Below is the final preview show that is aired anywhere in my area. I will post more articles as the season progresses. As always, below is a running diary of the preview show, not necessarily a preview column for the team.
Minute 2: Jenn Hildreth (It’s nice to have you back.) lets us know the tale of two seasons we saw out of NC State last year. Coming off a miraculous 2006 ACC tourney run in which they made the championship game as a 10 seed, NC State looked like they were going to roll right into the NCAA tournament.
They started 15-7 with a 4-4 conference record at the halfway point. Then, they completely went in the tank. The Wolfpack lost their last nine games of the season.
Hildreth tells us that the good news is there is nowhere to go but up. You can always count on Jenn Hildreth to put a silver lining on any dark cloud.
Minute 4: Ben McCauley, speaking about the loss of Hickson, lets us know that as long as they have him, Costner, Trevor Ferguson and Dennis Horner, then they will have a great inside-outside game. Ben, why don’t you just say you would be happy to play with me and some of the guys from my 2-9 rec league team a few years back. You’d probably get the same production. Horner and Ferguson combined to score barely seven points a game last year. Horner scored 4.6 ppg as a freshman and actually saw his production decline. Yikes!
Minute 6: NC State took a preseason trip to Toronto. I bet that was nice. Most teams go to Costa Rica, Panama or Europe for their preseason trips. This is right out of Wayne’s World. Hi… we’re… in… Toronto.
Minute 7: Well, Hardees’, it took you 6 shows, but you’ve finally done it. I’m going to order a Thickburger today.
Minute 11: The interview with head coach Sidney Lowe commences. Here is a trivia question for you: Who is the ACC career leader in assist to turnover ratio? You think you can guess. I’ll give you five but you only need one. This is a pet peeve of mine when sports broadcasts will have a trivia question in which the answer is almost always one of the coaches on the sidelines.
Minute 12: For those of you that didn’t get the above, the answer is Sidney Lowe.
Minute 13: I have now seen the same Brandon Costner highlight three times. I guess after his putrid season, they only had one decent clip to show. Has anyone fallen off the face of the Earth faster than Brnadon Costner? He went from averaging over 16 a game and scoring more points in the ACC tourney than anyone in recent memory as a freshman to scoring more than seven points twice in his last 8 games last year. That’s the furthest fall from grace since the Alpha Beta’s had to go live in the gym after losing the control of the Greek Council and tearing down the Tri-Lambs house.
Minute 18: There is a two minute sequence in which Courtney Fells mentions that he grew up down the street from where Elvis lived which prompts a few “Thank you very much” comments. Fells is my new NC State man crush. That was freaking hilarious. (plus he mentions how much he loves playing in Reynolds Coliseum and that he wishes they played more games there. I loved watching games in that gym.)
Minute 20: The official name is the All ACC-Preview Team. I can’t believe it took me six viewings to clear up that nugget of info.
Minute 26: They show the same Costner highlight for the fourth time.
Minute 27: Gminski leaves us with this piece of information: “Point guard is one of the most important positions…” You can’t pay for amazing information like that. Well, actually, I guess Fox Sports Atlantic did.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Florida State 2008 season preview show
I’m looking forward to another Fox Sports Florida production.
Minute 1: Surprise! Surprise! It’s Heather Catlin bringing us the Seminoles’ show, and it is a Fox Sports Atlantic production. She then throws it over to … Tom Block?? Okay, this is really weird.
Minute 3: The Florida State Seminoles upcoming season is described as featuring “several marquee matchups against tough opponents.” Then, the graphic of some of these tough contests is displayed. You know, just the usual suspects of tough opponents like Jacksonville … and Stetson.
There was another comment that caught my attention. FSU will host their games at the Tucker Center. Please bow your heads in a moment of silence for the passing of the best arena name in the ACC. It seems as though FSU’s home venue is no longer called the Leon County Civic Center. That's a shame, because that name always made me think of the actor who went by the single name of Leon. This always led to three random thoughts:
1. Leon felt he was important enough to have a singular name. Although upon looking at his IMDB page, Iforgot that he was the saint in the Like a Prayer video. So, maybe this is Madonna's influence.
2. The opening scene in Above the Rim. Leon is playing a pickup game with his little brother. Did I mention they are playing on top of a building? Did I mention the hoop is about three feet in front of a plate glass window? Did I mention that Leon bets his little brother that he cannot touch the backboard? Did I also mention that Leon’s little brother subsequently runs toward the hoop, jumps, and continues right through the plate glass window, falling to his death? While this gives Leon the checkered past he needs for us to sufficiently root for him in the movie; there is a lesson to be learned here kids: Don’t try to dunk on top of ten story buildings when the distance between the hoop and the edge of the building is shorter than Mugsy Bogues.
3. Leon was one of the bobsledders in Cool Runnings. Anytime I get to think of the movie Cool Runnings starring the late, great John Candy, well, I consider that to be a good day.
Minute 4: The ACC tournament is March 12 this year, only 113 days to the greatest tournament of any kind in any sport. Should a 32 year old man be this excited over 11 basketball games in four days?
Minute 7: Keith Jones is doing the interview, and now I just don’t know what to think. We have Heather Catlin, but no Jenn Hildreth or Ray Goodrich.
Minute 9: Leonard Hamilton cements himself as the most boring coach in the ACC. That sound you just heard for the last two minutes was me smacking my head with the remote
Minute 10:
Keith – “What’s the one thing you want?”
Leonard Hamilton– “I want two things: health and [for the team] to realize its fullest potential.”
Good thing Hamilton didn’t want little pesky things like winning, or making FSU’s first NCAA appearance since 1998. I think some dreams would have been dashed had he reached for those stars.
Minute 11: Well, the Hamilton interview is over, and there’s four minutes I’ll never get back.
Minute 15: There is a nice profile on Solomon Alabi and Uche Echefu. Both players hail from Nigeria originally, and the profile is a good one about how they have bonded so well. I like it, because I could hear the name Uche Echefu on a 3 hour loop and not get tired of it, especially the way my friend Rob yells the name, “Echefu!” in excitement when he scores in the ACC tourney (only 113 days away).
Minute 18: An interview with Toney Douglas commences, and that means two things: 1. It is apparent that they are not doing the All ACC preview team, and 2. It’s man crush time!
Man, I love the point guards. Toney Douglas is a no-brainer for my FSU man crush. I’m not even going to allow his complete lack of command of English grammar deter me from liking this guy.
Minute 19: For the second time during the show, we hear senior Brian Hoff’s comments about his fellow players. I’m not sure if it was his 108 total minutes played in three years or his 1+ point per game scoring average that got him the gig of team narrator. Maybe I should run a poll question or something.
Minute 28: Keith Jones and Tom Block wrap up the Seminoles’ 2008 outlook whichconcludes what has been the weirdest preview show yet. Below is a recap:
Minute 1: Surprise! Surprise! It’s Heather Catlin bringing us the Seminoles’ show, and it is a Fox Sports Atlantic production. She then throws it over to … Tom Block?? Okay, this is really weird.
Minute 3: The Florida State Seminoles upcoming season is described as featuring “several marquee matchups against tough opponents.” Then, the graphic of some of these tough contests is displayed. You know, just the usual suspects of tough opponents like Jacksonville … and Stetson.
There was another comment that caught my attention. FSU will host their games at the Tucker Center. Please bow your heads in a moment of silence for the passing of the best arena name in the ACC. It seems as though FSU’s home venue is no longer called the Leon County Civic Center. That's a shame, because that name always made me think of the actor who went by the single name of Leon. This always led to three random thoughts:
1. Leon felt he was important enough to have a singular name. Although upon looking at his IMDB page, Iforgot that he was the saint in the Like a Prayer video. So, maybe this is Madonna's influence.
2. The opening scene in Above the Rim. Leon is playing a pickup game with his little brother. Did I mention they are playing on top of a building? Did I mention the hoop is about three feet in front of a plate glass window? Did I mention that Leon bets his little brother that he cannot touch the backboard? Did I also mention that Leon’s little brother subsequently runs toward the hoop, jumps, and continues right through the plate glass window, falling to his death? While this gives Leon the checkered past he needs for us to sufficiently root for him in the movie; there is a lesson to be learned here kids: Don’t try to dunk on top of ten story buildings when the distance between the hoop and the edge of the building is shorter than Mugsy Bogues.
3. Leon was one of the bobsledders in Cool Runnings. Anytime I get to think of the movie Cool Runnings starring the late, great John Candy, well, I consider that to be a good day.
Minute 4: The ACC tournament is March 12 this year, only 113 days to the greatest tournament of any kind in any sport. Should a 32 year old man be this excited over 11 basketball games in four days?
Minute 7: Keith Jones is doing the interview, and now I just don’t know what to think. We have Heather Catlin, but no Jenn Hildreth or Ray Goodrich.
Minute 9: Leonard Hamilton cements himself as the most boring coach in the ACC. That sound you just heard for the last two minutes was me smacking my head with the remote
Minute 10:
Keith – “What’s the one thing you want?”
Leonard Hamilton– “I want two things: health and [for the team] to realize its fullest potential.”
Good thing Hamilton didn’t want little pesky things like winning, or making FSU’s first NCAA appearance since 1998. I think some dreams would have been dashed had he reached for those stars.
Minute 11: Well, the Hamilton interview is over, and there’s four minutes I’ll never get back.
Minute 15: There is a nice profile on Solomon Alabi and Uche Echefu. Both players hail from Nigeria originally, and the profile is a good one about how they have bonded so well. I like it, because I could hear the name Uche Echefu on a 3 hour loop and not get tired of it, especially the way my friend Rob yells the name, “Echefu!” in excitement when he scores in the ACC tourney (only 113 days away).
Minute 18: An interview with Toney Douglas commences, and that means two things: 1. It is apparent that they are not doing the All ACC preview team, and 2. It’s man crush time!
Man, I love the point guards. Toney Douglas is a no-brainer for my FSU man crush. I’m not even going to allow his complete lack of command of English grammar deter me from liking this guy.
Minute 19: For the second time during the show, we hear senior Brian Hoff’s comments about his fellow players. I’m not sure if it was his 108 total minutes played in three years or his 1+ point per game scoring average that got him the gig of team narrator. Maybe I should run a poll question or something.
Minute 28: Keith Jones and Tom Block wrap up the Seminoles’ 2008 outlook whichconcludes what has been the weirdest preview show yet. Below is a recap:
- It’s a Florida school in which the production was done by Fox Sports Atlantic.
- Heather Catlin is the only person that has made an appearance in any prior preview show.
- Even though it was a Fox Sports Atlantic production, they did not have the All-ACC preview team.
- Keith Jones finished his comments by calling Uche Echefu, “Uch” (pronounced oooch) This makes it official. Uche Echefu is the greatest college basketball name since Exree Hipp.
I love the ACC.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wake Forest 2008 preview show
Minute 1: Heather Catlin quickly switches it over to Jenn Hildreth for the review/preview brought to you by Hardee’s Thickburger. Did you know the Thickburger was charbroiled? There are other sponsors of this show, but none with the meaty, cheesy, caloric goodness of the Hardees’ Thickburger.
Minute 3: Speaking of sponsors, minute 3 is brought to you by the accounting firm of Battle and Battle. Oh, wait. That’s not an accountant. That’s Wake Forest’s associate head coach, Jeff Battle. By the way, has there ever been a weirder, more awkward title change than calling an assistant coach an associate head coach? We all know you’re an assistant. Is this the athletic department’s way of saving some money? I reckon the first one of these conversations went something like this:
Athletic Director – “Good morning, Mr. Assistant. You must have seen the news that we just gave our head coach a raise to two million a year. Well, we have some good news for you also.”
Assistant – “Really?! That’s great! It’s been tough supporting my family on the $40,000 salary I’ve been getting for the last three years with no raise. I’m glad you guys finally found some money in the budget. It sounds like the weeks at a time away from my family with no job security on a year to year basis will finally be worth it.”
A.D. – “Well, there’s not actually any more money. This is something better. You are getting promoted to associate head coach! See, we dropped the assistant label ,and we put head coach in your title. You can tell your friends that you’re basically a head coach!”
Assistant – “Okay, I was hoping for a raise, but this is great. I mean, ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH. It sounds so proper. So, I will have more responsibility, an actual office, and I can stop doing the team’s laundry.”
A.D. – “No.”
Minute 4: Wake returns all five starters and their top nine scorers including James Johnson who is the first Wake player since 1991 to lead the team in scoring and rebounding as a freshman. Can you guess the other? The answer will be in minute 21 during the All-ACC preview team.
Minute 6: We have an appearance by the Little Thickburger… for that little kid inside you that doesn’t want to wait until your fifty to have that first triple bypass surgery.
Minute 10: The interview with Dino Gaudio, that’s Wake’s actual head coach by the way, alludes to the difficulty of taking over after the death of Prosser. I’m about to say something very unpopular, because I imagine Skip Prosser was a nice guy. I think Skip Prosser left a lot to be desired for his team’s results in the postseason. He had Josh Howard when he was the best player in the ACC. He had Chris Paul for two years. Wake never made a tourney final, and they made the Sweet Sixteen once. Then, when he didn’t have the star player, they were terrible his last two years.
Minute 13: It’s man crush time. I skipped this segment on Duke’s show, because I refuse to have a man crush on any Duke player, although Sheyer would be the closest. So, I thought it would be Ismael Smith, however, he shoots about 30% on his free throws. I thought it would be James Johnson, and then I heard him speak later in the program. Then I thought of Gaudio, but it is too early in his tenure to commit to him. So, for now, there will be no individual man crush on Wake, although I do like them collectively, and I think they are going to be fantastic this year. This will be a team award until further notice.
Minute 17: The player profile for Wake is James Johnson. He is the antithesis of Dews and McClinton from Miami. McClinton was an academic All-American last year. I would be impressed if Johnson can find America on a map. Here is Johnson’s quote about teammate Jeff Teague, “Watch out for Jeff Teague ‘cause he creative…” I wish I were kidding.
Minute 21: So, did you figure out the last Wake freshman to lead the team in rebounding and scoring as a freshman? Let’s find out together. My first guess was Chris King. Then, I realized, I think he was more of an 80’s player. So, My guess is Rodney Rogers. Let’s see…
Minute 22: That is correct.
Minute 22: There is no Boston College preview show on the schedule. So, I’ll take this time, since I’ve watched the ACC preview team four times, to focus on local Richmond product Tyrese Rice. Allow a tangent before getting to my point. When the ACC expanded again a few years ago, I accepted Tech right away, because they are natural rivals with Virginia and should have been in the conference a long time ago. I see Miami as more of an SEC school, but they’ve performed well in the tourney and have formed a respectable basketball program. It took me about 14 years to accept FSU as a full ACC member, and the reason I came around on them was because of Tim Pickett. That guy could score in bunches. He was exciting to watch, and he was the first FSU player that was good that gave a crap about winning. I’m discounting the Cassell teams as he was recruited before FSU became an ACC team.
Boston College on the other hand simply shouldn’t be in the ACC. Yet, Tyrese Rice has a chance to be their Tim Pickett. He’s actually much better than Tim Pickett. He is the only reason to watch a BC game. I mean, did you see his game at Carolina last year? The guy is incredible, and I’m looking forward to watching him for one last year. Then, BC can fall right back off the ACC map.
Minute 25: Now that you have suffered through my rant, let’s learn something from “two guys that know a thing or two about college basketball,” Mike Gminski and Tom Werme.
Mike Gmisnki, of course, was a four year starter at Duke. He was an All-American, who averaged over 19 points and 10 rebounds a game. He played on two ACC championship teams, made an NCAA championship game and an Elite Eight. He was the ACC rookie of the year, a three time all ACC first team member, an ACC player of the year, and his jersey is retired at Duke, one of the most historic college basketball programs.
Tom Werme announced the Indiana-Western Kentucky football game back in August. Seriously, that’s about all I could find on the guy.
Enjoy them while they last. There are only two remaining preview shows. Next up, Florida State.
Minute 3: Speaking of sponsors, minute 3 is brought to you by the accounting firm of Battle and Battle. Oh, wait. That’s not an accountant. That’s Wake Forest’s associate head coach, Jeff Battle. By the way, has there ever been a weirder, more awkward title change than calling an assistant coach an associate head coach? We all know you’re an assistant. Is this the athletic department’s way of saving some money? I reckon the first one of these conversations went something like this:
Athletic Director – “Good morning, Mr. Assistant. You must have seen the news that we just gave our head coach a raise to two million a year. Well, we have some good news for you also.”
Assistant – “Really?! That’s great! It’s been tough supporting my family on the $40,000 salary I’ve been getting for the last three years with no raise. I’m glad you guys finally found some money in the budget. It sounds like the weeks at a time away from my family with no job security on a year to year basis will finally be worth it.”
A.D. – “Well, there’s not actually any more money. This is something better. You are getting promoted to associate head coach! See, we dropped the assistant label ,and we put head coach in your title. You can tell your friends that you’re basically a head coach!”
Assistant – “Okay, I was hoping for a raise, but this is great. I mean, ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH. It sounds so proper. So, I will have more responsibility, an actual office, and I can stop doing the team’s laundry.”
A.D. – “No.”
Minute 4: Wake returns all five starters and their top nine scorers including James Johnson who is the first Wake player since 1991 to lead the team in scoring and rebounding as a freshman. Can you guess the other? The answer will be in minute 21 during the All-ACC preview team.
Minute 6: We have an appearance by the Little Thickburger… for that little kid inside you that doesn’t want to wait until your fifty to have that first triple bypass surgery.
Minute 10: The interview with Dino Gaudio, that’s Wake’s actual head coach by the way, alludes to the difficulty of taking over after the death of Prosser. I’m about to say something very unpopular, because I imagine Skip Prosser was a nice guy. I think Skip Prosser left a lot to be desired for his team’s results in the postseason. He had Josh Howard when he was the best player in the ACC. He had Chris Paul for two years. Wake never made a tourney final, and they made the Sweet Sixteen once. Then, when he didn’t have the star player, they were terrible his last two years.
Minute 13: It’s man crush time. I skipped this segment on Duke’s show, because I refuse to have a man crush on any Duke player, although Sheyer would be the closest. So, I thought it would be Ismael Smith, however, he shoots about 30% on his free throws. I thought it would be James Johnson, and then I heard him speak later in the program. Then I thought of Gaudio, but it is too early in his tenure to commit to him. So, for now, there will be no individual man crush on Wake, although I do like them collectively, and I think they are going to be fantastic this year. This will be a team award until further notice.
Minute 17: The player profile for Wake is James Johnson. He is the antithesis of Dews and McClinton from Miami. McClinton was an academic All-American last year. I would be impressed if Johnson can find America on a map. Here is Johnson’s quote about teammate Jeff Teague, “Watch out for Jeff Teague ‘cause he creative…” I wish I were kidding.
Minute 21: So, did you figure out the last Wake freshman to lead the team in rebounding and scoring as a freshman? Let’s find out together. My first guess was Chris King. Then, I realized, I think he was more of an 80’s player. So, My guess is Rodney Rogers. Let’s see…
Minute 22: That is correct.
Minute 22: There is no Boston College preview show on the schedule. So, I’ll take this time, since I’ve watched the ACC preview team four times, to focus on local Richmond product Tyrese Rice. Allow a tangent before getting to my point. When the ACC expanded again a few years ago, I accepted Tech right away, because they are natural rivals with Virginia and should have been in the conference a long time ago. I see Miami as more of an SEC school, but they’ve performed well in the tourney and have formed a respectable basketball program. It took me about 14 years to accept FSU as a full ACC member, and the reason I came around on them was because of Tim Pickett. That guy could score in bunches. He was exciting to watch, and he was the first FSU player that was good that gave a crap about winning. I’m discounting the Cassell teams as he was recruited before FSU became an ACC team.
Boston College on the other hand simply shouldn’t be in the ACC. Yet, Tyrese Rice has a chance to be their Tim Pickett. He’s actually much better than Tim Pickett. He is the only reason to watch a BC game. I mean, did you see his game at Carolina last year? The guy is incredible, and I’m looking forward to watching him for one last year. Then, BC can fall right back off the ACC map.
Minute 25: Now that you have suffered through my rant, let’s learn something from “two guys that know a thing or two about college basketball,” Mike Gminski and Tom Werme.
Mike Gmisnki, of course, was a four year starter at Duke. He was an All-American, who averaged over 19 points and 10 rebounds a game. He played on two ACC championship teams, made an NCAA championship game and an Elite Eight. He was the ACC rookie of the year, a three time all ACC first team member, an ACC player of the year, and his jersey is retired at Duke, one of the most historic college basketball programs.
Tom Werme announced the Indiana-Western Kentucky football game back in August. Seriously, that’s about all I could find on the guy.
Enjoy them while they last. There are only two remaining preview shows. Next up, Florida State.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Duke 2008 season preview show
I’ll start this post with full disclosure. I am incredibly biased against Duke basketball. It is part jealousy, part arrogance, part misplaced hype, and part Coach K’s nasally voice. With that said, I do respect the program. I know they are a really good team every year, sometimes even great. It still doesn’t change the fact that they are the only ACC team that I don’t root for in non-conference games. I wanted to make sure you knew all the facts before reading this post.
Minute 1: Heather Catlin is back in our lives, and once again, order is restored. Heather does not waste any time causing my frustration level to rise higher than the Eiffel Tower (the King’s Dominion one though, not the real Eiffel Tower in France. I’ll save that frustration level for later.)
Here is the quote: “[Duke] proved once again that the road to the ACC Championship runs through Durham.” HMMMMM….. See, I thought that finishing second and seventh in conference the last two years and not making a conference championship game (or even getting out of the opening round two years ago), indicated that the ACC championship, in fact, DOES NOT, run through Durham. See, Duke makes me so mad; I can’t type grammatically correct sentences.
Minute 2: Duke started the conference season 10-0 last year, and won seven of their first eight by double digits. I guess nobody told Belmont or West Virginia.
Minute 3: Excuse me, please. I have to vomit. Lots of Kyle Singler love. Here’s the thing. In reality, I know Kyle Singler is a good basketball player. He got a scholarship to play at Duke, and he can do things on the court, I could not ever come close to doing. He scored double digits as a freshman and led his team in rebounds. I get it. The problem I have is the four terrible games he played in the postseason last year.
So he hit a freshman wall you say? Fine, I’ll give you that. The man lives off open three’s and open shots created by Duke’s superior ball movement (of which he certainly contributes). Now, if Singler played on UVA, I’d be thrilled to have him, and I’d be talking about how great he is. However, I’d be the only one and that is the point. Singler’s a fine player, who finished 27th in the conference in offensive efficiency. If he played for UVA or FSU or Boston College, he would not be getting nearly so much attention.
Minute 5: Paulus returns as a four year starter, which would be great, except he’s not. This is the Duke hype machine at work. Paulus has been so touted the last three years. He’s the active ACC leader in career assists, yet he’s not even starting on his own team! Paulus has value, and he can hit an open three. He also can be a train wreck of a point guard who cannot blow by anyone off the dribble.
Minute 6: Thickburger is back as a sponsor. Thank goodness. For a moment, I thought I was going to have to start eating healthy.
Minute 10: Interview with coach K. Here’s the recap: Olympics, blah blah blah, Duke is great, blah blah blah, I’m amazing, blah blah blah, I just made another 5 millions in endorsement deals, blah blah blah (I may have slipped in that last one.)
Minute 17: Fox Sports is finally paying attention to people other than Singler and Paulus. This begins a profile on Gerald Henderson who along with Jon Sheyer and Nolan Smith comprises the core of Duke players that when mentioned do not make me want to jam pencils in my ears.
Minute 18: It is mentioned that Henderson is one of the most explosive players on the Duke team. Are there other explosive players on the Duke team? I wasn’t aware of this. Could any other player on that Duke team have made that last drive against Belmont? (Nelson doesn’t count, because he would have committed a turnover.) When I picture Duke basketball, I picture many things: selflessness, precision passing, three point shooters that scare me to death when there is a hint of an opening, disappointing NBA careers, Reggie Love passed out. Sorry, I got off on a tangent there. To recap, I picture many things, but explosive players are not one of them. How is there even a debate about Henderson being the most explosive player on Duke’s roster?
Minutes 20-25: You know what is in this section. It is the All ACC preview team which still includes Kyle Singler as the sixth man. Here’s what bothers me about this. Have you ever seen an All-anything preview team that included a sixth man? You see a first team, maybe even a second or third team, but I have never seen an All-conference preview team with a first team, and then a “Here, let’s throw in one more guy.” I am convinced that the people who determined this team looked around the room, realized there were no Duke players on the preview team, and whipped up this sixth man idea to prevent Duke from throwing a hissy fit.
Minute 27: G-man and Tom Werme note that Paulus had his minutes cut last year which made him better as he cut his turnovers. You mean, Paulus had turnover issues when given the primary ball handling responsibilities for the entire game? Shocking! Paulus and Sheyer are touted as the primary ball handlers this year. I’m sorry, does Nolan Smith not exist. Is he not the starting point guard for Duke? I better get out of here before my frustration levels hit the heights of the real Eiffel Tower.
Minute 1: Heather Catlin is back in our lives, and once again, order is restored. Heather does not waste any time causing my frustration level to rise higher than the Eiffel Tower (the King’s Dominion one though, not the real Eiffel Tower in France. I’ll save that frustration level for later.)
Here is the quote: “[Duke] proved once again that the road to the ACC Championship runs through Durham.” HMMMMM….. See, I thought that finishing second and seventh in conference the last two years and not making a conference championship game (or even getting out of the opening round two years ago), indicated that the ACC championship, in fact, DOES NOT, run through Durham. See, Duke makes me so mad; I can’t type grammatically correct sentences.
Minute 2: Duke started the conference season 10-0 last year, and won seven of their first eight by double digits. I guess nobody told Belmont or West Virginia.
Minute 3: Excuse me, please. I have to vomit. Lots of Kyle Singler love. Here’s the thing. In reality, I know Kyle Singler is a good basketball player. He got a scholarship to play at Duke, and he can do things on the court, I could not ever come close to doing. He scored double digits as a freshman and led his team in rebounds. I get it. The problem I have is the four terrible games he played in the postseason last year.
So he hit a freshman wall you say? Fine, I’ll give you that. The man lives off open three’s and open shots created by Duke’s superior ball movement (of which he certainly contributes). Now, if Singler played on UVA, I’d be thrilled to have him, and I’d be talking about how great he is. However, I’d be the only one and that is the point. Singler’s a fine player, who finished 27th in the conference in offensive efficiency. If he played for UVA or FSU or Boston College, he would not be getting nearly so much attention.
Minute 5: Paulus returns as a four year starter, which would be great, except he’s not. This is the Duke hype machine at work. Paulus has been so touted the last three years. He’s the active ACC leader in career assists, yet he’s not even starting on his own team! Paulus has value, and he can hit an open three. He also can be a train wreck of a point guard who cannot blow by anyone off the dribble.
Minute 6: Thickburger is back as a sponsor. Thank goodness. For a moment, I thought I was going to have to start eating healthy.
Minute 10: Interview with coach K. Here’s the recap: Olympics, blah blah blah, Duke is great, blah blah blah, I’m amazing, blah blah blah, I just made another 5 millions in endorsement deals, blah blah blah (I may have slipped in that last one.)
Minute 17: Fox Sports is finally paying attention to people other than Singler and Paulus. This begins a profile on Gerald Henderson who along with Jon Sheyer and Nolan Smith comprises the core of Duke players that when mentioned do not make me want to jam pencils in my ears.
Minute 18: It is mentioned that Henderson is one of the most explosive players on the Duke team. Are there other explosive players on the Duke team? I wasn’t aware of this. Could any other player on that Duke team have made that last drive against Belmont? (Nelson doesn’t count, because he would have committed a turnover.) When I picture Duke basketball, I picture many things: selflessness, precision passing, three point shooters that scare me to death when there is a hint of an opening, disappointing NBA careers, Reggie Love passed out. Sorry, I got off on a tangent there. To recap, I picture many things, but explosive players are not one of them. How is there even a debate about Henderson being the most explosive player on Duke’s roster?
Minutes 20-25: You know what is in this section. It is the All ACC preview team which still includes Kyle Singler as the sixth man. Here’s what bothers me about this. Have you ever seen an All-anything preview team that included a sixth man? You see a first team, maybe even a second or third team, but I have never seen an All-conference preview team with a first team, and then a “Here, let’s throw in one more guy.” I am convinced that the people who determined this team looked around the room, realized there were no Duke players on the preview team, and whipped up this sixth man idea to prevent Duke from throwing a hissy fit.
Minute 27: G-man and Tom Werme note that Paulus had his minutes cut last year which made him better as he cut his turnovers. You mean, Paulus had turnover issues when given the primary ball handling responsibilities for the entire game? Shocking! Paulus and Sheyer are touted as the primary ball handlers this year. I’m sorry, does Nolan Smith not exist. Is he not the starting point guard for Duke? I better get out of here before my frustration levels hit the heights of the real Eiffel Tower.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Miami Hurricanes 2008 Preview Show
The Miami Hurricanes preview show was quite the shocker. I discovered two things, both of which I will let you read about in the post. As always, these are running diaries of the preview shows, and not the actual team previews which will come in before conference play.
Minute 1: Well, we’re all ready to begin with our good friend Heather Catlin serving as the show’s hos??????!!!! Wait a second! That’s not Heather Catlin. When did Kristen Stewart get the hosting gig for these ACC preview shows? Does Heather know this? Did she get kidnapped? Where is the search party? Where is Heather Catlin?
Minute 1: Okay, only a few pieces of furniture have been demolished. Cooler heads are prevailing as I notice that this is a Fox Sports Florida production, not Fox Sports Atlantic. Whew!! That was a close one.
Minute 2: It’s a whole new crew, as Frank Forte, aka not Jen Hildreth, brings us the Miami year in review.
Minute 2: Interestingly, Frank Haith is not wearing a coat and tie, and he’s being interviewed in the locker room vs. in a made up set. This Florida crew is laaaiiiiddd back (with their mind on their money and their money on their mind).
Minute 5: More devastating news. No Hardees’ sponsorship. You know what that means… no Thickburger commercials. Where else am I going to get my arteries clogged just by looking at the TV.
Minute 8: This Fox Sports Florida crew really has their own style, and I like it. We currently are getting shots of practice and Frank Haith instructing the players. Did anyone else realize that Miami won 6 of their last 8 conference games? When was the last time a team not named UNC or Duke came through in the clutch like that? Maybe NC State in Hodge’s senior year.
Minute 9: Mr. Haith expresses his lack of interest for preseason rankings. He mentions that the only useful purpose for them is to show recruits. Yeah, you could show them preseason rankings. Or, you could show them South Beach with loads of beautiful women in bikinis. I would bet mortgages on which one of those tools was more effective in attracting recruits.
Minute 12: Okay, ladies and gentlemen. It’s man-crush time. The winner is … Frank Haith. This guy is awesome. He’s not wearing a shirt and tie for the interview. He’s so laid back, and yet it is obvious in 12 minutes how much his players respect him. I see him interacting with fans. This guy is fantastic!
Minute 15: Hurricane Hoopfest – This is an event to promote Hurricane basketball in which literally tens of people show up to get autographs, meet the players, and watch practice. The men’s and women’s “teams practiced in front of a crowd.” Crowd?? I’ve seen more people gathered at the DMV. The interesting thing is that every time they pan the crowd, the camera stops after about two seconds, because it’s obvious the camera guy is about to run out of fans to shoot.
Minute 16: The best part is the fan interviews. They show two alumni and a couple of high school kids. Only one actual student is interviewed. One fan states, “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” In looking at the kid, I don’t think he has a lot of other options.
Minute 17: There is now a profile of Haith’s Faithful. This is a healing support group in the Miami area. Oh, wait. No, it’s not. It is the Frank Haith fanclub. The students for this have a t-shirt and everything. One Haith Faithfulite mentions the following perks of being in the club: “[We get priority seating in the first two rows, and we don’t have to wait 4 hours for tickets for the big games like Duke and Carolina.]”
Okay, there are a couple of things wrong with this. First, they only need two rows for a student fan club section? I think there’s more interest in the school’s chess team practices. Second, 4 hours?? That’s it. I had to wait longer than that for my two hernia surgeries. At most other schools in the conference, 4 days is more like it. Miami simply has no fan base.
Therefore, I will take up the Miami cause. While no team will take UVA’s place as number one in my heart, I try to pick a team or two in the ACC that I can really get behind. For the last couple of years it was Clemson. This year it is the Hurricanes. I love their coach. McClinton is exciting, and let’s face it. They need the fans.
Minute 18: Allison Williams gives us a profile of James Dews. This is one cool cat. He won the Taekwondo Jr. Olympics at the age of ten. He actually seems like he goes to class and has a brain (McClinton does too). He sings on camera, and he dances in the weight room. Finally, he has a special connection to Michael Jordan. Jordan called him out to play one-on-one when, at the age of 10, Dews was at Jordan’s basketball camp. One other little note, Dews beat Jordan!!! Of course Dews realized years later that Jordan probably let him win.
So for those of you who were playing Atari 2600 or Jordan vs. Bird on the NES at the age of ten. James Dews was winning Taekwondo tournaments and defeating the real Michael Jordan. And you wonder why I’m getting behind the Hurricanes this year.
Minute 23: Holy Crap! When Fox Sports Florida comes back from commercial the analysts are no longer Werme and the G-man. It’s going to be John freaking Crotty!!! I loved John Crotty. He was my college point guard idol in the late 80’s. He was a lefty 3 point marksman, who led UVA to a tourney upset over #1 seed Oklahoma to make the Elite 8 in ’89. He didn’t take crap from anyone, and he had the most underarm hair I had ever seen. He gave hope to 13 year old late bloomers like myself who were waiting for their own underarm hair to arrive.
Minutes 24-30: Sorry, everybody. I spent the last 6 minutes thinking of late 80’s, early 90’s UVA teams with Crotty, Stith, Ted Jeffries, Brent Dabbs, KennyTurner, et al. What great memories!
Thank you Fox Sports Atlantic!
Minute 1: Well, we’re all ready to begin with our good friend Heather Catlin serving as the show’s hos??????!!!! Wait a second! That’s not Heather Catlin. When did Kristen Stewart get the hosting gig for these ACC preview shows? Does Heather know this? Did she get kidnapped? Where is the search party? Where is Heather Catlin?
Minute 1: Okay, only a few pieces of furniture have been demolished. Cooler heads are prevailing as I notice that this is a Fox Sports Florida production, not Fox Sports Atlantic. Whew!! That was a close one.
Minute 2: It’s a whole new crew, as Frank Forte, aka not Jen Hildreth, brings us the Miami year in review.
Minute 2: Interestingly, Frank Haith is not wearing a coat and tie, and he’s being interviewed in the locker room vs. in a made up set. This Florida crew is laaaiiiiddd back (with their mind on their money and their money on their mind).
Minute 5: More devastating news. No Hardees’ sponsorship. You know what that means… no Thickburger commercials. Where else am I going to get my arteries clogged just by looking at the TV.
Minute 8: This Fox Sports Florida crew really has their own style, and I like it. We currently are getting shots of practice and Frank Haith instructing the players. Did anyone else realize that Miami won 6 of their last 8 conference games? When was the last time a team not named UNC or Duke came through in the clutch like that? Maybe NC State in Hodge’s senior year.
Minute 9: Mr. Haith expresses his lack of interest for preseason rankings. He mentions that the only useful purpose for them is to show recruits. Yeah, you could show them preseason rankings. Or, you could show them South Beach with loads of beautiful women in bikinis. I would bet mortgages on which one of those tools was more effective in attracting recruits.
Minute 12: Okay, ladies and gentlemen. It’s man-crush time. The winner is … Frank Haith. This guy is awesome. He’s not wearing a shirt and tie for the interview. He’s so laid back, and yet it is obvious in 12 minutes how much his players respect him. I see him interacting with fans. This guy is fantastic!
Minute 15: Hurricane Hoopfest – This is an event to promote Hurricane basketball in which literally tens of people show up to get autographs, meet the players, and watch practice. The men’s and women’s “teams practiced in front of a crowd.” Crowd?? I’ve seen more people gathered at the DMV. The interesting thing is that every time they pan the crowd, the camera stops after about two seconds, because it’s obvious the camera guy is about to run out of fans to shoot.
Minute 16: The best part is the fan interviews. They show two alumni and a couple of high school kids. Only one actual student is interviewed. One fan states, “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” In looking at the kid, I don’t think he has a lot of other options.
Minute 17: There is now a profile of Haith’s Faithful. This is a healing support group in the Miami area. Oh, wait. No, it’s not. It is the Frank Haith fanclub. The students for this have a t-shirt and everything. One Haith Faithfulite mentions the following perks of being in the club: “[We get priority seating in the first two rows, and we don’t have to wait 4 hours for tickets for the big games like Duke and Carolina.]”
Okay, there are a couple of things wrong with this. First, they only need two rows for a student fan club section? I think there’s more interest in the school’s chess team practices. Second, 4 hours?? That’s it. I had to wait longer than that for my two hernia surgeries. At most other schools in the conference, 4 days is more like it. Miami simply has no fan base.
Therefore, I will take up the Miami cause. While no team will take UVA’s place as number one in my heart, I try to pick a team or two in the ACC that I can really get behind. For the last couple of years it was Clemson. This year it is the Hurricanes. I love their coach. McClinton is exciting, and let’s face it. They need the fans.
Minute 18: Allison Williams gives us a profile of James Dews. This is one cool cat. He won the Taekwondo Jr. Olympics at the age of ten. He actually seems like he goes to class and has a brain (McClinton does too). He sings on camera, and he dances in the weight room. Finally, he has a special connection to Michael Jordan. Jordan called him out to play one-on-one when, at the age of 10, Dews was at Jordan’s basketball camp. One other little note, Dews beat Jordan!!! Of course Dews realized years later that Jordan probably let him win.
So for those of you who were playing Atari 2600 or Jordan vs. Bird on the NES at the age of ten. James Dews was winning Taekwondo tournaments and defeating the real Michael Jordan. And you wonder why I’m getting behind the Hurricanes this year.
Minute 23: Holy Crap! When Fox Sports Florida comes back from commercial the analysts are no longer Werme and the G-man. It’s going to be John freaking Crotty!!! I loved John Crotty. He was my college point guard idol in the late 80’s. He was a lefty 3 point marksman, who led UVA to a tourney upset over #1 seed Oklahoma to make the Elite 8 in ’89. He didn’t take crap from anyone, and he had the most underarm hair I had ever seen. He gave hope to 13 year old late bloomers like myself who were waiting for their own underarm hair to arrive.
Minutes 24-30: Sorry, everybody. I spent the last 6 minutes thinking of late 80’s, early 90’s UVA teams with Crotty, Stith, Ted Jeffries, Brent Dabbs, KennyTurner, et al. What great memories!
Thank you Fox Sports Atlantic!
Friday, November 14, 2008
North Carolina Preview show
Welcome again to McNamara Manor. There have been some changes at the Manor. I’m watching this preview on the same TV, but it’s in our new armoire that took me and the Mrs. over 3 ½ hours, a return trip to Target, and some mounting frustration to put together. Now that we’ve put that behind us, in a shameless attempt to pique interest in the post, I decided that the North Carolina team preview should be next on the list. Here’s hoping we double the comments of the Clemson preview.
As usual, the post will be in a running diary format and is meant to focus on the show, not serve as a team preview, which will come later. Onto the Tarheels…
Minute 1: “This is your 2008 North Carolina Tarheels preview. From the campus of UNC, Heather Catlin and the gang our back to bring us UNC basketball wrapped up in a nice 30 minute segment. Heather opens the show by noting that, “UNC is in a position to go all the way.”
See, this is why you have me watch these things for you. Did you know this? Did you know that four players that flirted with the draft are back? Did you know that Carolina is going to be really good this year? See, I bet you didn’t….until Heather cleared that up for us.
Minute 2: Wayne Ellington is interviewed. He seems to think that “a lot of teams aren’t in the position that we are.” He’s right. A lot of teams don’t return the national player of the year, the best point guard in the conference, another top ten conference scorer, and the best sixth man in the conference. UVA does return Tunji Soroye and Ryan Pettinella, but maybe Wayne forgot about that.
Ellington went on to proclaim that the sky is blue, Michael Jordan used to be pretty good, and you can watch homemade videos on YouTube.
Minute 5: After Danny Green breaks a record of using four consecutive clichés, Heather asks, “Where do the Tarheels go from here?” My guess is Hardees’ to get a Thickburger, but I’m biased by the sponsor of the show.
Minute 5: Although UNC led the nation in rebounding margin, they will have to replace Alex Stepheson’s production in that department as he decided to transfer. Playing in the Final Four wasn’t very fulfilling for Alex. Neither was returning to a team that has a chance to make history as one of the best college basketball teams ever. Either that, or Rob wasn’t happy about Stepheson only scoring 12 points in the tournament for him last year and made a few phone calls.
Minute 7: It’s man-crush time. I love Ty Lawson. I’ve actually decided to make this a running segment in the preview shows. Lawson is simply phenomenal and can get to the basket whenever he frickin’ feels like it. He’s led the league in assist to turnover ratio the last two years. Me likes the point guards.
Minute 7 (and 56 seconds): “Carolina does lose Quentin Thomas” (4 seconds on Quentin Thomas…yep, that about sums it up)
Minute 8: Carolina’s new faces include Ed Davis who is a McDonald’s All-American from Richmond. I used to teach at Oak Knoll Middle School and taught 8th grade there when Ed Davis was an 8th grader. I also coached basketball for a year at Oak Knoll. Now, I’m not saying I had a direct influence on his game. I mean, I didn’t actually teach him; and I coached before he came to school there; and my greatest basketball accomplishment is winning the rebounding title in our neighborhood basketball league. I’ll just say that we were in the same school at the same time for a year back in 2003 and you can draw your own conclusions.
Minute 8: Heather tells us the following (and I’m paraphrasing): There was one piece of bad news in the offseason… Ty Lawson was arrested for alcohol use. There is a silver lining though as it might have scared away potential NBA suitors and potentially kept Lawson at Carolina for at least one more year. That a way to find the positive in alcohol abuse. Nice job, Heather.
On another note, seeing as how this whole thing would have crumbled if Lawson didn’t return, isn’t there at least a chance that Roy Williams had something to do with this.
Roy – “So, Ty, thanks for coming over to the house for dinner. You must be really thirsty. Why don’t I get you a Coke, or four?”
Ty – “Gee, thanks coach.”
Ty – “Wow, coach, what’s in these Cokes. That tastes different.”
Roy – “Oh, it’s nothing Ty, just a special house ingredient. By the way, before you drive home, there is a cop waiting outside to give you a breathalyzer. You know, school policy.”
Does this open the floodgates for future scandals to keep these big time players in school. Next year, will Ellington mysteriously find a pound of reefer in his trunk? Does Gerald Henderson “accidentally” stumble across a stash of illegal porn planted in his room by coach K?
Minute 8: Back to Heather Catlin, and she notes that the team got a bit of extra motivation this summer as former Carolina players Jerry Stackhouse, Sean May, and Marvin Williams, came back to campus to play some pick-up games with the current players. Now, Ellington is more motivated to be a ballhog. Hansbrough is more motivated to see if he can still be effective at 40 pounds over his playing weight, and the freshman are motivated to leave two years too early.
(By the way, Minute 8 just broke the record for the most information filled minute of a Fox Sports Atlantic 2008 ACC preview show.)
Minute 13: In Roy Williams’ obligatory coaches’ interview, he comments that when it comes to leaving for the NBA, “…as long as [the kids] are doing [what makes them happy], then I’m happy.” He also added, “as long as they understand that what makes me happy WILL make them happy, then we’re good.”
Minute 15: More talk about Hansbrough. Isn’t Hansbrough coming back for his senior year kind of like O’Bannon in Dazed and Confused, coming back for a second senior year just to get in the extra licks on the freshman?
Minute 18: It’s the all ACC preview team again, and this year’s team includes, Lawson, Rice, McClinton…Wait a second… This is the exact same segment on Clemson’s preview show. I feel cheated. You know who else should feel cheated, you, the reader, who is missing out on 6 quality minutes of diary updates for each show. You know who else should feel cheated… Jeep. They are the sponsors of this segment, and they have to endorse the fact that Kyle Singler is seen as the sixth best player in the league for every preview show.
Minute 24: I had to fit in something from the G-Man and Tom Werme segment. Werme notes that UNC’s loss to Kansas last year was “…really a blowout by UNC standards.” Uh, Tom, UNC was down by 28 in the first half! Kansas went five minutes without a point and still lead by 18. That was a blowout by Oakland Raiders’ standards.
Minute 28: Werme asks Gminski, “Is this team going back to the Final Four?” Way to ask the tough questions Tom.
That wraps up our Carolina preview show and Hansbrough only received 37 out of a possible 30 minutes of airtime.
As usual, the post will be in a running diary format and is meant to focus on the show, not serve as a team preview, which will come later. Onto the Tarheels…
Minute 1: “This is your 2008 North Carolina Tarheels preview. From the campus of UNC, Heather Catlin and the gang our back to bring us UNC basketball wrapped up in a nice 30 minute segment. Heather opens the show by noting that, “UNC is in a position to go all the way.”
See, this is why you have me watch these things for you. Did you know this? Did you know that four players that flirted with the draft are back? Did you know that Carolina is going to be really good this year? See, I bet you didn’t….until Heather cleared that up for us.
Minute 2: Wayne Ellington is interviewed. He seems to think that “a lot of teams aren’t in the position that we are.” He’s right. A lot of teams don’t return the national player of the year, the best point guard in the conference, another top ten conference scorer, and the best sixth man in the conference. UVA does return Tunji Soroye and Ryan Pettinella, but maybe Wayne forgot about that.
Ellington went on to proclaim that the sky is blue, Michael Jordan used to be pretty good, and you can watch homemade videos on YouTube.
Minute 5: After Danny Green breaks a record of using four consecutive clichés, Heather asks, “Where do the Tarheels go from here?” My guess is Hardees’ to get a Thickburger, but I’m biased by the sponsor of the show.
Minute 5: Although UNC led the nation in rebounding margin, they will have to replace Alex Stepheson’s production in that department as he decided to transfer. Playing in the Final Four wasn’t very fulfilling for Alex. Neither was returning to a team that has a chance to make history as one of the best college basketball teams ever. Either that, or Rob wasn’t happy about Stepheson only scoring 12 points in the tournament for him last year and made a few phone calls.
Minute 7: It’s man-crush time. I love Ty Lawson. I’ve actually decided to make this a running segment in the preview shows. Lawson is simply phenomenal and can get to the basket whenever he frickin’ feels like it. He’s led the league in assist to turnover ratio the last two years. Me likes the point guards.
Minute 7 (and 56 seconds): “Carolina does lose Quentin Thomas” (4 seconds on Quentin Thomas…yep, that about sums it up)
Minute 8: Carolina’s new faces include Ed Davis who is a McDonald’s All-American from Richmond. I used to teach at Oak Knoll Middle School and taught 8th grade there when Ed Davis was an 8th grader. I also coached basketball for a year at Oak Knoll. Now, I’m not saying I had a direct influence on his game. I mean, I didn’t actually teach him; and I coached before he came to school there; and my greatest basketball accomplishment is winning the rebounding title in our neighborhood basketball league. I’ll just say that we were in the same school at the same time for a year back in 2003 and you can draw your own conclusions.
Minute 8: Heather tells us the following (and I’m paraphrasing): There was one piece of bad news in the offseason… Ty Lawson was arrested for alcohol use. There is a silver lining though as it might have scared away potential NBA suitors and potentially kept Lawson at Carolina for at least one more year. That a way to find the positive in alcohol abuse. Nice job, Heather.
On another note, seeing as how this whole thing would have crumbled if Lawson didn’t return, isn’t there at least a chance that Roy Williams had something to do with this.
Roy – “So, Ty, thanks for coming over to the house for dinner. You must be really thirsty. Why don’t I get you a Coke, or four?”
Ty – “Gee, thanks coach.”
Ty – “Wow, coach, what’s in these Cokes. That tastes different.”
Roy – “Oh, it’s nothing Ty, just a special house ingredient. By the way, before you drive home, there is a cop waiting outside to give you a breathalyzer. You know, school policy.”
Does this open the floodgates for future scandals to keep these big time players in school. Next year, will Ellington mysteriously find a pound of reefer in his trunk? Does Gerald Henderson “accidentally” stumble across a stash of illegal porn planted in his room by coach K?
Minute 8: Back to Heather Catlin, and she notes that the team got a bit of extra motivation this summer as former Carolina players Jerry Stackhouse, Sean May, and Marvin Williams, came back to campus to play some pick-up games with the current players. Now, Ellington is more motivated to be a ballhog. Hansbrough is more motivated to see if he can still be effective at 40 pounds over his playing weight, and the freshman are motivated to leave two years too early.
(By the way, Minute 8 just broke the record for the most information filled minute of a Fox Sports Atlantic 2008 ACC preview show.)
Minute 13: In Roy Williams’ obligatory coaches’ interview, he comments that when it comes to leaving for the NBA, “…as long as [the kids] are doing [what makes them happy], then I’m happy.” He also added, “as long as they understand that what makes me happy WILL make them happy, then we’re good.”
Minute 15: More talk about Hansbrough. Isn’t Hansbrough coming back for his senior year kind of like O’Bannon in Dazed and Confused, coming back for a second senior year just to get in the extra licks on the freshman?
Minute 18: It’s the all ACC preview team again, and this year’s team includes, Lawson, Rice, McClinton…Wait a second… This is the exact same segment on Clemson’s preview show. I feel cheated. You know who else should feel cheated, you, the reader, who is missing out on 6 quality minutes of diary updates for each show. You know who else should feel cheated… Jeep. They are the sponsors of this segment, and they have to endorse the fact that Kyle Singler is seen as the sixth best player in the league for every preview show.
Minute 24: I had to fit in something from the G-Man and Tom Werme segment. Werme notes that UNC’s loss to Kansas last year was “…really a blowout by UNC standards.” Uh, Tom, UNC was down by 28 in the first half! Kansas went five minutes without a point and still lead by 18. That was a blowout by Oakland Raiders’ standards.
Minute 28: Werme asks Gminski, “Is this team going back to the Final Four?” Way to ask the tough questions Tom.
That wraps up our Carolina preview show and Hansbrough only received 37 out of a possible 30 minutes of airtime.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Clemson's 2008 preview show
Minute 1: Welcome to McNamara Manor and our first preview show: Your 2008 3rd place Clemson Tigers. Heather Catlin and Jen Hildreth will be bringing us the action along with many special guests. Feel the excitement! For another special treat, this preview is brought to us by Hardee’s. Hardee’s menu consists of various versions of the thickburger, a chili-cheese hot dog, fried chicken, and no salads anywhere to be found. Knowing they could not compete against the McDonald’s juggernaut, Hardee’s basically said screw it, we’re offering the most unhealthy food imagineable, and we’re not apologizing.
Minute 3: We get our first player interview with Terrence Oglesby. To say he looks like Ollie from Hoosiers is an understatement. Of course, Ollie could never hit three’s from the third row with a hand in his face.
Minute 3: Currently being shown is the obligatory last season year in review montage highlighted by the devastating Carolina losses. Is there a ACC program more tortured by another than Clemson is by the Tarheels. Historically, Clemson has never beaten Carolina in Chapel Hill. Add to that the three losses to Carolina last year. In the first one, Clemson took a seven point lead with 2:37 to play at home, and didn’t score again in regulation including two misses in the last three seconds. Then, Ellington hit the three in overtime with one second left to beat Clemson. Then, Clemson lead Carolina by 11 with 3 minutes left in Chapel Hill only to lose in double overtime. Finally, they lost the ACC championship game to Carolina. I think Clark Griswold had better luck at the blackjack table in Vegas Vacation.
Minute 5: Heather Catlin notes the Tigers will have to make it back to the tournament without the winningest class in school history. Now I’m sure James Mays, Cliff Hammonds and Sam Perry are nice guys, but isn’t being the winningest class in Clemson basketball history a little like being the winningest team in Tampa Bay Rays history. (Darn, that joke expired about 6 months ago. I promise a full refund for that one.)
Minute 7: Freshman Catalin Baciu, a 7’1” Romanian center, is the the tallest signee in Clemson history. They’re already reserving his spot as the fourth on the Mount Rushmore of ACC slow seven footers right next to Mike Mardesich, Chuck Nevitt, and Chase Metheny.
Minute 11: When asked if he was able to enjoy the success last season, Oliver Purnell tells us it’s important to smell the roses. I guess that’s a lot better than smelling what came from the free throw line last year from anyone not named Stitt or Oglesby.
Minute 14: Purnell makes a comment about improving upon the Clemson brand. Clemson just made the NCAA tourney for the first time in 10 years. They made the ACC finals for the first time in 46 years. I think Don Draper on his best day would have trouble selling the Clemson basketball brand.
Minute 3: We get our first player interview with Terrence Oglesby. To say he looks like Ollie from Hoosiers is an understatement. Of course, Ollie could never hit three’s from the third row with a hand in his face.
Minute 3: Currently being shown is the obligatory last season year in review montage highlighted by the devastating Carolina losses. Is there a ACC program more tortured by another than Clemson is by the Tarheels. Historically, Clemson has never beaten Carolina in Chapel Hill. Add to that the three losses to Carolina last year. In the first one, Clemson took a seven point lead with 2:37 to play at home, and didn’t score again in regulation including two misses in the last three seconds. Then, Ellington hit the three in overtime with one second left to beat Clemson. Then, Clemson lead Carolina by 11 with 3 minutes left in Chapel Hill only to lose in double overtime. Finally, they lost the ACC championship game to Carolina. I think Clark Griswold had better luck at the blackjack table in Vegas Vacation.
Minute 5: Heather Catlin notes the Tigers will have to make it back to the tournament without the winningest class in school history. Now I’m sure James Mays, Cliff Hammonds and Sam Perry are nice guys, but isn’t being the winningest class in Clemson basketball history a little like being the winningest team in Tampa Bay Rays history. (Darn, that joke expired about 6 months ago. I promise a full refund for that one.)
Minute 7: Freshman Catalin Baciu, a 7’1” Romanian center, is the the tallest signee in Clemson history. They’re already reserving his spot as the fourth on the Mount Rushmore of ACC slow seven footers right next to Mike Mardesich, Chuck Nevitt, and Chase Metheny.
Minute 11: When asked if he was able to enjoy the success last season, Oliver Purnell tells us it’s important to smell the roses. I guess that’s a lot better than smelling what came from the free throw line last year from anyone not named Stitt or Oglesby.
Minute 14: Purnell makes a comment about improving upon the Clemson brand. Clemson just made the NCAA tourney for the first time in 10 years. They made the ACC finals for the first time in 46 years. I think Don Draper on his best day would have trouble selling the Clemson basketball brand.
Minute 19: On to the KC Rivers interview. It’s best to take KC’s thoughts in bullet format.
- “[KC] came to Clemson, because [he] wanted to make it productive.” I’m sure the Chemistry department has flourished since KC arrived on the scene.
- KC’s nickname is “sizzle,” because when he was a freshman, Vernon Hamilton came up to him after practice and said, “Man, you were sizzling.” Clemson creativity at its best.
- KC enjoys playing in front of the large student crowds. He does know that he plays at Clemson right?
- Finally, KC entertained the idea of declaring for the draft, but as Heather Catlin puts it “KC realized he wanted to stay to get his degree and be a leader on and off the court.” Well, that or he had about as much shot at getting drafted as Louis Skolnick becoming president of the Alpha Beta’s.
Minute 21: Onto the Preview All Conference Team who are as follows: Ty Lawson…Tyrese Rice…Jack McClinton…James Johnson…and I wonder who the next player could be…
Ryan Pettinella? Uche Echefu? The player formerly known as Brandon Costner?
No, of course we are talking about one Tyler Hansbrough. No surprise there, and he deserves his pre-season player of the year status. Now onto someone much less deserving…
Minute 22: There is a 6th man on this all conference team. My reaction upon hearing the name caused me to yell back to back, “NO WAY!!”
Apparently, since any ACC preview all conference team is contractually obligated to have a Duke player, they selected Kyle freaking Singler. REALLY??!! He’s not even the best player in his own frontcourt. There are 6 returning players not on the all conference team who averaged more points than Singler last year, and 7 players with better rebounding totals. Who knows?? Maybe the show’s producers were impressed by his 7 total points in the ACC tourney, or his 6 ppg in the postseason last year. Singler’s a fine enough player, but to say he’s the 6th best player in the conference has all the sanity of Neil Patrick Harris in a Harold and Kumar movie.
Minute 26: Back to Clemson as the G Man, Mike Gminski and Tom Werme (I don’t know who he is either) breakdown Clemson’s chances in the upcoming season. The two guys are sitting on director’s chairs, and for some reason they have clipboards. I mention this as odd, because they never look at them and seem to be speaking from tele-prompters.
So there you have it: The 2008 Clemson preview special.
ACC preview shows
Currently on Fox Sports Atlantic (yes, I sprang for the extra $3.99 a month for the right to watch non-HD sports) there are a handful of ACC team preview shows. Since I am already on the borderline of official nerddom, I figured I would completely make the leap, watch the previews, write about them, and post them for you, the loyal reader.
I’d like to say there will be one for each team; however, I’ve only seen five scheduled to this point: Clemson, Miami, UNC, Duke, and Wake. I’ll tackle each of these preview shows in a diary format. I’ll have full team previews in the coming weeks. These posts will focus on the preview shows themselves as they are filled with comedy and laughs for the whole family.
Without further ado, onto the previews…
I’d like to say there will be one for each team; however, I’ve only seen five scheduled to this point: Clemson, Miami, UNC, Duke, and Wake. I’ll tackle each of these preview shows in a diary format. I’ll have full team previews in the coming weeks. These posts will focus on the preview shows themselves as they are filled with comedy and laughs for the whole family.
Without further ado, onto the previews…
Monday, November 10, 2008
2008/9 ACC Fantasy Basketball League Guidelines
Regulations and Guidelines for the 2008/9 ACC Fantasy Basketball League
League Structure
1. There are 12 teams in the league. Each team will have 7 ACC basketball players.
2. There are 5 categories in which each of the 12 teams will be ranked. They are as
follows: Points; 3’s made; Rebounds; Assists; Blocks/Steals
3. The fee for the season will be $25
4. Only statistics in intra-conference games will be included.
Rosters (the Draft)
1. Rosters will initially be built through a snake draft.
The draft order was selected randomly and will be as follows:
1. Jeff
2. Mike
3. Jason L.
4. Rob
5. Adam W.
6. Charles
7. Adam T.
8. Jason S.
9. Bill
10. Derek
11. Kelly
12. Chip
2. The draft will be a snake draft. 1 through 12, 12 back to 1 and then back up
until there have been 7 rounds completed.
3. There are NO restrictions for how many players you can draft per team or per
position(just that the player hasn’t been drafted by someone else).
4. The draft will be conducted through e-mail starting on 12/1. The draft must be
concluded by 12/21 (which is the first conference game of the season).
Your official draft pick should be in an e-mail to everyone.
Rosters (post-draft)
1. Teams are maxed at a total of 112 games
(16 conference games times 7 players per roster).
This will prevent people from continuously changing
throughout the season to obtain extra games.
2. You may change someone on your roster with approx. 24 hour notice before the new
player’s next game. These changes should be done through an e-mail to the whole
league.
3. Trades are allowed, just make sure they are reasonable.
No suspicious Hansbrough for Zoubek trades.
4. You may have a maximum of 7 players on your roster at all times.
Objective
1. The team with the most overall points will win the league. Payouts are below.
2. Someone earning first in a category earns 12 points; 2nd in a category earns 11
points and so on down the line. Add the point totals for all five categories for
your overall point total.
Payouts
Entry fee is $25 a piece for a total of $300.
1st overall - $150
2nd overall - $70
3rd overall - $30
Category winner - $10/category
The Blog
I will update the stats/standings each Monday (after the weekend’s games) and Friday (after the mid-week games). Results will be posted on the blog.
League Structure
1. There are 12 teams in the league. Each team will have 7 ACC basketball players.
2. There are 5 categories in which each of the 12 teams will be ranked. They are as
follows: Points; 3’s made; Rebounds; Assists; Blocks/Steals
3. The fee for the season will be $25
4. Only statistics in intra-conference games will be included.
Rosters (the Draft)
1. Rosters will initially be built through a snake draft.
The draft order was selected randomly and will be as follows:
1. Jeff
2. Mike
3. Jason L.
4. Rob
5. Adam W.
6. Charles
7. Adam T.
8. Jason S.
9. Bill
10. Derek
11. Kelly
12. Chip
2. The draft will be a snake draft. 1 through 12, 12 back to 1 and then back up
until there have been 7 rounds completed.
3. There are NO restrictions for how many players you can draft per team or per
position(just that the player hasn’t been drafted by someone else).
4. The draft will be conducted through e-mail starting on 12/1. The draft must be
concluded by 12/21 (which is the first conference game of the season).
Your official draft pick should be in an e-mail to everyone.
Rosters (post-draft)
1. Teams are maxed at a total of 112 games
(16 conference games times 7 players per roster).
This will prevent people from continuously changing
throughout the season to obtain extra games.
2. You may change someone on your roster with approx. 24 hour notice before the new
player’s next game. These changes should be done through an e-mail to the whole
league.
3. Trades are allowed, just make sure they are reasonable.
No suspicious Hansbrough for Zoubek trades.
4. You may have a maximum of 7 players on your roster at all times.
Objective
1. The team with the most overall points will win the league. Payouts are below.
2. Someone earning first in a category earns 12 points; 2nd in a category earns 11
points and so on down the line. Add the point totals for all five categories for
your overall point total.
Payouts
Entry fee is $25 a piece for a total of $300.
1st overall - $150
2nd overall - $70
3rd overall - $30
Category winner - $10/category
The Blog
I will update the stats/standings each Monday (after the weekend’s games) and Friday (after the mid-week games). Results will be posted on the blog.
ACC Fantasy Basketball League
Well, Ladies and Gentlemen. After many years of waiting, the ACC Fantasy Regular Season Basketball League will commence. Soon I will post league regulations, general guidelines, and payouts. The fact that we have 12 people committed to the league for this season just blows my mind. I'm looking forward to a great college basketball season and a great inaugural ACC Fantasy Season. Any ideas for a league name is appreciated.
In addition, I plan to use this space to post my ACC basketball thoughts throughout the season. While I haven't seen an ACC blog that truly captures what I would want to see (and I'm hoping this will be that for you); I will refer anyone stumbling across this blogpost to the best ACC basketball site I have seen to date. That site is scacchoops.com, and I encourage all who read this to check it out.
Until next time,
Chip
In addition, I plan to use this space to post my ACC basketball thoughts throughout the season. While I haven't seen an ACC blog that truly captures what I would want to see (and I'm hoping this will be that for you); I will refer anyone stumbling across this blogpost to the best ACC basketball site I have seen to date. That site is scacchoops.com, and I encourage all who read this to check it out.
Until next time,
Chip
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