This Is Not The ACC We Grew Up With

Another addition of the ACC basketball Tournament  starts today with two games featuring the bottom of the rung in the ACC standings which now has 15 teams.  The first time ever the Tuesday games will feature walk up to the ticket booth and buy a ticket.  This year if you are holding on to tournament tickets your book of tickets does not start until the four games on Wednesday.  Wonder if they sell five thousand tickets for watching the bottom rung of the ACC.  The only thing that may save Tuesday is Wake Forest is playing in the second game and the Deac fans may show up more than the other three teams combined.


After this year the tournament leaves North Carolina  heading to DC next and Brooklyn the year after.  No longer with 15 teams does it matter that the geographic center of the league was North Carolina.  No longer do the Big Four schools hold the upper hand that when games were played in Reynolds in Raleigh, the old Charlotte Coliseum, then the new Charlotte Coliseum, the Hornets building or Greensboro that Carolina and State fans would be waiting to buy up Clemson fans tickets the second they lost.  No longer does every game played involve a North Carolina team.


All of this let's get big to compete for TV money give us in North Carolina the feeling that there is no longer and ACC  much less a tournament.  A trivia question to see if you are up on your ACC knowledge.  What division is Duke in when playing football.  If you had to go to your computer to find out you have lost you passion for the ACC.


The bigger the ACC gets the less the Big Four dominants the tournaments.  A North Carolina team  has not won the tournament since 2011. Virginia now dominants the ACC without Ralph Sampson. Even basketball dormat Miami has won a tournament since Duke or North Carolina has.  Florida State a perennial bottom half basketball team has a title.


I think moving it to new venues is nice for everyone and if the ACC went to a high school formula when your team is host school every 15 years and when you are the host you pick the site of the tournament as long as it meets seating requirements.  There are two teams in Florida so the ACC would go to Florida about every seven years.   Atlanta is a nice venue, Wonder where Clemson would want as a home court.  Maybe Atlanta or Charlotte.  Our four North Carolina schools would get the tournament every four years.  the only thing any of us who live in North Carolina loses  in this new modern ACC is what I am going to do Wednesday.  Get in my car drive to Greensboro for the day and come back to work Thursday.  Brooklyn is a little bit far to do that.


High school baseball has had a hard time getting started with several teams not yet played a game.  This weather has been harsh on fields in fact Rocky Mount with the sun out Saturday had to practice on the practice football field because the baseball field was unplayable.  They will open their season today against SouthWest Edgecombe at 4pm on RMHS.  Today's game is being taped by the "All New Sports Show" with yours truly behind the mic.