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.

Simple Things Always Made Hard

Plenty of talk  about what should the punishment be for any school that is caught cheating like Syracuse  and for the most part who needs to get punished.  Most of the so call cheating took place as far back as eight years ago.  So do the upcoming Syracuse players get hit when the team will not have a scholarship to give out for four years.



I say this, If you want to stop cheating in college sports instead of taking away 108 past wins suspend Boeheim  for at least a year  or more.  Make it like when you lose your driver license you must go to a driver training school to get you license back after you have been without them for a year.  Take away a coaches ability to make a living.  If assistant coaches are caught as part of the violators sit them too.  The head coach is the captain of the basketball program and any thing his assistants do he is responsible for their actions.  You see it is not all that hard to take action if the NCAA has the guts to.



Looks like Wednesday is unfolding nicely for me and Andy Holt as we venture to the ACC tournament.  Nice to have a son-in-law that works for one of the ACC corporate sponsors.  FSU and Clemson open up the action at Noon.  Doubt we will see all of that one.  The Tar Heel will swing into action at 2pm and I will cheer for the Heels.  The WolfPack takes the floor at 7 against Pitt and Miami  finishes off Wednesday night.  I doubt seriously if I see much of that game before heading the road.



Hunt lost in the Eastern Regional finals to Terry Sanford 65-52.  The final score was out of line to the flow of the game.  Four minutes to go the score was 47-46  so Terry Sanford outscored Hunt 18-6 down the stretch.



About three weeks ago we told you of former Gryphon Collins Cuthrell who started off his senior year having transferred to UNC Pembroke.  His first weekend to now Collins batting average has only slipped to one hit below 500 after 18 games.



He has been to the plate 80 times collecting 39 hits.  Of his hits ten have been doubles and he has homered 12 times.  By the way that is a 488 batting average.  He has scored 30 runs and has driven 37 RBI.  To say the least every time Collin has been to bat he has hit it some where because he has struck out only nine times.   These are numbers that could make him a national player of the year candidate in division two baseball.

Big East Football Or Basketball Conference ?

This spring is the end of the sixth year of the Big East high school  conference with Fike and Hunt from Wilson County joining the four  high schools for Nash County.  Talk will begin soon on the next realignment which will occur when the school year for 17/18 starts.  The Big East is  perfect as far as the how far are your  away games.  I think every conference needs at least eight teams but looking at who could fit the profile of the Big East then more travel is needed to enlarge the conference to eight.

Six years ago I don't think anybody would have voted if you had to choose Is the Big East going to be better in Football or Basketball I think the vote would have been 80% football.  Surely that has not proven to be the case as we look back at the Big East history in both.

2009 the first year of the Big East the BE went 4-2 in the football playoffs with Southern Nash playing in the Eastern finals.  A long the way Southern had to knock off Hunt in the second round which gave the conference a 4-2 overall playoff record.  Basketball saw Rocky Mount win the state championship and the conference over all was 7-2 in the basketball playoffs.

2010 saw the BE going 4-3 in the playoffs but Nash Central had to play Hunt the first round which took away a BE win but it also saved a loss to someone else in the playoffs.  Hunt lost in the regional finals.  Basketball saw the conference go 5-4 and Rocky Mount made it to the regional losing in the semi finals.

2011 saw a BE tangled in the second round which took away a win and a loss but 4-3 was the record with Hunt losing in the East Regional.  Over on the basketball side Rocky Mount won the big enchilada  for the second time in three years and over all the conference went 7-2 and along the way Nash Central had to face Rocky Mount.

2012 BE football sent Hunt to the regional final game again but they started out the playoffs facing Southern Nash.  The conference was 2-2 against all others.   Basketball was 5-3 but Nash Central collided with Hunt in a first round tango.  Rocky Mount lost in the semi finals of the regional.

2013  Hunt won the regional and played in the state championship game to give the conference four wins but no one else had a win to give the league a 4-4 playoff record. Basketball went 6-2 with Hunt winning the regional and playing in the big game.

2014  Football featured Fike and Hunt in an opening round playoff game and no team made it past the second round giving the league a 2-2 playoff record.  Basketball sent Hunt to the Regional final so the basketball league was 4-5 in this years playoffs.

So is this a football league or basketball league.  Five of the six years of the Big East football has had a team in the regional Final winning once.  Basketball has made it to the Regional final four of six years and twice won the state crown.

It is my opinion that the Big East is an excellent football league but at this point two state basketball titles trumps 0 football titles.  The Big East is a basketball league.  What is proven by both sports the Big East is the best football and basketball league in the East.  9 out of 12 regional final games in six year has had a Big East Team.  No other league comes close.

NCAA Chops On The Cuse, Boeheim

HUNT LOSES REGIONAL FINAL  65-52


No wonder Syracuse decided to miss the ACC Tournament this year in Greensboro.  Of course Jim Boeheim the Syracuse coach wants no part of Greensboro when he compares it with Madison Square Garden.  The NCAA gave us the answer they have known since October.  Friday the NCAA slammed Syracuse and if I am a Carolina fan I might want to gulp after the penalties handed down.

Jim Boeheim has to surrender 108 wins which drops him from the door step of 1000 wins down to sixth on the all time list.  He must sit out the first half nine games of the ACC conference season next year.  Syracuse must return all monies won in playoffs in 2011-12-13.  Lose twelve scholarships to boot.

Those  of you who might think that the NCAA took many of Joe Paterno's wins away at Penn State but has since reneged and given them back to him there is one major difference.  Paterno's failures had nothing to do with wins and losses on the football field.  Boeheim has run a program that let in players who weren't eligible gave them extra benefits for winning games.  Paterno never did any of that he just covered up a coach sex offender which had nothing to do with wins and losses as long as you don't consider the coach in question may have help coach many of those wins if he had of been in jail where he belonged Penn state just might lost a few of them.

Today is the last day of the ACC basketball season.  Several seeding's for next week's ACC tournament are still undecided.  I have tickets for Wednesday games and of course State for sure is playing Wednesday either at 7pm or 9:30 depending on today's outcome on all games.  Carolina still has an outside shot  at the double day bye if they beat Duke tonight. 

Who are you picking tonight in the battle of the blue part II.  Here is my feeling.  Duke made 10/20 threes in Durham and it took overtime to beat Carolina.  Carolina wins tonight.

Saturday is the last game of the season for Syracuse.  I bet they play their butts off for Boeheim.  The question is what is State going to play like.  If they win and play at 9:30 Wednesday I'll be there in Greensboro until midnight planning on working Thursday.  They lose they play at 7:00 Wednesday.  I have a catch 22 with this game.

Can the University of Virginia keep winning with mirrors with at least two starters still missing.  Louisville needs this one and I think they take UVA.  Wake plays at BC.  That could be  a barn burner of a game.

I don't know how the seeding's will play out after today but I hope Wake wins Tuesday and Carolina also has a Wednesday game along with State.  At least three of the Big Four could be there while I'm there.

Hunt High tries to win their second straight Eastern Basketball regional today when they play Terry Sanford.  If they do the Big East will send it's fourth team in six years to the state championship basketball game.

Weather Havoc Continues Now It's Spring Sports

The high school spring sports season could officially start on Monday yet not one Big East Conference baseball team has been able to get on the field to practice much less play.  If baseball sits idle so does tennis, soccer, softball and track and field.

Many teams if they are able to make up some of these washed and cold out so far may not be made up, if they can't get three games in a week in up to conference play.  Who wants to waste pitchers on a third game per week once you start two conference games per week. The quality seen on the field will be suspect early when ever the games start because there has simply been no way to practice to prepare for a season.

The fifth  time in the last six years the Big East will have a boys basketball team playing in the East Regional Final.  Tonight Hunt beat Havelock 59-53 to advance to Saturday's final and they will meet Fayettville's Terry Sanford.  This is the second year in a row that Hunt has played in the east final.

Tabias Hilliard the junior at Methodist University has made the Conference USA South second team all conference in basketball.  Hilliard averaged 12.4 points per game 12th overall.  3.0 assist was eighth best in the USA South.

TaShawn Mabry has made honorable mentions  all conference playing in the Lone Star Conference for Tarleton State.  Mabry averaged 11.7 points per games and 5.3 rebounds.  Tarleton State won the Lone Star Conference with a 27-2 record and are 7th in DII basketball

Both Mabry and Hilliard played on state championship basketball  teams while at Rocky Mount High.  Mabry played on the 2010 team and Hilliard on 2012 squad.

The NFL season is over and the next big item on the agenda for the NFL is the draft which does not come until the first week in May.  All the talk right now is who is the number one pick and right now the consenus slants toward Jamis Winston.  History tells us the last 15 players picked at # 1 are generally at best not worth being picked # one.  The last 15 number one picks have  21 Pro Bowls picks  among them.  The so called best player in any years draft is only going to make the all star game 1.5 times among them all.

Winstons seven acts while at Florida State which either required action by police or some board at FSU to decide his conduct is enough for me.  This guy is cancer at the pro level.  The quarterback is the CEO of any team.  On offense he directs which way the offense goes. He should be a high standard guy.  How many of the top 50 CEO's in this world had more than one issue while in college if they went to college or since they have been in charge of their business?

If I owned the #1 pick this year I would be unloading the pick to somebody desperate to make a big splash.  Let somebody else belly flop and sting for a while.

It Takes Lots Of Luck

The Lady Knights of Northern Nash went the entire regular season undefeated and earned the right to play home games in the first three games of the playoffs.  They finally lose in what was going to be the last home game of the season because all games from this point on are on neutral sites.  Well equip to win it all the Lady knights come up short.  The answer to why is not as simple as here's why they lost.  There are so many mitigating circumstances   into play.

It doesn't matter how good any team is luck is a major reason any team wins any game.  The ball bounced right straight to our players instead of the other team.  Luck encompasses more than the bounce of the ball.  Injuries, did a player have a nagging injury that kept them from playing at top performance?  Was there more than one injured??  Luck sometimes is even a player was injured but came back just in time for the playoffs.  UVA men's basketball team continues to win basketball games with two starters out of action.  Will those two come back this year?  Probably, Will they have time to get back in playing shape before the playoffs where they can make a difference to the team.

Even the schedule is a matter of luck.  Did it hurt the Lady Knights missing practice time during all of this winter weather we have had?  Was a huge factor that the Lady Knights played three  nights in four days instead of playing every other night which is the norm in the playoffs.  All teams had the same problem with practice time  during this weather so it may have come down to in the fourth quarter of the third game  of basketball that Rockingham County was in better shape at this point  with the situation all teams had to deal with. 

Here is where luck may not matter.  Rockingham County was a really good team and when you deal with all the factors all the teams had to deal with RC was in a better position than Northern to deal with all the factors. 

It was reported that the Lady Knights missed 12 layups in the game was it fatigue, defense by Rockingham County.  My guess you can give the reason any of the above and you might add in luck where the ball didn't roll on the rim like it does most of the time.

Grover Battle is a coach who loves to be physical with other teams.  Pressing all over the floor.  I sensed  the last week of there regular  season the players seemed tired that last week.  They have as close of games with Fike and Rocky Mount as they had all year.   So now you have a tired team, lays out two weeks with no activity from the weather and now you are forced into three games in four days in order to get the schedule back on time.

Then there is another factor.  the burden of carrying the weight of an undefeated season on your shoulders.  Don't care what you say any streak winning or losing straps teams down. Kentucky carries that burden into the NCAA tournament.  I personally don't think they will win the title because they are undefeated.  Whether any team can feel it or not you forget the lucky bounce three weeks ago that keep you undefeated then and you loose the perception that you can be beaten. 

Winless teams always some where in a game ask themselves is this where we fall apart?  Would it  have  been better to lose one time in mid season and as a team rededicate yourselves because you found out that you are beatable at the right time.  a playoff game is an awful time to find out you are beatable.

The Lady Knight basketball program at this point is the premium basketball program in our area.  They have for the most part been dominant for the last five or more years  with interruptions by Rocky Mount ever so often.  When they have ventured out into the real world of North Carolina High School playoff basketball they have held their own and have served us all proud representing us.

There is that old NASCAR saying "if you run up front of the pack sooner or later you are going to finish first once in a while.  I'll take running up front every year and once in a while the luck will fall my way and the Lady Knights are going to win another State title..

Lady Knights Fall

The Lady Knights of Northern Nash and The Ladies of Eastern Wayne were the only undefeated teams in the east when the basketball playoffs began.  Both were their conference champions and the only decision when the playoffs started was who got the number one seed and who would get second.  What ever tie breaker was used by the NCHSAA to determine the seeds Eastern Wayne got one and Northern Nash the two.

The only thing that guarantees if both win their first four playoff games they would not tangle until the regional final on Saturday in Fayetteville.  The opening playoff game Saturday Eastern Wayne tangles with South Brunswick who was 4-17 on the year.  As the number two you would expect the next to last team in would have a record like maybe 6-15 but Northern draws Morehead who is 10-14.

Monday night EW drew in round two C B Aycock a much better quality team that had 18-8 record while the Lady Knights faces Walter Williams who came to Northern with 20 wins in their pocket.  The sectional finals both teams are now up against quality competition with EW facing Northwood 22-4 and NN facing their third straight Mid State conference foe at 23-3.  The road has been easier for the top seed as their opposing teams overall record has 44-29 while the Lady Knights have faced teams 54-22. 

Despite the records EW has had two double digit wins heading into tonight while Northern had to work their buns off to win in the second  round.  Seedings do make a difference as it should and tonight regional qualifiers were determined.

Tonight The Lady Knights down by one at the end of the third quarter could not get a stop when they needed and fall at home  losing to Rockingham County  51-42.   This is the third time in the last four years Northern has made it to at least the sectional finals and only last year making it to the regionals.
The last two years Northern has loss three games and two were in the 3rd and 4th round of the playoffs.  Northern ends it season 23-1.

Hunt is the only Big East team alive and they will return to the Regional for the second year in a row beating West Brunswick at WB 68-60. They will play Havelock Thursday in a semi final rematch from last year.

Under the category of have you heard this????   A girls California  high school team had to forfeit their Saturday playoff win after they wore their Breast Cancer Awareness Jerseys in a playoff win.  Under California rules in order to wear a uniform other than you team colors you must submit a form and have it approved ahead of time.  Some where along the way we have lost sanity and reason when it comes to rules.