Dave Sez - Quick Links

One Shot

I had completely forgot about this, but back in 1996 tiny Western Carolina, a 16 seed, nearly knocked off 1-seed Purdue. They had a three at the end to win. It bounced off the back of rim. They got the rebound and put up one more shot for the tie. Off the back rim. So close.

Fast forward 11 years, the head coach of the '96 Catamounts, Phil Hopkins is still a head coach. At a junior high.

His top assistant? A young Thad Matta who is now the head coach of 1 seed Ohio State.

Pretty incredible how things can change. If that shot had gone in, Hopkins would be legend. Instead, he's forgotten.

It's a great story.

Big Four Hegemony Over?

Growing up as an ACC fan outside of North Carolina, I quickly learned to resent the Big Four schools. I mostly hated UNC, of course, but I was also really annoyed at how the conference really only seemed to exist to serve the schools in North Carolina. The ACC Tournament was nearly always there, players from those schools littered the all-conference teams and the media focused on Tobacco Road. It felt like Virginia, Maryland, Clemson and Georgia Tech were just around to fill things out a bit, like we were part of the club, but still couldn't go into the VIP Lounge in the back.

Over the years, I grew to learn that things weren't really artificially tilted toward the Old North State. Yes, North Carolina was and still is the main focus, but that's for a very good reason - the conference (and I'm talking basketball here) has been dominated by those four teams. In addition, it's served the ACC very well over the years to have this geographic and cultural center. It's here in North Carolina where the ACC matters the most and where the league's heart truly lies. Expansion has diluted things, but make no mistake, the ACC still revolves around the Big Four.

But the absolute dominance might be wavering. David Glenn wrote a brief piece today echoing a fact someone told me last week - this could be the first year in ACC history that fewer than two Big Four teams will finish in the top four of the ACC standings. That will happen unless Boston College, Virginia or Virginia Tech slip and Duke moves up. Of course, that's probably exactly what's going to happen.

If things do hold like they currently stand, I don't really think it means much in the long term. For one thing, the ACC simply has more teams now. For a long while, finishing in the top four only meant you were in the top half of the league, and considering that the Big Four made up half (or so) of the ACC, it's really not that surprising. Hell, UNC alone has only missed being in the top three a handful of times in league history. Also, both Duke and Carolina are still among the nation's top five programs. They aren't going anywhere and they'll be fighting for ACC supremacy for the foreseeable future.

So, non-North Carolina teams, you better resign yourself to more of this:
ACC Men's Basketball Championships

Duke — 16
North Carolina — 15
N.C. State — 10
Wake Forest — 4
Everyone Else Combined — 8 (Georgia Tech 3, Maryland 3, South Carolina 1, Virginia 1)

Pay To Play

The Boston Globe ran a great, disturbing article the other day about the relationship between Pop Warner youth football leagues and Disney. Each year, Pop Warner hosts age-group national championships at Disney's facility in Orlando and charges the teams ridiculous amounts of money for the honor.

The agreement between Pop Warner and Disney stipulates that each participant on every team stay four nights at an official Disney hotel and buy at least two day passes to a Disney park.

From the article:

While rooms were available at a nearby Comfort Inn through Expedia.com for $51.43 a night during Pop Warner's championships, Disney's least expensive package for the Pop Warner teams required a three-night stay (four persons per room) at Disney's All-Star Sports Resort and a four-day theme park pass for $319 per person. At that rate, Disney received $1,276 per room, or nearly $425 a night.

The whole thing makes me sick. First up on "deserves an ass-kicking" podium is the Disney spokesman who had the balls to say "We understand it can be difficult for some teams. That's why we do all we can to work with them." Please. For Disney, "doing all that they can" would include making it free. I understand that they are a business, but extorting kids is bad enough. Don't lie to us too.

Next up on the podium are the Pop Warner leaders who agreed to this ridiculous arrangement. They claim that no other venue can handle the tournament, but that's ludicrous. There are probably hundreds of locations that could support the tournaments. Maybe they wouldn't quite as nice as Disney, but they wouldn't require volunteer coaches to max out their credit cards to get the kids there either.

Last up are all the parents and coaches who agree to go through with all of this. Why would you go to debt for a damn youth football tournament? So little Johnnie can get another trophy? Do they really think the kids wouldn't be perfectly satisfied with a regional or state title? Is it really worth having no Christmas for or having your heat turned off? Somehow I don't think the power company is going to be sympathetic that you just had to take a week's vacation to Orlando so you can't pay the bill this month.

People piss me off sometimes.

Chuck The Ex

According to the News and Observer, Chuck Amato has been fired at NC State. The news is evidently not official, but N&O cites several unnamed sources. While I used the verb "fired," the N&O doesn't quite put it that way, but I seriously doubt that Old Chuck resigned unless it was with a revolver at his temple.

This coaching search should be a hell of a lot of fun. State searches always are, but considering that Carolina just ran a very successful search a few weeks ago, well ... I think Lee Fowler is going to be under a hell of a lot of pressure. How will he top Butch Davis? Bill Cowher is a pipe dream. Norm Chow might be as well, and won't be available for at least five weeks. One name I never really heard in the UNC search, but I think should be near the top of State's list is Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. That man can coach!

BTW, I learned of this news on my own site from veteran poster Ed-Hoo!

Other Amato fired links:
ESPN
Pack Pride
850 The Blog

Stack!

Looking for a little something special for your little something special this holiday season? Well, how about some music from basketball star and Christian crooner Jerry Stackhouse (scroll down a bit)?

Word on the street is that following the huge success of this limited release single, he has a new track hitting stores in January. It's a cover of a classic - "Eight Days A Week." The B-Side is a original, "Slapping Laettner On A Plane."

Miami Lineman Shot, Killed

This is a terrible story. Miami defensive tackle Bryan Pata was shot and killed shortly after practice today.

That's awful for Pata's family, friends and teammates and the program in general. It's been a tough, tough year in Coral Gables, but this is by the far the worst thing yet.

At some point, you have to wonder if all the shootings and violence that surround that team will affect their ability to recruit. Would you want your kid playing there?

Brian Davis Is The Man

You've probably seen the story by now, former Duke basketball players Brian Davis and Christian Laettner are teaming up (again) to buy the Memphis Grizzlies. Davis and Laettner are putting up $40 million of a $252 million purchase of 70% of the club. The two found other investors to fill out the rest of the money, but Davis will be considered the owner.

Now, I remember Brian Davis as a player on those legendary Duke teams. He was a bad ass. A small forward, he could guard four positions and could score when the team needed it. In fact, it was Davis who scored the final critical basket in Duke's famous 1991 upset of undefeated UNLV.

Davis went on to play one season in the NBA and probably a few more overseas, but he really excelled in business. He and Laettner founded Blue Devil Ventures, a real estate company that has successfully rebuilt large chunks of Durham's downtown. Clearly that development was not just good for Durham, but profitable for Davis and Laettner.

We all know that Dukies are supposed to be flops in the NBA. Now it turns out that maybe they can't dominate it on the court (although that myth has largely been shattered by Elton Brand, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and others), but they can literally own the league.

That says some pretty good things about Duke University and Mike Krzyzewski's program doesn't it? I know they hardly need any more good news and it's much more fun to hate on the Blue Devils, but you can't deny that this story is impressive.

Unfortunately for me, Davis' success says some things about my career as well. You see, I graduated from college the same year that Davis did... Let's just say I'm a few paychecks away from buying any pro sports franchises.

Chad Johnson Got POPPED

Man, did you see the hit that Chad Johnson took last Sunday?  That was incredible.  As a poster on the Sports Frog wrote, the guy knocked the color out of his hair.

The Mighty MJD, while writing for AOL, has a nice post up that shows a video of the hit along with another showing Johnson trying to give an interview after the game.  Ever watched someone try to convince their girlfriend that they aren't really drunk?  That's what Johnson looks like in that interview.  I'm not sure he has any idea what is going on.

Laces Out!!

Perhaps you've been following the drama surrounding UNC's quarterback for the upcoming season.  Actually, probably not.

The situation is that, UNC has only two guys who are viable candidates, Joe Dailey, who transferred from Nebraska and Cam Sexton, a redshirt freshman.  Now, normally when a school like Carolina has a transfer from a school like Nebraska, it's a no-brainer. He played - started even - for Nebraska?  Get that kid on the field!  But with Dailey, it's not that easy.  Yes, he started for a whole season for the Huskers, but he threw more interceptions than touchdowns and he lost his job the following spring.  Didn't just become the backup, he fell to fourth string.  Ouch.

But now he's in Chapel Hill and apparently he's the starter, although they are going to play both guys.


So why am I writing about this?  Because of this picture, found at the Sports Frog -->

Good googily moogily!  What is he doing?  Not only is the form kooky-looking, but look at the ball!  Uh, Joe?  The laces are there for a reason.  I know that some QBs like to put their fingertips on the laces and some prefer to have them more under the first knuckle, but completely facing the other way?

If that guy won the quarterback battle, I have a hunch it's going to be (another) long year in Chapel Hill.

Now THAT's A TV!

Holy crap!  That right there is one big ol' television set! 

The University of Texas decided to celebrate their 2005 National Championship by buying the largest Hi-Def screen in the world and sticking that thing above their stadium.  I wonder how many times the players will miss what's going on in the huddle to watch their 50-foot-tall image?

Maybe Duke should put something like that in Wallace Wade.  They could show other games during their games.  They'd probably finally sell some tickets.  Ooh, or they could put The Lion King or Ice Age up there and see if they can't get some families to bring their kids.

Thanks to 850 The Blog for the find.

State Got Lucky

You may remember a few months back when NC State's coaching search got all hot and heavy with Memphis coach John Calipari.  I pointed out that the many Wolfpack fans who were so excited about his impending hire - and it did seem like a sure thing - should be careful what they were wishing for.  The man may be a great recruiter and a good coach, but he's a snake.  He runs a shady program with an incessant odor of scandal and controversy.

Well, consider this most recent story out of Memphis as a big WHEW! for the Red and White nation. Just think, these sorts of stories could have been (and would have been) coming out of Raleigh in the coming years. Winning just isn't worth it. Hopefully Sidney Lowe can make you all forget your brief fling with the devil.

Thanks to the Sports Frog for digging up that outstanding article.

Eagle Catches Katz

Eagle in Atlanta has yet another impressive interview with a "real" sports personality, Andy Katz. If he keeps this up, he's going to give us seat-of-the-pants, non-professional types a bad name.

Earlier, he landed Bob Ryan - Part I, Part II.

Track Is Dead

Ned Barnett of the News & Observer wrote a nice piece this weekend about how the local track empire of Trevor Graham is in ruins. You could take Barnett's article and take it a step or two further - the entire sport of track and field - like cycling - is rubble. There was a time after the post-Ben Johnson rules changes when I thought it was largely cleaned up. I knew that some athletes still doped, but not everyone. After the allegations of the past couple of years that include positive tests and/or bans of Tim Montgomery (the one-time 100m world record holder), Justin Gatlin (the current 100m world record holder) and now Marion Jones (by far the biggest name in women's track and field), it's clear that everyone is cheating. They have to be. If those at the top are cheating, there's no reason to believe that the less talented folks are clean. If US athletes can find ways to get the drugs they need, how hard can it be in other countries that have much less regulation in their pharmaceutical industries?

The sport is completely broken. No performance is to be trusted. Maybe the whole sport needs to take a year off while they figure out what can be done. Do they boost their drug testing? Maybe require every single athlete to give a monthly drug test plus one just after each meet? And then store those samples for five years or more in case better tests come available?

Or maybe instead they should just give up their hopeless chase and let the athletes compete with whatever chemicals they can find. Make it like NASCAR - you have a driver and a pit crew. At least that way, it'd be more honest.

Something has to be done, because the sport couldn't be less interesting or more disgraceful at this point.

The Little Four

I have to try harder not to fall behind on my David Glenn reading. Glenn has a nice post about North Carolina's "Big Four" ACC teams and how (and why) they are struggling right now in football.

The most interesting part of his post is the section where he breaks down the number of Division 1 football prospects by state compared to the number of Division 1 teams in that state. Glenn estimates the numbers, but I'd love to see some actual figures. If I had more time, I'd see if I could compile that myself from current college rosters. Maybe it could be collected from espn.com or some other big site using a tool like Bukster.

Anyway, the bottom line of Glenn's point, and one that I'm sure the actual numbers would corroborate, is that the state of North Carolina just isn't well-situated to support a consistent, major program. There simply aren't enough good players to go around compared to schools in states like Georgia or Florida. In fact, NC might just be the toughest location for any BCS team.

K And USA

I was sealing the grout in my kitchen floor last night and decided I needed some background noise to break the tedium. I flipped on the TV and there was the US basketball team, playing an exhibition game against Puerto Rico. The last time I watched our national team play the Puerto Ricans, they were kicking our ass in the '04 Olympics. It was ugly and embarrassing.

Last night's game was the exact opposite. It a textbook example of beautiful basketball by our men as they destroyed their outmatched rivals by 45 points.

Just the other day, I read another article (I don't remember who wrote it and it's not worthy of a Googling to find it) where the author smugly noted how Mike Krzyzewski was an idiot for asking his players to actually play hard and dominate all four quarters of a game. Some hack sportswriter actually thinks he knows better than Coach K. Well, if you watched any of last night's game, you know damn well that K not only knows what he is doing, but he has gotten through to this team. He knows that when you have the better team, full of superior athletes, that you can demoralize your opponents by not letting them do anything on offense. I've seen Duke do it a million times and I saw it again last night - the US defenders were pressuring the ball and then jumping into passing lanes. Puerto Rico couldn't even make the first pass to set up their offense so they panicked. Steal, run, dunk. Steal, run, dunk. It was gorgeous. Offensive explosion through defense.

And the notion that they can't play that way for a whole tournament? Please. The team has 12 players and every single one of them will play significant minutes. International games are just 40 minutes long instead of the 48 minutes of an NBA game. The tournament will consist of fewer than a dozen games compared to the NBA season of 82 plus the playoffs. Our guys will NOT burn out and they will NOT lose this tournament.

Maybe it's not all Krzyzewski. He is very fortunate to have come in at a time when a new wave of young stars is taking over the league - young players who are not only better than the previous generation, but they have better attitudes as well. These guys want to prove themselves and they want to dominate every quarter. This isn't Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury and Paul Pierce hogging the ball, it's Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony sharing the ball and playing as a team. It's scary.

And it's beautiful.

Dean Smith And Jim Valvano

The friendship that developed between Jim Valvano and Mike Krzyzewski after Valvano retired from NC State is well chronicled. Coach K and his wife are still quite active in the various V Foundation activities in the area.

The boys at The Red and White From State have dug up a story that sheds a little light on the relationship between V and Dean Smith. Now, Smith was never a terribly social man and wasn't really a favorite of his coaching peers, but that didn't keep Valvano from asking for (and receiving) a big favor from Coach Smith. It's a cool little story.

BTW, Dean Smith was just chosen as one of the first five selections to the new National College Basketball Hall of Fame. If they are only going to pick five people a year (and that's the only reason why I can think of for why only five are in the first class), it's going to take them a while to get all of the worthy candidates in the Hall. Maybe that's the point, to help keep the inductions relevant for several years.

Blogger At The WSOP

You probably remember the mgoblog, it's the site that put together the BlogPoll for college football (yes, I'm a voter). Brian, mgoblog's creator has evidently forked over $10K of his own money and went out to Vegas to play in the WSOP. According to this entertaining update, he made it through Day 1 and managed to do a little star (and cleavage) gazing while he was at it.

Go Brian!

Uh Oh

Could Floyd Landis become bike racing's Ben Johnson? Top of the world one day and the sport's signature goat the next? I certainly hope not, but reports are that Landis has failed blood tests. The tests showed unusually high testosterone levels on the day he made his miraculous ride.

Bad news. They're going to run tests on his B sample to verify. Let's hope the first results were wrong.

Blog Highlight - Every Day Should Be Saturday

Earlier today, I linked to Ed Zipper's divorce notice for ESPN. The one problem with the idea of leaving the country's foremost supplier of sports information and artificial cool is that you need to find a replacement. Fortunately in today's Internet world, there are many places to look.

So maybe it's time for a new feature, one that I've thought of doing for ages. At some indeterminate interval (hey, I'm not penning myself in here), I'm going to pick a worthy site (probably a blog) that you should be reading.

You already know about the big, famous ones like The Sports Frog and Deadspin and personal faves like ACC Basketblog, The Duke Basketball Report and StateFans Nation, so for my first pick I'm going elsewhere.

Every Day Should Be Saturday is a phenomenal college football blog written by guys calling themselves Orson Swindle and Stranko Montana. Swindle in particular has an unhealthy knowledge of the college game and is a damn funny guy.

A sampler of some recent goodness:

Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen looking, uh ... available.

A fantastic series of posts on offensive line play. The prologue is here and it was followed up by two parts (1 & 2) of a three-part series written by former NFL lineman Jim Richards. Great stuff here that you just don't find most places. Why, it's nearly as good as Bobby P's Eleven series!

UT Recruit Allegedly Improved Grades With Penis

The Troy State offensive linemen will regret this series of pictures for the rest of their lives.

Love for the Sackrider.

OK, that's enough. I think you get the point. Some seriously good stuff there. Who needs the WWLIS anyway?

What The Zipper Said

Ed Zipper of the Sports Frog wrote what I'm sure many of you have thought for a long time - it's time to move on from ESPN. Ed wants a divorce and I do too. Hell, we barely ever spend time together anymore and when we do, I'm never happy. The only thing (outside of PTI) they do right is live sports, and I'm not including darts.

BTW, Zipper is a professional stand-up comic in his spare time.

Previous clues that ESPN and I were coming to this point in our relationship:
Ombudsman
Scam
"Reality show"
I'm not paying
Most annoying personality?
Insufferable Sports Guy

Keeping It Real, Cane-Style

If you thought that maybe Willie Williams' departure from Miami meant that maybe they'd lose a bit of their thug edge, wonder no more. Check this story out - Hurricane safety Willie Cooper (Dub-C of 7th-Floor Crew fame) was shot in the ass this morning.

Two great aspects of this story - first, it happened at 6:30 in the morning. Evidently the guys say some strange car outside of their house. What college students are up at 6:30 in the morning? Unless they were up for practice, I'm guessing they had been up all night.

The second nugget here is this sentence from the article, "After Cooper was shot, teammate and roommate Brandon Meriweather pulled a pistol from his pants pocket and fired three times at the person." He had a pistol right there in his pants! At 6:30 AM!

Only at Miami.

Ranking the ACC Stadiums

FanBlogs has a link to a SportingNews.com article ranking the ACC football stadiums. As always, this sort of article is less about the actual picks than the discussion it generates. That said, I thik Matt Hayes did a pretty good job ranking the stadiums.

I think you could debate Lane vs. Doak vs. Death Valley forever and never settle on on order. Doak is the toughest simply because the Noles are the best program. Lane is probably the nastiest and possibly most intimidating. Memorial is the biggest and has the most history.

I'd say he overrates the Orange Bowl. The program? Great. The stadium? Poor. Attendance sucks for any non-FSU game and that's just embarassing for a program of Miami's stature.

I'd also say that he rates Kenan stadium too high. Yes, it's a pretty setting but even in the Mack Brown days, it just wasn't a really nasty crowd. Nowadays, the stadium is never full and has a ton of opposing fans.

Take this with a huge grain of salt, because I've only actually been to games at UVA, UNC, Duke and State, but here are my picks:

1. FSU (Doak Campbell)
2. Clemson (Memorial)
3. VT (Lane)
4. NC State (Carter-Finley)
5. UVA (Scott)
6. Miami (Orange Bowl)
7. Georgia Tech (Bobby Dodd)
8. UNC (Kenan)
9. BC (Alumni)
10. Maryland (Byrd)
11. Wake Forest (Groves)
12. Duke (Wallace Wade)

A Cautionary Tale

I remember Brien Taylor. He was quite possibly the most hyped baseball prospect ever - a can't miss kid with a million-dollar arm headed to the Yankees.

I remember being somewhat disgusted by the demands of his family. They weren't content with the Yankees' initial offer of just over $300K for a signing bonus. They held out for more and eventually landed a stunning (at the time) signing bonus of $1.55 million. It seemed so greedy at the time.

I realize now that I was wrong. Taylor's career started off in stellar fashion, but just a few years along his certain path to stardom he hit a pothole. A big one. He blew his shoulder out in a street fight and was never the same. He never pitched a single inning for the New York Yankees and now Brien Taylor works as a bricklayer in his hometown of Beaufort, NC. Holding out for that $1.55 mil seems like the smartest move in the world now.

It's a sad story. Sure, he didn't fall into the traps of drug addiction or petty crime that catch so many failed prodigies, but you have to wonder how often Taylor regrets that one decision to fight when he could have walked away.

On the other hand, with one swipe of his pen, he made more money as an 18-year-old than I've made so far in my entire career. Maybe I shouldn't feel too badly for the guy. Still, Taylor's story should be required reading for every kid out there who's told that he's going to be a star. It can all disappear in the blink of an eye.

Happy Birthday To The DBR

The Duke Basketball Report is 10 years old today. That's pretty impressive for any website, much less one that's pretty much run by the seat of the pants. In Internet time, 10 years old qualifies you for Social Security and adult diapers.

So, congrats to the guys at the DBR! It's not a very sexy site and it certainly has its biases, but there's not a finer resource for ACC basketball news out there. We're all the better for its long tenure.

Sunken Chest

I've done my share of Chuck Amato bashing on this site. It's not that I hate the guy or think he's a complete idiot, I just find him funny. Also, I can't resist to poke sticks at his inflated ego and the inherited pride that so many Pack fans inherited his first few years when his charisma and showmanship hid the fact that he wasn't really delivering on his promise.

But, despite all of that, I don't think he's the worst coach in the country. But Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel does. He lists the top ten college footbal coaches in the country (the ACC has only Frank Beamer) and then the five worst. Chuckles came in dead last.

But don't chortle too much, Carolina fans. Big John Bunting and his mustache were an honorable mention worst, along with Virginia's Al Groh. Chan Gailey joined Amato as one of the first worst.

So if you're keeping track at home, according to Mandel, the ACC has one of the ten best coaches in the land and four of then worst. Ouch.

Dr. Z on ZZ

I haven't written anything about Zinedine Zidane's fabulous final flame-out (other than this), because I just couldn't find the right words.

Imagine my surprise when I found out (thanks to the ACCBasketblog) that football's own Dr. Z (maybe the best football writer going) knows a bit about futbol as well. Dr. Z's thoughts about Zidane aren't too far off from my thoughts. He might be being a bit kind to Zizou, who's blunder might just top Jean Van de Velde for the dumbest move by a Frenchman in a big sporting moment, but that's OK. He makes up for it by going after the moronic commentary of Marcelo Balboa. Dr. Z's the man.

p.s. Check this other angle of the incident - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2slJ9CBnk0 - you'll see Materazzi reach around and pinch Zidane's nipple and then run his mouth up until the point where Zizou drops him.

p.p.s. And check these videos of some of Materazzi's past work - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJPKM5aJGW8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gyu8W1g2co

2006 ACC Helmet Schedule

Now I'm excited! I've had my 2005 ACC Helmet Schedule hanging on my wall all year - god bless the color printers at work (shhhh!) - and lately it's been making me pine for the fall.

Once again, Joe Ovies of 850 The Buzz did an outstanding job putting it together. Here ya go - the 2006 ACC Helmet Schedule 2006.

My only complaint about this version is that Joe stuck in logos for his radio stations in the off weeks. I much prefer having just the word "OFF" in there. It makes it much easier to spot at a quick glance. I think I'll be editing my copy before printing it out.

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

A few weeks ago, Winthrop's hot young coach Gregg Marshall pulled a very similar trick with the College of Charleston. He accepted the job, attended a press conference and then changed his mind. It quickly called Cremins' move to mind. Even Cremins himself was quoted as saying that Marshall had "pulled a Bobby Cremins."

So who did Charleston look to to soothe their "Creminsed" pain? The man himself. They hired Bobby Cremins to take the place of a "Bobby Cremins."

You couldn't make that up.

As to the hire itself, I'm of two minds. On the one hand, CofC got themselves a Grade A coaching name. Schools like that just don't hire guys like Cremins too often. I mean, that guy won the ACC several times, took his famous Lethal Weapon 3 team to the Final Four and recruited numerous NBA talents. On the other hand, I was never convinced that Cremins was really a good coach. He was a great recruiter - at least at landing stars - but not a great coach. But he's not going to land any Mark Prices or Stephon Marburys at Charleston. Can he compete there with his tight 7-man rotation and heavy reliance on superior point guard talent? I don't know. I have a hunch it's not going to work out.

But it's still a hell of a story.

Turkey Bowling

TechSideLine.com has an interesting article up today reviewing ACC bowl performance over the past 13 years. Why 13 years? Because that's exactly the length of the current Virginia Tech bowl streak. So, it's a bit of a self-serving sample, but it's still a good review of recent history.

The Hokies have been to a bowl in each of the past 13 seasons, but have gone only 6-7 in those games.

Florida State has also been to 13 consecutive (24 actually) bowl games, including an incredible 11 BCS games in that period. The Seminoles have 8 wins and 5 losses in those games.

Surprisingly, Virginia ties Miami for third place with 11 bowls. Miami's number was hurt a bit by probation, but is boosted with 6 BCS appearances in their 11 games.

Boston College's stats stick out for this reason - in their 9 bowl games, they have 8 wins! That's an amazing percentage, and those 8 wins tie FSU for the most over this period.

Curiously, bitter rivals UNC and NC State have performed nearly identically, with 8 bowls and 5 wins.

Bias Video

I wrote an article the other day about the twenty-year anniversary of the death of Len Bias. In that piece, I tried - probably unsuccessfully - to describe just how good he was in college. Well, thanks to Bill Simmons' latest piece, I now have a way to show you. YouTube (a fantastic website) has a great five-minute video of Len Bias highlights. A few in particular you should look for:

• The infamous Carolina dunk. In the midst of single-handedly upsetting the Heels in Chapel Hill (in what would be their first-ever loss in the Dean Dome) Bias hits a long jumper and then promptly steals the inbounds pass and throws down a nasty reverse dunk. It was one of the greatest I'm-going-to-win-this-game-myself-and-there's-not-a-damn-thing-you-can-do-about-it moments I've seen in college basketball.


• The black and white picture of Bias going up for a rebound. Check out the muscles throughout the guy's body! And remember, this was years before basketball players started bulking up. His build was extraordinary in those days.


• The shot-block at about the 3:15 mark of the video - look where his hand is!

As an added bonus, check out this other Bias clip on YouTube. It's another UNC-Maryland game, this time in College Park. Bias has his shot blocked by Sam Perkins and then Michael Jordan goes the other way. MJ punctuates the fast break with his infamous rock-the-cradle dunk that we all now recognize from his NBA days. At the time, that dunk was not only never seen before (although I think he might have done it first against Clemson), but never even contemplated. And folks will try to tell you that Jordan wasn't awesome in college.

The ACC in the early 80's was simply incredible.

Ice, Ice Baby

StateFans Nation found a nice article at rivals.com about former Wolfpack star Rodney Monroe. Monroe, of course with Chris Corchiani, made up Fire & Ice, the potent NC State backcourt of the late Valvano years.

It's always fun to catch up with former ACC stars who didn't quite make it in the NBA.

Oh, the SFN guys also linked to a post of theirs that I missed back in January putting together their top-five ACC shooters.
Since my ACC history goes back to the same time period as the author's ('81 or so), I'd probably pick the same five. One difference is that I'd probably rank Dennis Scott a skosh higher. I'd put the five in order this way:
Dennis Scott
J.J. Redick
Rodney Monroe
Mark Price
Randolph Childress

Childress really wasn't in the same class as the other four, but gets bumped up solely for that ACC Tournament run.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today

Hey, did you hear who won the award for the best basketball player under six feet?

Len Bias.

That's the joke that the speaker at my high school overheard while she was in the bathroom before her speech. It was less than two years after the death of her son and now Lonise Bias was hearing some snooty white kids joke about it.

When she told us all that she just overhead some among us joking about her dead son, my classmates and I cringed. While she may have thought we were all just callous rich kids, it wasn't true that we didn't care. It didn't matter who you were, if you were a fan of college basketball in the mid-80s, particulary of ACC basketball, you were a fan of Len Bias. He was a baaaad man. I hated Maryland, but I loved watching Bias play. He was big, strong, agile and competitive as hell. Think Michael Jordan with two more inches and 20 pounds more muscle. In ACC terms, Bias was sort of a cross between Jordan and James Worthy, too strong for small players and way too quick and athletic for power forwards.

There's no guarantee of course that Bias would have been a star in the NBA, but I've never heard anyone say they thought he'd be anything but. He had All-Star written all over him. Or so we thought.

It turned out that Bias had another side that we didn't see. A stupid, irresponsible side. That aspect of his life killed him at 22. When reports first came out, it was claimed that June 18 was the first time he'd ever used cocaine. Slowly, other stories leaked out that challenged that notion. Bias had been a user for some time. Those darker stories of his partying, along with the revelations that he hadn't really been going to school, took down Lefty Dreisell and sent the Maryland basketball program into a nearly decade-long tailspin.

But there's another side of the Len Bias story, one a bit more positive. Often times out of extreme bad news comes good. As Jay Bilas says in this Michael Wilbon article, everyone of my generation remembers where they were when they heard the news of Bias' death. I was home for the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I worked as a bus boy, so went to bed late. When, I woke up on the morning of June 19 at the crack of noon, I flipped on SportsCenter and very quickly heard the news. It stunned me. How could Len Bias, the biggest, baddest mother around die just like that? At that point in my life I had never been around cocaine (and to my great fortune, never since either), but sitting there watching that story unfold, I quickly determined that I would never, ever touch that stuff. If it could kill Len Bias, it could kill me. I'd never take that chance.

Lonise Bias realized quickly that that would be her son's legacy. He wouldn't set NBA records or win titles, but he would, in death, save lives. She realized that and hit the road to tell her son's story to everyone she could, even if it meant enduring the cruel jokes of adolescent punks.

J.J. In The Clink

I was debating whether or not to post about J.J. Redick's arrest for DWI the other night. I mean, it's a newsworthy story, but then it's not really that big of a deal. Mostly, I considered posting it just for the opportunity to make some jokes.

But then I went and read Chris Chase's take. I should have known better. Chris, as usual, already hit all of the good jokes. He even throws in another J.J. poem. I'm not even going to try to compete with that.

Yanks Down

Surely you know by now. Despite years of building and anticipation, the United States showed up on the pitch yesterday against the Czech Republic and promptly took a dump at midfield. It was ugly.

Actually, before I go into what went wrong, and there was plenty, I should point out the good stuff. The US did control possession for most of the game. They held the ball for nearly twice as long as the Czechs in the first half (and maybe for the game - I didn't see a late update on that). They didn't produce a ton of good scoring chances out of that possession, but Claudio Reyna sent a shot that was only a few inches away from tying the game at 1-1. Had that ball gone in, who knows how the rest of the game would have gone. Maybe that would have woken the Americans from their inexplicable torpor.

On the bad side, well, there was plenty. The US didn't match the Czechs' energy. The US forwards were largely invisible (did Brian McBride even touch the ball once?) as the US' service all day was horrendous. The US wings, DaMarcus Beasley in particular, were tentative and completely ineffective. Beasley showed all the touch of a rec-league fullback. Kasey Keller, among the best keepers in the world, continously kicked the ball to where we weren't; it was his ill-timed punt over the heads of his teammates that led to the first goal. Our defense was disorganized and seemed willing to let Pavel Nedved run all over the field, completely dominating play.

In a word, we sucked. We sucked outloud. We should be better than that. We are better than that. And now we get to - we have to - prove it. Italy beat Ghana 2-0 yesterday, giving the US no real choice but to beat the Italians on Saturday. Do that and there is still a very real chance of advancement. Tie and things look very dim. Lose and it's over.

Given how we looked and how the Azzurri looked against Ghana, it's pretty clear that we'll be severe underdogs. There was no comparison between the levels of passion of our boys and theirs. But that change. You'd hope that confidence would lead to aggression, but in lieu of that, maybe anger and embarassment can do it.

Surely, The Bruce (who was NOT happy after the game) will change things up. Look for at least five different starters on Saturday. I'd guess that he's going to go for a bit more youth and speed. It might be a risk from a technical perspective, but this team needs fire, athleticism and threats. Until Eddie Johnson stepped on the field, the team we fielded yesterday had very little of any of those.

Two games left. No room for error. I'm still hopeful.

Yanks Up!

I don't have time for an in-depth post this morning, so I'll just go with this -
USA! USA! USA!

The Cup Tips!

For a majority of the world, this is one of the biggest sporting days of the past four years - the opening day of the 2006 World Cup. I'm pumped!

There are two games today, host
Germany takes on Costa Rica at noon and Poland faces Ecuador at 3 (EST).

Having the host team open things up is a new tradition. In years past, the defending champion got the honor. They may have stopped that after France was knocked off in their first game in 2002. Germany of course is a traditional soccer power, but they've slipped since the last World Cup. But, they are the home squad and the host nation tends to do well in these large competitions. Costa Rica qualified third out of the United State's qualifying group, CONCACAF and probably was picked to face the Germans first because most expect the Ticos to lose. But don't sleep on them. Costa Rica is not a bad team and nearly advanced to the knockout round in 2002.

In the other matchup, Poland is a slight favorite against the South American squad. The knock on Ecuador is that the can only win when they are at high elevation like in their home stadium in Quito. Ecuador has not fared well in recent friendlies, going 0-3-1 in their last four. Look for Poland to take advantage of a likely friendly crowd and get the win.

Closing The Mills

The NCAA is finally starting to do something about the nasty trend of artificial high schools for basketball players, by
disallowing credits from 15 "schools." Of course, being the NCAA, they pretty much whiffed on the actual diploma mills (none of the 15 schools still have teams and some never did), but it looks like they are headed in the right direction.

If you aren't aware of the trend, what happens is that some coach, usually an AAU snake, decides that he really wants to run an elite high school team. So he finds a group of top players who aren't doing well in regular high schools and he founds a school where they are the only students. Usually they have only a couple (if that) teachers, and those are rarely real teachers with certificates. The schools then give out pretty much all A's to their players. The attraction for the players is easy to see - a good basketball team, no actual schoolwork and instant college eligibility (if they can just manage a minimal SAT score). It's disgusting and I'm glad the NCAA is finally acting.

Diff'rent Stokes

I love Terry Holland and I have a soft spot for Ricky Stokes too, but this just isn't right. Ricky Stokes, once the spunky point guard who helped take Virginia to the 1984 Final Four, is now the coach at ECU. Stokes had a rough first year, going 8-20 and has responded by revoking the scholarships of eight players. Eight! Most of those guys were recruited by his predecessor, Bill Herrion, but at least one player was recruited by Stokes.

Now, I understand that a coach's job is to win and to win you need talent. I also understand that I don't know the whole story here. There are hints that many of these players were unhappy and threatening to transfer. But this whole thing stinks. These eight players now must all find another place to play with very short notice. While ECU can cut them loose with no warning, the players can't just transfer somewhere else and play right away. They have to sit out a year even though it wasn't their choice to leave.

That sucks. You're better than that, Ricky Stokes.

Best Soccer Players Ever

With the World Cup coming up and given that most Americans don't really know the game's history that well, I figured I'd do my part to help out.

AskMen.com has a nice article running down their picks for the 20 best soccer players of all time. Give it a read. It's a nice primer on not just the great players, but also some of the great teams of all time and some past World Cup champions.

Along with that, how about revisiting that great video of some great soccer goals?

And, thanks to the awesome site that is YouTube.com, some cool vids of some of those great players.

George Best didn't make that list of top 20 players, but any Brit would claim that he was robbed. This video makes a great argument on their behalf.

Of course, you know Pele, but his prime was long ago. I had actually seen very few clips of his game action, so this video really opened my eyes. Incredible. Seriously, don't skip that one.

And speaking of flashy South Americans, you can't forget Maradona. Unfortunately, no clips are quite as well done as the Pele one, but I'll make it up with two good ones. The first is just an amazing clip of him juggling a ball while warming up for a game. Check the stuff he does while seemingly not even trying. And now some clips of him actually playing, including one the most famous goals of all time, his 2/3 field run against England in the '86 World Cup.

How about a modern player who will likely crack the top-20 list when he's done? Brazil's Ronaldinho is not a handsome man, but damn can he do some things with the ball. The flat-footed goal is just sick. This Nike commercial is pretty cool too.

Enjoy.

Glenn Breaks Down The APR

David Glenn did a little reading and put together a couple of table showing how each of the major men's ACC programs fared in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rates (APR) report. As Glenn reports, these numbers came out in February, but no one seemed to write much about them. I remember looking for the full charts when they came out, but couldn't find them (after a rigorous minute with Google, I'm sure) and forgot.

A few observations about the charts:
The basketball list looks surprisingly like recent standings, with UNC, Duke and Wake at the top and Clemson at the bottom.

Duke and Wake ranked in the top three in the ACC in both basketball and football.

FSU shocked me by coming in fourth in both sports. Fourth! If it were arrest rates, I would have expected the Noles to shine, but I didn't think I'd see them near the top of an academic ranking. Good for them.

It appears that NC State's excuse that they struggle because they have so much more emphasis on academics than their rivals doesn't really hold up here (or elsewhere, really). The Pack was 10th in hoops and dead last in football.

Open, Says Wie?

I don't do a lot of breaking story-type articles here - I mean it is a blog - but this one is too good to ignore. 16-year-old Michelle Wie is playing in a US Open - the men's US Open - qualifier today and after 28 holes, she is apparently
only one shot out of making it.

The qualifier has 153 players competing for 18 spots. It is a one-day tournament and they play 36 holes. To put the difficulty in perspective, there are 48 PGA Tour pros in the field.

Wie is sitting at -2 right now, tied for 20th. That means that a birdie puts her in (right now) and if two or more guys ahead of her bogey holes, she's in a playoff.

Did I mention that she's a 16-year-old girl? Incredible. If she makes the top 18 to qualify for the US Open, I think it might just be the greatest accomplishment ever for a female athlete competing against men.

Let's go Michelle!

The Seminole Way

Florida State crime stories - they never grow tired, do they? And this one may be the best yet.

According to Tallahassee police, two former Noles - guys who played this year - linebacker A.J. Nicholson and receiver Fred Rouse broke into current player Lorenzo Booker's home and stole $1,700 worth of stereo equipment. At first, I thought that maybe this was just an altercation gone wrong, but nope, they broke in a back window like common thieves.

Now, if breaking into homes to steal stereos doesn't sound stupid enough and if doing it to your own teammate doesn't up the ante enough, how about this - Nicholson was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals just a few weeks ago! The man is a professional athlete!

Oh, but wait, it gets better. You know how the police knew to look for Rouse? Evidently he was clever enough to think to wear gloves during the break-in, you know to avoid leaving fingerprints. But instead of using some generic plastic gloves, he wore his FSU receiver gloves - ones with his number sewn into them ... and he left one in the home!

Now I'm wondering if maybe they weren't wearing their jerseys with their names on the back too.

Of course now that I've written all of this, I'm feeling a bit apprehensive. Maybe I'm being a bit hard on these guys. Maybe I should wait a bit and see if there's a perfectly acceptable explanation. Maybe they both have Lyme disease.

Down On Lowe

One of the difficulties with NC State's hiring of Sidney Lowe is that he can't yet make calls to recruits. But that doesn't mean he can't still make an impact.

Check these quotes from the coach (Bob Oliva) of Larry Davis, a star guard who reneged on his State commitment and picked Seton Hall instead:

Asked why Davis decided not to stick with N.C. State, Oliva said, “I don’t really know … I can only guess. You want me to guess?

“Well, they (N.C. State) took two months to name a coach, and then, when they did, they named a guy who can’t coach.

“That is about the stupidest thing I ever heard of.”

With that, Oliva hung up and returned to his Memorial Day activities.

Ouch.

Thanks to the DBR for the find.

Interesting Times In Garyland

There is an old curse, "May you live in interesting times." The meaning is that where events are deemed "interesting" by outsiders, it is usually very difficult for the participants.

I think we can safely say that the Maryland basketball program is now interesting.

All programs have a certain amount of turnovers. Every few years a coach or two will leave and you can probably count on a transfer every year or two. But Maryland is seeing turnover that makes African governments look stable by comparison.

Just in the past week, one current recruit changed his mind and another's father openly questioned the status of the program. These players' changes of heart came after assistant coach Rob Moxley left the staff to go to UNC-Charlotte. Moxley was the fifth coach to leave Gary William's staff in the past two years (Dave Dickerson went to Tulane, Jimmy Patsos to Loyola, Mike Lonergan to Vermont and Matt Kovarik to law school).

And don't forget that Ekene Ibekwe and D.J. Strawberry put their names in the NBA draft this spring and during the season, Chris McCray was made academically ineligible. During the season, there was a strange episode where recruit Kenny Belton committed to Maryland only to hear that they didn't think that they had really offered him a scholarship. Last season, John Gilchrist was pushed out and Hassan Fofana transfered.

Maybe it's just a blip, a statistical anomaly. Maybe it's Gary cleaning house and getting things in order. Or maybe it's the negative effects of the crushing expectations created during the Blake/Dixon/Baxter years combined with the resurgence of Carolina, knocking the Terps off the ACC mantle. Whatever it is, it sure it interesting.

C Ya Later

And so it ends, not with a bang, but with a scritch-scratch on a contract. Cedric Simmons' once-promising college career is over - he signed with an agent. Considering how weak this draft is, I can't really blame Simmons. I would have been surprised if he returned, no matter how horribly unprepared for the NBA he may be. I mean, is Simmons really farther along than Josh Powell was a few years ago? They were very similar players, but I think Powell had a more refined offensive game. It took Powell three seasons to finally stick in the league. Fortunately for Simmons, he'll probaby be drafted in the first round and thus be guaranteed to get paid for at least three years (unless I misunderstand those rookie contracts).

Sidney Lowe's job keeps getting tougher.

ACC Players In The College Football Hall Of Fame

TechSideline.com has an interesting piece up on members of the College Football Hall of Fame from ACC schools. It's not really accurate to call most of these players ACC players, because a lot (most) of them played before there was an ACC.

Some interesting observations from the TSL guys - VT has more entrants (4) than Clemson, FSU or Miami. Georgia Tech has the most (11), followed by Duke(!) (8) and Maryland (6). Gotta figure you could win some bar bets with that trivia!

I'd imagine that FSU and Miami will be adding quite a few players over the years. It seems like they prefer to vote in players long after their careers ended, so I'd expect to eventually see guys like Chris Weinke, Deion Sanders, Peter Warrick, Vinnie Testaverde, Derrick Brooks, Philip Rivers and Julius Peppers make the Hall.

Lacrosse Final Four

Set your TiVo. You can still do your yard work tomorrow or take your kids to the beach, you don't want to miss the men's lacrosse final four. Trust me. ESPN 2 will have both games on Saturday - Maryland vs. UMass at 11:30 and Virginia vs. Syracuse at 2, and ESPN will have the finals on Monday at 1.

Even better, if you live anywhere near Philadelphia, go see the games. I've been to a few lax final fours, and it's always a great time - big, lively crowds and exciting games.

As I mentioned above, the four teams include two ACC schools, Maryland and Virginia, one perennial power in Syracuse and one outsider, UMass. UMass is sort of like lacrosse's version of George Mason, a small program hitting the big time for the first time. ESPN's preview of the four teams is here.

Maryland should beat the Minutemen to reach the finals, where they will likely be the underdog against either the Cavaliers or Orange (God, I hate that new nickname). Syracuse wasn't their usual powerful self this year, but they've been coming on strong. If they beat the undefeated Cavaliers, I think it's safe to say they'd be the favorite against the Terps.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (and check the comments on that article), UVA is undefeated and is the favorite to take it all. Last week, they completely dismantled a good Georgetown team 20-8. The Hoyas had given up 10 goals only one time this year. Virginia beat 'Cuse earlier this year in a shootout, 20-15 and they beat Maryland twice, 15-5 and 11-5.

But, this is different. Beating teams in the regular season is no guarantee of beating them in the tournament. Syracuse has had a ridiculously good NCAA tournament record over the past couple of decades and Virginia has a history of losing heartbreaking, one-goal games to end their season. I expect this one will be fairly close and there will be a lot of goals.

In the end, I'm sticking with my team. I say (and hope) that the Cavaliers will be hoisting the trophy on Monday after a tight game against Syracuse and a six-goal laugher against the Terps.

Glenn's Final Notes On State Search

This should be the final post on the curious NC State coaching search. David Glenn, the top ACC reporter going right now - and it's not close - put up two articles of miscellaneous notes about the search on his blog.

The first part is here and Part II is here. I think you'll find the most interesting stuff on the second half. Evidently, although State nearly got Rick Barnes and thought they had John Calipari, the closest they came to getting someone before Sidney Lowe was John Beilein.

Another tidbit I did not know (but had heard only rumors about) is that State did in fact contact Tubby Smith.

Part I talks a bit about why Frank Haith's name kept coming up - evidently a lot of reporters simply like the man. I guess they ignored the fact that he hasn't proven to be an above-average coach.

ACC Football - Best In The Land (At Graduation)

The American Football Coaches Association released their annual report and awards for academic achievement and once again, the ACC fared better than any other conference. SMU was awarded the top award this year, but nine ACC schools were honored, more than any other two conferences combined.

In the previous 26 years of the award, Duke has won or shared the title 12 (!!) times. Boston College won four times (all before they were in the ACC), Virginia twice and Wake Forest once. Additionally, Virginia has been given honorable mention 19 times.

I've talked a bit before about how I don't think graduation rates are a perfect measure of academic success (more here). Schools have different requirements and we all know that some schools push players along and fudge grades to keep guys eligible, but it's probably the best, most accessible number we have. The end goal of college is not really a degree - it's education. The degree is nice and it's measurable, but it doesn't mean you learned anything (just ask Dexter Manley ... verbally). That said, a degree is better than nothing and you can be fairly certain that Duke isn't cheating to get their numbers up there (or they really suck at cheating).

So, kudos to all schools who take the academic progress of their players seriously and particular props to the ACC's best - Clemson, FSU, Maryland, UNC, UVA, Virginia Tech and Wake.

p.s. As the ACC BasketBlog pointed out - who would have guessed that the SEC's lone school was NOT Vanderbilt, but Auburn?

But Does He Have Any Eligibility Left?

Someone get Al Groh on the horn! There's yet another stud in the Tidewater area of Virginia, and I don't think Groh should let the Tar Heels steal this one. According to his own website, the infamous televangelist Pat Robertson "can leg-press 2000 pounds!"

Just in case they change the page, here's the text today:

Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?

Where does Pat find the time and energy to host a daily, national TV show, head a world-wide ministry, develop visionary scholars, while traveling the globe as a statesman?

One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.

Now, I know what you're thinking - Dave, is 2,000 pounds really that much for a leg press? Well, maybe not to God's favorite son, but as CBS Sportline points out, the Florida State football record for the leg press is held by Dan "Mr. Wizard" Kendra, at 1335 pounds. And Kendra burst capillaries in his eyes during his lift (one of several Kendra stories during this FSU career that used the word "explode").

So, send a recruiter down there, Al. Pat Robertson is a hoss (and just think how he'd fare against the Miami Hurricanes).