old and fat is hitting threes, the shot is too easy.

Well, the NCAA Committee is doing something about it. In a rare correct move, they have voted (of course, it still has to be approved) to move the line back a foot, to 20 feet, 9 inches starting in the 2008-09 season. No, it's not a huge change, but it will help. It will be slightly more difficult and it might help spread the college game out a bit more. It should also make the mid-range game a bit more significant. Everybody wins!

(Here is where I point out the one crappy part. The women's committee did NOT approve the same change, so now there will be an extra line on the court. Two lines just one foot apart. Ugh.)

My first thought about this was that it was a bunch of crap. How could they really account for all the reasons why players do or do not commit fouls? What about the superstars, most of whom are black, who tend to get the benefit of the calls? Well, then I read the article and found that they accounted for that:

The economists accounted for a wide range of factors: that centers, who tend to draw more fouls, were disproportionately white; that veteran players and All-Stars tended to draw foul calls at different rates than rookies and non-stars; whether the players were at home or on the road, as officials can be influenced by crowd noise; particular coaches on the sidelines; the players’ assertiveness on the court, as defined by their established rates of assists, steals, turnovers and other statistics; and more subtle factors like how some substitute players enter games specifically to commit fouls.

Part of me wants to say "no duh" while another part wants to scream "no way!" These refs have been around basketball players their whole lives. Basketball players at the highest levels are disproportionately black, so wouldn't any natural, unintended biases fade over time?

The answer is maybe. Maybe the biases do fade but they don't disappear. No matter how enlightened any of us is, we can't help but notice a person's race. It's likely the very first thing you notice when you see someone. The next wave of electrical impulses that fly across our brains carry a soup of stereotypes that we try to ignore, but usually can't. Black players are more athletic. Black players are more aggressive. Black players are better. White players are smarter. White players are either big white stiffs or perimeter jump shooters. White players are more fundamentally sound. We know the stereotypes. We try to say that we don't use them ourselves, but we do. It's not something we can completely suppress. It's in our DNA, part of our ancient survival instincts where we had to quickly determine US versus THEM when we came across other humans in the forest or plains.

But back to the study and the bias it found. Exactly how big of a measurable impact is there?

“Across all of these specifications,” they write, “we find that black players receive around 0.12-0.20 more fouls per 48 minutes played (an increase of 2 ½-4 ½ percent) when the number of white referees officiating a game increases from zero to three.”

So at the maximum, an extra .2 fouls, or one for every five games, when a crew goes from all black to all white. Considering that a little over two-thirds of NBA refs are white, it's unlikely that there are many games with no white refs and fewer than a third of the games had all white refs. So we're talking about maybe 10 extra fouls in a seasons. Maybe. Anyone who watches much NBA (and honestly, I don't) can tell you that there's a wide discrepancy between the ways games are called from night-to-night and even from quarter-to-quarter within games. Given that inconsistency, is an "extra" 10 fouls over the course of a year really significant? Is it affecting the outcome of games? I doubt it.

But here's where the study gets into an area where I am doubtful about their conclusions. Along with the foul disparity (which I believe), they claim that many other aspects of players' games were affected by the refs:

Mr. Wolfers and Mr. Price also report a statistically significant correlation with decreases in points, rebounds and assists, and a rise in turnovers, when players performed before primarily opposite-race officials.

Come again? How in the world would the race of the refs affect assists? Or rebounds? This little blurb alone (and they go on to point out that when added all together, these differences do affect a few games per year) makes me wonder about the whole thing. I don't doubt that they've discovered something - I mean they had a lot of data - but I'm not sure what. As the old saying goes, correlation doesn't imply causation and I can't think of any rational reason why the race of refs would affect how players play unless the foul discrepancy were really significant (and .2 extra fouls at the extremes is not significant).

So in the end, what do we really have here? I think it's a pretty fascinating study, but not really in basketball terms. I think it is interesting, if not at all surprising, in social terms. In the NBA, a world where there's about as little racial bias as possible, a world where your value is determined almost entirely on your measurable performance, a world with a significant racial mix, you can still find racial bias. That's important to understand. Maybe we should just acknowledge that we'll never be completely colorblind. We can work to overcome our inherent prejudices but we need to realize that we'll never eliminate them completely.

Now, on the surface, the story sucks, especially as presented in this article. Coaches shouldn't go back on their promises to their players and they shouldn't put their guys in the position of possibly suffering a career-ending injury. But keep in mind that all of the information in this story comes from Glasper (and a few short quotes from some assistants) and remember that TOB probably hurt a lot of feelings when he bolted Chestnut Hill for another school in the same conference.

Another point to consider is that this sort of thing probably isn't that uncommon, at least not the part about playing guys who were planning on redshirting. You hear it every year with teams that are struggling. Invariably, they have a few freshmen studs that they are hoping to redshirt, but under the pressure of losing, they put those guys on the field in the middle or even late in the season. Basically, those kids get an abbreviated and rushed start to their career, maybe playing in just a couple of games but burning a year of eligibility. Is that unethical, or is that just a coach doing whatever is in his power to win? Which is greatest, the obligation to the program as a whole, the obligation to a particular team or the obligation to an individual player? It's a tough situation. Most coaches will tell you that they never sacrifice the present for the future, but the truth is that they do it all the time. The future isn't guaranteed to any coach. Redshirt too many guys today and your predecessor may reap the benefits next year.

It's an interesting story. If it went down exactly as described (and I bet it didn't), then O'Brien is an asshole. But then, aren't most football coaches assholes?

So how does this guy do it? I mean, he's even a captain of the lacrosse team! I think you can find the answer in his size - the dude's 6-4, 240. Who's going to say anything?

Hat tip to the DBR for finding this one.

Like Young and Singletary, Mays and Crittenton say they aren't hiring agents and may yet come back. I hope so. While NBA scouts are certainly interested in young Crittenton, legit 6'5" point guards aren't too common even in the League, he could use a bit more seasoning. No position takes longer to learn than point guard and Crittenton isn't ready yet. He could be special, and Georgia Tech has quite a history of special point guards, so I'd hate to see him rush things.

Mays' decision is even more suspect. While he's a talented player who I could see in the NBA, I don't think too many scouts are paying him any attention. Big, athletic guys like Mays are tempting, but not when they score under 13 points per game. I think Mays would have a slim chance of even being drafted. That kind of gamble just doesn't seem worth it to me.

With all of these underclassmen declaring, or at least testing the waters, it might be useful to look at some projections of where they might go. Now, keep in mind that the guys who do these sites really have little to no inside information. They are guessing like the rest of us, just with a bit more diligence. That said, if you look at them in total, you get a pool of likely draftees that's about 90-95% accurate. Looking at nbadraft.net, Draft Express and Inside Hoops, you can get an idea of how the ACC guys are generally viewed. Brandan Wright is a unanimous top-four selection. Thad Young is in the high teens, Javaris Crittenton is in the late first round and neither Sean Singletary nor James Mays are even projected as draftees. Going by that, I'd say that everyone but Wright should be thinking about what classes they want to take next fall.

So far this week we've had Brandan Wright, Thaddeus Young and Sean Singletary all announce that they'll be putting their names in the draft. What's interesting is that you have three ACC underclassmen apparently doing the same thing, but they are all three in very different situations. Wright is a sure-thing top-five pick. Coming out is pretty much a no-brainer for him. Yes, he's the rare case where he could actually be that highly regarded and still improve his position for next year, but why take that chance? The difference in money isn't worth the risk of injury or failed expectations. While Wright says he isn't going to hire an agent (or at least hasn't yet), he's not coming back. Nice knowing you. Wish we could have watched you develop.

Young is an interesting case. Like Wright, he would have been a top 5-10 pick last year, but unlike Wright, played his way out of that position this season. Make no mistake, Young is a very promising player with loads of potential, but he didn't dominate like everyone expected him too. So he makes for an intriguing draft decision. Do you just look at the good things he did and can do or do you focus on the fact that he didn't live up to the hype? My guess is that if he stays in, he'll be picked in the middle to lower-half of the draft. Is that good enough to stay in? I say no. He could be a top-five guy and his game could use a little seasoning. It's not hard to see a first-team All-American when you look at Young's future.

Sean Singletary is yet a third case. As a shortish, scoring point guard, he's going to have a hard time impressing NBA scouts. While he's a wonderful college player - certainly better than either Young or Wright at this point - players like Singletary are a dime a dozen in the NBA. He certainly can play at that level, but he's not going to be drafted until at best the late first round. So why announce? Simple. You are allowed to do that and go through all of the pre-draft workouts and evaluations one time in your career. It would be stupid not to take advantage of the opportunity to have disinterested third parties evaluate and critique your game after they watch you play against other NBA hopefuls. I'm sure he'll hear that he needs to improve his outside jumper and his game-management skills. Unfortunately for Singletary, he's probably not going to have the teammates to help him too much in that latter point next year (Virginia's going to need his points), but he can improve his shot before the 2008 draft.

Oh, you might want to put the headphones on for this one.

BTW, burnt orange? Is he pretending to be a Texas alumnus now that he's in Houston? Don't they make those things in red anymore?

Now, I don't normally seek out ESPN Mag articles, because they tend to be the sports equivalent of People magazine or maybe USA Today, but this one was pretty damn interesting and well written. Yeah, it's quite a stretch to give all the credit to chasing bunnies in fields, but this could certainly be a factor for some kids.

Update: I forgot to mention that I found this link via the Swamp over at the Sports Frog. Poster wlu_lax6 is always digging up cool links over there.

Those issues can and will be debated for some time. They should be. What can NOT be debated though is just how impressive the Hokie nation has turned out to be. Almost immediately after the disaster, the community rallied around itself and started addressing their own problems. If there's anything that can be learned about Virginia Tech from all of this is that the school, the administration, the students and the alumni have built an incredibly supportive and united community. How could anyone watch the way they've responded and still think that the university doesn't care about its own students and employees? You can't watch the obvious love that those people have for their school and not be incredibly impressed.

I mentioned in my previous post that incidents like this always make sports seem so inconsequential. Well, maybe I need to reconsider. Virginia Polytechnic University is NOT just a football team, but it's clear that the football team, along with all the other athletic teams, IS a huge part of the school. A huge part of the culture. A hugely positive part of the culture, experience and pride of being a Hokie. Students, alumni and fans everywhere - including the Washington Nationals - have been wearing the maroon and orange all week. They repeatedly refer to themselves as Hokies. That unity and common identity comes directly from the athletic teams.

Sports do matter.

Finally, to wrap up the two points I'm making, you need to watch this video from yesterday's convocation in Cassell Coliseum. An English professor gives an incredibly stirring speech that clearly inspired everyone in the crowd. Watch the whole thing and see what spontaneously erupts near the end. I promise you, you'll get a bit choked up. And you'll see why sports can be so important.

We all are Virginia Tech.

It's pretty damn funny.

The whole story.

From what I've read, he went first to a dorm, looking for his girlfriend. When he couldn't find her, he shot her roommate and maybe the RA. At least one person was killed in the dorm. He got away from there and as police were investigating, he showed up in another building. The rumor is that he was still looking for his girlfriend, this time in a classroom. In that room, and maybe in several, he started shooting and that's where he killed most of his victims.

Terrible.

My thoughts are with those in Blacksburg and the families of all of those affected. We make fun around here sometimes, but it's just that - fun. My family lived in Blacksburg when I was born and later in Radford, where the shooter was evidently from. No place deserves this sort of tragedy, but sometimes it feels even more real when you have a tie, no matter how tenuous.

The Sports Frog posted a story by Bob Pentland about meeting coach Robinson several years back. You may remember Bob as the author of the fantastic Eleven series here at Dave Sez. Go read it and you'll understand a bit better what a great man Robinson was.

Thankfully, some of the answers to those questions have been answered by ACC guru Dave Glenn. In a three-part series, he previews next year's ACC taking educated guesses about who's leaving and who's staying. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

The bottom line? The league should be quite good next year. Unless Hansbrough or Lawson leave, Carolina should be even better. Georgia Tech could be really good. Duke will be better too. The only two teams who are really being decimated are Maryland and Virginia Tech. The Terps had some promising freshmen though and it might actually be a good thing to continue to sweep out another post-title recruiting class. Actually, Miami probably counts in the decimated category as well, but they weren't too impressive to begin with, so that's no big loss.

2008 should be a hell of a season!

For this particular discussion, Grant asked me to come up with my top four teams since 1980. I'm going to cheat a bit and break things into two categories - teams the won the title and teams that did not. College basketball can be a bit capricious and so sometimes the best team doesn't win. I don't think we should forget those teams.

So here are my nominees:

Champions
1982 UNC - Worthy, Perkins and Jordan
1984 Georgetown - Ewing, Williams, Wingate, etc.
1990 UNLV - Augmon, Johnson, Anthony, Hunt
1992 Duke - Laettner, Hill, Hurley
1996 Kentucky - Anderson, Walker, McCarty, Delk, Mercer
2001 Duke - Battier, Boozer, Williams, Dunleavy
2005 UNC - May, McCants, Felton
2007 Florida - Noah, Horford, Brewer

Non-Champions
1984 UNC - Jordan, Daugherty, Smith
1984 Houston - Olajuwon, Drexler, Young
1986 Duke - Dawkins, Alarie, Amaker
1991 UNLV - Augmon, Johnson, Anthony, Hunt
1999 Duke - Brand, Langdon, Avery, Battier

And the winner are ....

Champions
1982 UNC - Worthy, Perkins and Jordan
1984 Georgetown - Ewing, Williams, Wingate, etc.
1992 Duke - Laettner, Hill, Hurley
1996 Kentucky - Anderson, Walker, McCarty, Delk, Mercer

Non-Champions
1984 UNC - Jordan, Daugherty, Smith
1984 Houston - Olajuwon, Drexler, Young
1991 UNLV - Augmon, Johnson, Anthony, Hunt
1999 Duke - Brand, Langdon, Avery, Battier

Discuss ...