I failed to catch this on the day it was posted – how I don’t know because I stalk TarHeelBlue.com like a peeping Coach K. Needless to say, this is huge. Ed Davis is the man – scientifically speaking – and he could very well be the leader of the Heels next winter. I feel so much better about how we’ll look next year.
Ed Davis To Return To UNC For Sophomore Season – NORTH CAROLINA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE .
I read a blog by a guy who owns a pub in London. His name is Jeffrey but he calls it Stonch’s Beer Blog. Must be a nickname. It’s pretty entertaining. He’s not about the geekery behind beer and more about enjoying it, which I think is great. His pub is in the Clerkenwell section of town and he posted this video the other day. I had to share. (I should add that Jeffrey was not a fan of the video. I, however, really enjoy it for some odd reason)
Got on a bad YouTube binge today and eventually made my way to watching Danny Green’s “Jump Around” dance sequences that he used to perform before tip-off. Now that he’s a starter I hear the role has been passed on to Larry Drew II, though I have yet to see visual evidence as I have not attended a home game in person yet. (Feb. 28 vs. Ga. Tech!!!!)
I just got to thinking after seeing the DVD about this season is titled “Jump Around.” Should they retire the song as the pre-tip-off song when Green leaves? He’s pretty much put his mark on it. This is the type of thing that could become a team tradition, but at the same time I don’t think there’s a Carolina student who’s been there in the past four years that wouldn’t always associate the song with Green. And further, what song could possibly replace the anthem? Please comment and tell me what you think! I can’t make up my mind. My first thought is that they should retire it if the Heels manage to pull an ‘05, and maybe keep it if they don’t.
J.J. Redick
Coach K
Because they come to Franklin St. because Durham sucks
That too-important-for-this-discussion nose
Daddy’s trust fund
Wojo
Coach K didn’t wear an Eve ribbon
1991 and 1992
Tyler’s broken nose
Slapping the floor
Coach K commercials
Foul shooting
Cameron Crazies
“We need to play ‘Duke Basketball’ today”
Kryzewskiville
Pep band’s royal and white striped shirts
2001
Shane Battier
Jeff Capel’s overtime shot (they lost the f***ing game!)
3-pointers
Because Coach K might pass Dean Smith
Laettner
Hurley
Cromagnum Williams dates Candace Parker (Correction: He is married to and has knocked up Candace Parker. Hate him even more)
Duhon
The fact that I’ve been alive for more of dook’s championships than UNC’s
OMG. That’s a disturbing fact. More to come.
Tomorrow will be a contemplative time. Inspired by DTH articles from the past, I’ve always wanted to write the “Why I hate Duke” article. I think I’m going to use tomorrow to gather my thoughts, maybe adding new thoughts in the evening, and eventually try to complete the article by the Heels’ final regular season game in Chapel Hill vs. the Devils.
Ambitious? No. This will be easy, and very, very fun.
Last night was the best night of college basketball that I can remember for quite some time, and not only because Duke lost.
But let’s get right to that. Wake Forest looked like they would win relatively easily – not handily, but easily- when they were staying between eight to 10 points ahead of the dookies with about six minutes remaining. But as they always do, Duke made a run to tie the game with about two seconds left.
The best part of the way it ended was that Duke’s trademark defense failed. Gerald Henderson left his man, James Johnson, who then cut straight to the basket for a layup with .8 seconds left. Priceless. If you watch video of the game Dicky V calls it before they even throw the ball in. By the way, after years of hating him, I like ol’ Dicky V again. He’s just fanatical about college basketball, and I think I’m beginning to rise (or sink?) to his level.
After the hearty Wake/Duke game came sweet desert, the Heels beating Florida State on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Adam Lucas, the basketball writer for TarHeelBlue.com, got some good quotes from the players in this story. The one that stuck out was Hansbrough saying Danny Green’s steal-into-three-point-play might have been “season turning.”
My sentiments exactly, Roy. And that’s exactly how it felt to watch, too. Since beating Michigan State, the Heels – who many say are the most talented team in the nation – have looked lackluster. But here, when they most needed to play, Green shot into the passing lane like a psychic and converted for three points to TIE THE GAME mind you. Hansbrough then held game-high scorer Toney Douglass with his defense to draw a shot-clock violation. And if you hadn’t heard, Ty Lawson flew down the court with 3 seconds remaining to drill a 3-pointer at full speed.
The celebration by the team after Lawson’s shot was what I’ve been waiting for. They wanted to win that game. They weren’t just going through the motions anymore. They realized what it’s like to play like winners – at least for that game. Here’s to hoping it carries over for the rest of the season.
On top of that, Villanova knocked off Pitt, Providence beat Syracuse 100-94 and Cincy beat Georgetown. ESPN says that never have four No. 1 teams been knocked off in the same month until now. The entire nation is full of great teams and it’s going to be an amazing March. Whoever is crowned – fingers crossed – will certainly deserve it. I’m even starting to turn my blinders off and think the Big East might be better than the ACC, top to bottom anyway, not strictly the top – ever.
Photos from AP
I basically spent the weekend at the Verizon Center.
On Saturday I went to the Georgetown/Pitt game at noon, followed by the Caps against the Rangers that evening at 7 p.m. On Sunday I completed the trifecta with the Wizards/Cavs game in the afternoon. All of the games were at the same venue so it was pretty cool to see it in three different incarnations.
What did I learn, you say?
1) Pitt is scary good. They completely dominated Georgetown in the second half to turn what looked like a tight game into a blowout. Granted that Pitt played amazingly well and Georgetown played awful, they still proved what a force they can be. DeJuan Blair is a beast! Rarely did he (pictured above) not come down with the boards he went after. Pitt moves the ball really well, too. They found the open man more often than not. They did take some contested shots but for the most part they were in the minority. After Carolina’s abysmal effort last night, they will probably take over the No. 1 ranking, and they deserve it.
2) Alex Ovechkin is sick. He scored a short-handed goal to push the Caps past feisty New York. The goal proved to be the game-winner. When he’s out on the ice the team just swaggers a bit more. I don’t watch a ton of hockey, but I might start. After all, Ovechkin and I get our hair cut at the same place. Alexander Semin got in a fight that was pretty awesome, too. He got his shirt pulled over his head Mighty Ducks style, then he started wailing on the guy. God bless America, and Canada, because they really like hockey.
3) LeBron is really good, like, really good. It’s just too bad he ran into a team with former Tar Heel great Antawn Jamison playing for them. ‘Tawn hit the clincher with about 10 seconds left in the game to help the lowly Wizards beat the Cavs. LeBron got the obligatory “boos” from the crowd that are bestowed upon every visiting team’s best player, but he also got a lot of “wows.” My camera was on the ready every time he brought the ball up, which brings me to the fact that I have tons of pictures to post. They’ll be up as soon as possible.
Legends of Beer has a great list of “15 beers you’ll never drink” up today. You’ll never drink them because they are fictional.
My favs are all the ones from the animated series. Pawtucket Patriot from Family Guy, Alamo from King of the Hill and, of course, Duff from the Simpsons. Probably because, other than Buzz Beer from The Drew Carey Show, they are the only ones I remember.
They also post up the opening sequence to the Laverne and Shirley show. This is probably also showing that I’m not as old as the listmakers, but I first saw this sequence spoofed in the movie “Wayne’s World.” I couldn’t find a good YouTube clip of that particular part but the link above is just some funny stuff.
The post mentions that products that are similar to Buzz Beer, which was part coffee, part beer for the added caffeine, have been getting bad press lately. Yeah, they have. MillerCoors recently announced that Sparks, its energy beer that includes caffeine, would soon be going caff-free. As Lew Bryson points out, people will still mix caffeine and alcohol. This is just a stupid win for the new “drys” who think that teenagers are attracted to shiny objects (cans that look like batteries). Irish coffees anyone?
The wom took a break over holiday in case you hadn’t noticed.
Anyway I had a huge let-down last night as I watched UVA beat Georgia Tech in overtime and not because of who won the game. I really could care less who prevails in a matchup of two teams who will be fighting for a middle of the pack presence in the ACC this year.
No, instead I was watching because Mike Gminski said that “following this game we’ll head to Chapel Hill for UNC vs. Rutgers.”
Oh my! I get to see a nonconference UNC game out of market! I thought it was a late Christmas present. Well, after UVA pulled it out in the final seconds of OT, a commercial followed. Then an announcement came on the screen. “We will now switch to our regularly scheduled program which is already in progress.”
“Good. It’s already almost 8 o’clock and I probably missed the first six minutes or so,” I think I probably said aloud, alone in my apartment……
……………
Fishing.
F***ing fishing.
That’s what it switched to. I was reduced to getting text messages from friends that told me about Tyler getting his 1,000th rebound and Ed Davis stuffing the ball harder than a Christmas turkey. But, at least I can now tag this as a record watch post.
Tyler got his 1,000th rebound. And UNC beat its opponent by double digits for the twelfth straight game. That passed the former school record of 11 games, set by Eric Montross and the ‘92-’93 Heels. I think most of us remember what happened to that team, though I think Chris Webber would like to forget it.
There’s a nice pattern emerging . This year the team seems to follow previous champions’ examples. First, they won the Maui Invitational, a feat last accomplished by Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants, oh, and the most handsome UNC player of all time, Jawad Williams. (pictured above) Now, they have broken a record for blowout wins set by the ‘93 champs. Nice.
photo from nba.com
I’ll get to the biscuits in a little bit. First, what sparked this post. A very interesting story in on espn.com right now about the business of college basketball. You know all those horrible mismatches that go on this time of year, like Carolina’s impending duel with that powerhouse Evansville tonight? Well, the small schools traveling to play to their certain doom don’t leave with nothing but a 1 in the loss column — they make bank! I had no idea that these schools were getting paid to get humiliated.
I had always thought it was a recruiting tactic. Some small school says:
“Hey, we’re going to play UNC on national television. You will, too, if you play for us!”
Not so. Remember that 60-foot buzzer beater by Cleveland State against the ‘Cuse Monday?
“Let’s just say it was the maximum … six figures,” said Gary Waters, Cleveland State head coach, before joking: “I don’t want to get Syracuse mad; they haven’t sent the check yet.”
I’m OK with this. The article goes into how lots of smaller schools use it as a way to fund and expand their programs. Now, it does offer the opportunity for schools with lots of money to pad on the extra wins because they can afford to pay more teams to come play them. But fortunately for college basketball, we have a playoff. If basketball was running on a BCS-type system, where wins matter more, then I might be inclined to think otherwise.
The voters who rank college basketball can spot a good team and they take into account who a team has played. Hence why the 11-0 Clemson Tigers are barely cracking national prominence at No. 25 and the 9-1 Texas Longhorns are No. 5. By the way, in Clemson’s last win they demolished the University of North Florida, who pocketed $60k to come play at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Another interesting thing that came out of that article was this little tidbit about that Clemson v. North Florida game:
“The fans were riveted to the end, but their interest was mostly due to a free taco promotion triggered when the home team scores 75 points.”
Seventy-five points? Perhaps I’ve just been a spoiled bastard for the past four years when I was at UNC. In Chapel Hill, we like to score a bit more. Our local promotion was for discounted biscuits at Bojangles, which is a southern chicken-and-biscuits type place for those of you who don’t know. My fellow Tar Heels that live in the DC area have expressed their cravings for this food every time we hit our scoring mark for the promotion. I, too, get these cravings. Sort of a Pavlovian thing.
Oh yeah, we had to score 100.
picture from Bojangles.com
