World's Spotlight Coming To North Carolina

Next weekend the Carolina Hurricanes host the NHL All Star game. The finest hockey players from around the world will converge on Raleigh culminating Sunday with the world broadcast of the All Star game.

The very best that The Carolina Hurricanes can say is that they are a small market team who has managed in their brief history to win the Stanley Cup and played for the championship another time. Now as host of the All Star game this really puts the Carolina Hurricanes and Raleigh in high cotton. In my opinion Carolina has the best NHL franchise is the South and hosting the All Star game is the NHL's answer that they probably are.

The NHL converged on the South 25 years ago and Carolina is about the only place that can draw a crowd on a consistent basis. When the place is rocking the RBC Center is one of the loudest in the NHL. Even though you may not have a ticket the Convention Center in downtown Raleigh will host the Fan Fest next weekend . If you have ever been to an ACC Fan Fest then you know that is better than the games because it is free and you get the feel of what being inside the arena is like on game day.

Greensboro is not going to let Raleigh get all the attention next weekend as the Coliseum will be hosting the US National Figure Skating Championships. That is a eight day event which kicks of on the 22nd and runs through the 30th.

The women's skating events are the biggest night's in Olympic coverage as far as viewers watching. Women skating there is a beauty to it. I can't say the same for the men skating unless they are part of a team.

North Carolina gets national TV coverage in something other that basketball starting next weekend and it is all at our backdoor.

We are getting into the flow of the ACC basketball season and there are some opinions that we can now make.

Duke is the best but they are going to be pushed a lot more than they want to be without Irving in the Lineup. Carolina is better with Marshall in the lineup but they have one problem. He can't at this point play 40 minutes and he has to be replaced to rest. It's that time he is out they Carolina looks average. After all the hoopla that Came from State with the signing of C J Leslie. This team looks like every other Sidney Lowe team, Not very good.

Those of you that follow Rocky Mount Gryphon basketball you might think back to last season and at this same time that team was bumbling along and then there was lightning in the bottle and changed the whole season. This years team is still looking for someone to say "follow me boys". This team has just as much talent as last when it is all stirred in the pot with the right ingredients.

The only things the girls are missing is that big girl in the middle who can be a show stopper on defense. They play good defense, which is their biggest asset being an average size time. One player Tia Hudgins who is probably the best athlete in the conference boy or girl. They also have the next division one player from Rocky Mount in J'Kyra Brown who is still hampered by her knee surgery last year. If she stays healthy she will be fun to watch her last two years at Rocky Mount. Timisha Walker is the third member of the big three. She is consistent every time out and doesn't mind being third fiddle on this team.