After going without power last weekend and digging myself out from the snow, which still covers the ground and my walkway, we are looking forward to a weekend full of sports. I will be huddling inside this weekend to save a little no the budget. I basically had to spend a bit much on gas driving to my brothers to enjoy any form of modern technology and then on replacing the contents of my fridge. I thought I might salvage some of the food by putting it outside in my shed, but after further inspection I chucked it. Like my Dad always said "When in doubt, throw it out" but if there is one thing I loathe it is wasting food. Whenever I eat out, I always clear my plate, nothing wasted. When I cook (which is rare) I always eat it all or save what I can't finish (which is rare if ever). It is not from any form of self-righteousness, but just the fact that I love eating so much it irks me to see perfectly edible food tossed away.
That said, the weekend provides plenty in the sports world that should keep my time with Call of Duty to a minimum. We have to begin with Catfish's embattled North Carolina Tar Heels. The Heels are sitting at 16-14, 4-10 in the ACC so unless they string together a perfect ACC tournament the Dean Dome will be a raucus host to an NIT game in a few weeks. Many people (including me sometimes) tell Catfish that he should just be quiet and enjoy the title his team won a year ago. Any true fan of a successful team knows that is impossible; you always want your team to win every year, every season no matter what. Catfish will be the first to tell you the light blue fan base is quite unforgiving. Win is the only way to keep them satiated. Win now, win often, win all the time. The setback of this year's team has brought a lot of heat on Roy Williams, perhaps more than I have ever seen for a coach who cut the nets down the previous year.
A lot of ills can be cured if UNC wins their 5th straight at Cameron on Saturday night. Duke is favored to win, should win, will most likely win. However, it is not like Carolina will not be pumped up and does not contain the talent to spark the upset. I do think Duke wins this game in a crazy scene reminiscent of the '98 senior day Wojo game.
In NFL news, the Carolina Panthers cut Jake Delhomme last night. Jake came a long way from his World Bowl Dance(see below) to leading the Panthers to Super Bowl 38. He leaves the Panthers with virtually all their passing records but after his 18 INT performance last year (and that's with missing 5 games!) it was clear the magic had left the Cajun's right arm. Delhomme was a great leader for the team and ambassador for the franchise while he was productive. It is a shame the horrible decision by the front office to give him an extension to try and clear cap space last spring. The Matt Moore era will continue in Charlotte next year. Don't expect the Panthers to go after Vick, GM Marty Hurney and coach John Fox are on the chopping block for their jobs and they are not going to risk next year on the flappy arm and shotty legs Vick displayed last year. Don't feel too bad for Jake, the Panthers still owe him about $13 million.
Championship week is upon is in college basketball. The mid-major conferences are first into the fray in determining who gets their league's invite to the tourney. One of the first tickets will be punched tomorrow when Coastal Carolina hosts Winthrop in the Big South Championship. Never hiding our love for the Big South, Coastal Carolina is a team that could spark an upset come tourney time if they win tomorrow's championship game at 4 on ESPN2. The Chanticleers (a nickname everyone will be talking about if they make it) are the 1 seed and hosting on their tiny on-campus gym which I believe is smaller than my high school gym. Still, the Chants are led by coach Cliff Ellis who has lead teams to the tourney before, including sweet 16 trips with Clemson and Auburn (yes the Auburn with Chris Porter). Their opponent is Palmetto in-state rival Winthrop. The Eagles are the most recognized Big South team in basketball due to their upset of Notre Dame in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. They are coached by Randy Peele who was an assistant under Greg Marshall who led those Winthrop teams. This is what (the current) Tournament is all about, mid-majors playing one game, with one shot at the ultimate prize of playing on a national stage in the dance.
Sadly, there will be no tale of the country's leading rebounder and Drago alter ego Artsiom Parakhouski of Radford. The Highlanders fell to Winthrop in the semifinals. Dreams are not true this year.
Friday, March 5
Around the ASD Universe: UNC/Duke, Jake is No Longer Our Del-homey, and Chanticleer Fevor
Thursday, May 14
Big South Expands For The Future
For obvious reasons, I have a love of all things Big South. Today, the conference announced that it will be adding Campbell University in July of 2011. Much like the mascot of Campbell, a Fighting Camel, mid-major conferences are trying to store as many resources as possible in this desert of an economic climate. The Camels come over from the Atlantic Sun just as current Big South member Gardner-Webb did a year ago.
The move is one that shows the Big South is ready to charge through the current harsh conditions of the economy and come out on the other side with momentum. Campbell will enter the conference in a multitude of their sports from baseball, basketball, softball, tennis, golf, track, and volleyball. Campbell was a founding member of the Big South and will surely help continue the conferences growth regionally as well as nationally.
The school will not enter into the Big South's football division since they do not offer scholarships. That does not mean that Big South football is not making headway though. After the FCS football tournament expansion to 20 teams was approved, the Big South received an automatic bid to the tournament for its conference winner beginning in 2010. So while the FBS division wallows in its own problems, FCS has not only provided a legitimate college football playoff, it has expanded it.
But I digress. The addition of the Camels now adds to the impressive mascot pantheon of the conference including the Keydets, Chanticleers, Highlanders, Flames, and of course, the PC Blue Hose.
Campbell University To Re-Join Big South Conference [BigSouthSports.com]
Thursday, April 9
The Non-Tiger Masters Pick
The Masters begins today and you can watch live! The smart money is on Tiger Woods to win. Well I am going to abandon intelligence mainly because there will be no money on it and pick another, slightly more obscure golfer to win. Of course everyone is rooting for Tiger to at least be in the hunt on Sunday, especially CBS. After the clunker that was the national championship in college basketball, the network is certainly praying/hoping/sacrificing small goats in order that El Tigre is wearing that red shirt with pride on Sunday. I have to think the odds are with them.
Yet, sometimes there is a Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Mike Weir or even a Gay Brewer (no making that up he won in '67) who comes along and takes the focus away from the favorites. So with that in mind I am picking Dustin Johnson. Dustin is a young golfer with two career wins including Pebble Beach this year. He is not an incredible long shot since he is ranked 9th in the FedEx Cup and 40th in the world. Johnson is 24, has had a few brushes with the law including a recent DUI so hopefully golf will be an espcape for him.
Johnson attended Coastal Carolina University where the mascot is the Chanticleer. What is a Chanticleer (pronounced shaun-tuh-clear) you ask? It is the name of the rooster character from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales which came from fables surrounding Reynard the Fox. Oh that Reynard. Anyway, Coastal used to be a sister school of the University of South Carolina so in a way to have a link back to their siblings they created a similar mascot. South Carolina is of course the Gamecocks, so Coastal chose the wise, cunning Chanticleer from the fables. There is a tremendous opportunity for inuendo with the mentioning of two roosters, but I will let you imagination do the walking on that one.
In the mean time, I am rooting for Johnson to represent the Chants and the Big South and spoil everyone's hopes that this is going to be a Tiger cake walk.
Wednesday, March 25
Seth Curry Transfering
No matter where Seth Curry travels in the world of college basketball, he will always be known as Stephen Curry's little brother. But perhaps Seth seeks a bigger spot in the limelight as he will be transferring from Liberty University. Liberty recently lost to James Madison in the quarterfinals of the CIT tournament by 23 points. Curry was the Big South Freshman of the Year as he led the nation in scoring for freshmen with 20.2 points per game. Curry made it apparent in his statement that school's position in the Big South played a role.
"This is a difficult decision that I have reached after close consultation with my family and others close to me, and it is based on my desire to develop as an athlete to the fullest of my potential and take advantage of new opportunities that may be available to me in a higher-rated conference, Curry said in a statement released by the school."
I am unsure exactly what he means here. His brother became a household name by lifting Davidson from the Southern Conference into the national spotlight. Prior to last year's Elite 8 run by the Wildcats, Davidson had never won a tournament game. The Big South has hardly been a powerhouse the last two years, with bid-winner Radford getting dismantled by North Carolina in the first round of this year's tournament. Two years ago however, Winthrop had been ranked in the top 25 and defeated Notre Dame in their first round match-up. Winthrop lost their core of players to graduation and the coach that led them to that in in Greg Marshall who is now at Wichita State.
It appears Curry does not want to get into the position of his brother; the hard toil at a mid-major just to possibly not get into the tournament. Seth may realize that the easier road is to go to a major conference -probably the ACC- and be seen on a consistent basis and have easier access to the NCAA tournament. You cannot blame him for that, but now the pressure will only intensify on him whereever he goes. It is amazing that schools passed on Seth to being with after seeing what Stephen did, and in many ways Stephen's success should have made Seth's choice of school as open as possible. In the end, the Big South loses a player who was destined to become the face of the league and another school will add what could potentially be a superstar.
Tuesday, March 17
For Radford, "Dreams Are True"; Seeding Not So Much
Radford University is a school in southwest Virginia, boasting an enrollment of 9,122, located 18 miles from the Virginia Tech campus, and according to TBL, they have one of the highest STD rates in the country. This is only their second tournament appearance ever (1998) and how fortunate they are to draw number 1 seed North Carolina in Greensboro where the Tarheels have never lost in the tournament. It is a short bus trip of about 57 miles for UNC and a slightly longer 135 miles trek for the Highlanders. The arena will no doubt be an explosion of baby blue on Thursdaty at 2:50pm EST for Radford's chance at what would be the biggest upset in the history of the tournament.
There was a great article in USA Today over the weekend about Radford. It talked about head coach Brad Greenberg, brother of Virginia Tech coach Seth. The two will never intentionally face off together according to their mom. The big star for Radford is their 6'11" center from Belarus Artsiom Parakhouski who is a junior college transfer from that cradle of basketball, Southern Idaho. Parakhouski has only been in the U.S. for 2 and half years and his English in progress can be seen in some of his quotes in the article, like this gem:
"I watched like crazy all the games," he says. "I would say, 'Once, I am going to be on this TV. And I am going to play against some special team.' And now, dreams are true."
Indeed Art, dreams are true but that special team is North Carolina. Parakhouski has been training hard since Radford earned their bid over a week ago, here is some of the footage.
I actually did research on all the 16 and 15 seeds in the tournament because I thought at first Radford was getting a raw deal having to play Carolina after winning their conference outright and winning the conference tournament but their 131 RPI and 215 SOS does not lie. Their best out of conference game was a 2 point loss to Virginia, whose coach just "resigned". But they were an impressive 15-3 in conference and Parakhouski was the conference player of the year and tournament MVP. If Radford is going to have a snowball's chance they will need their frontcourt to play huge. The Highlanders have decent size for a small school; besides the the big center, there is 6'8" senior Joey Lynch-Flohr and off the bench 6'8" Eric Hall. They also have Pittsburgh native point guard Amir Johnson who is a little tank with a 1.59 A/TO ratio this year. Swingman Kenny Thomas has great athleticism as well on the wing.
Adding in the advice Seth will share with his older brother, the senior leadership, and the size for rebounding, Radford could give Carolina a fight. Ty Lawson's status will be a big factor of course because it affects the pace of the game but Radford faced VMI, the nation's highest scoring team three times so they should be used to transition. They need to channel their inner Western Carolina, Fairfield, Albany, ETSU, Murray State, and Princeton.
All this being said, we all have Carolina winning this game by double-digits and sadly making one of the first exits from this year's tournament, but like XM always says...
Season of wonder at Radford: Coach, center spark NCAA run [USAToday.com]
Thursday, March 5
Dancing with the Big South
According to my Ziggy wall calender, it is March. Which means conference tournaments have started! A special focus here on the Big South, mainly because I will be attending the semifinals tonight at Radford's Dedmon Center. Radford is the number one seed but it should be anyone's tournament to win with national PPG leader VMI led by the Holmes twins as the second seed, followed by Liberty who features Stephen Curry's little brother Seth, and UNC Asheville is the improbable fourth seed after going this season without center Kenny George but this is March.
The atmosphere should be electric in Virginia tonight and I cannot wait to see the teams battle it out. There will be no automatic bid from this league, so it is simply winner take all and only one team out of the four will have their dance card punched Saturday. The final is at 4:00 and will be on ESPN2 as they kick off their Championship Week.
Speaking of dancing, the Big South blog has a featured video of the team's mascots dancing on their respective campuses to C and C Music Factory in the link below. It is reminiscent of the Old School dance scene that ends with Will Ferrell going up in flames in a Cougar outfit. No fire in this dance video, but entertaining nonetheless and it certainly gets you in tourney mode.
DANCE!DANCE!DANCE! [Big South SHOUT]
Monday, January 26
And TWINS
Sorry to burst the Coors Light twins bubble, but this is not about them. The Virginia Military Institute Keydets are atop the standings in the Big South at 16-3, 8-1 in conference and the twin combination of Travis and Chavis Holmes are a big reason. To say VMI plays an up-tempo style of offense is a bit of an understatement. The Keydets lead the nation in scoring offense thanks to their unique offensive scheme of shooting deep, early and often. The Holmes twins became the all-time scoring twin combination in NCAA history during VMI's 92-85 win over High Point on Saturday in which they totaled 47 points together. They have 3,262 combined career points and have Keydets headed in the right direction for a NCAA Tournament bid. With an early season victory at Rupp Arena over Kentucky under their belt VMI could be a tough opening round match-up come March. The twins had an interview with ESPN's First Take last week. You can watch the interview here.
Friday, December 12
Seth Curry, Your Thoughts?
Seth Curry is Stephen Curry's little brother and they are both sons of Dell Curry. I BET YOU DID NOT KNOW THAT!! Ok you probably did. A couple of days ago Seth did an interview with ESPN's "First Take". If you avoid the show like the plague like I do you probably did not catch it, especially since it was the soulless one Skip Bayless and fraulein Jamele Hill on the 1st and 10 segment. Some of the questions are pretty inane, but it is an interesting dynamic between the three Currys and there is even some old footage of Dell in the Charlotte Coliseum jacking it up. I can still remember the PA man at the Coliseum when Curry hit a three, "DC for 3!". Seth has come on to the scene quickly in college basketball, leading all freshman in the nation currently in scoring with 21.4 per game. Stephen surely gets most of the press but Seth should be ready to take his place in the years to come. Liberty right now looks to be a strong contender in the Big South after beating Virginia and almost vanquishing Clemson. VMI who beat Kentucky to open the season also looks strong in a league that should be wide open. The article and video of the interview is below.
Video: Curry Interview on ESPN2 First Take [Libertyflames.com]
Monday, November 17
Big Weekend for Big South Basketball
Although some may be reluctant to get interested college basketball in mid-November, there was some noise coming from the Big South Conference this past Friday. The first salvo fired was by the VMI Keydets as they beat Kentucky at Rupp Arena 111-103. The second event was not so much the outcome of a game, as what player had the big night. Seth Curry, the newest Curry to come on the scene in college basketball had 23 points and tied a Liberty University home record with 7 steals in the Flames' victory over Montreat. Despite it being early, there is definitely cause to be excited for hoops in the Big South this year. More on the two games after the break.
Krazy Keydets
Billy Gillispie probably will prefer not to schedule anymore Big South teams in his pre-conference slate after this year. Last year, Gardner-Webb achieved an 84-68 upset of the Wildcats in Rupp Arena. Even though at that time Gardner-Webb (who played a close game at Virginia Tech losing 65-62 Friday) was in the Atlantic Sun, they are now members of the Big South alongside the Keydets. The fact that both teams scored over 100 points is nothing surprising for VMI. Years ago coach Duggar Baucom employed a new fast paced gamestyle due to his lack of size. It is said he created the offense while sitting at a restaurant using the salt and pepper shakers and his napkin. The result has been high scores, a frenetic pace, and an exciting style of play to watch for the fans. The Keydets led the nation in scoring last year, averaging 91.3 ppg. Everyone is asked to shoot and shoot quickly. Even though VMI lost their leading scorer Reggie Williams to graduation last year, they had six players in double digits. Williams had led the entire nation in scoring two years in a row, but Travis Holmes poured in 30 to lead the team.
Beating Kentucky in Rupp certainly does not have the luster it has had in the past, especially with Gardner-Webb's victory last year, but it is still a big win for VMI and the conference over an SEC team. In a conference race that is sure to be wide open, the Keydets have made their opening statement with the win. Yesterday VMI fell just short of edging another big conference opponent as they lost to Virginia 107-97.
My Brother and Me
Last season the nation was introduced to Stephen Curry who is the son of former NBA player Dell Curry. Stephen led the Davidson Wildcats to the Elite 8 the brink of the Final Four by making brilliant scoring performances against the competition. This year Stephen is back and getting well-deserved publicity in anticipation of the Wildcats' season. However, in Lynchburg, Virginia Friday night, younger brother Seth Curry announced his presence with a sensational night. 23 points, a record-tying 7 steals at home, as well as 5 rebounds and 6 assists in the 97-77 over Montreat. The competition was not NCAA tournament caliber and he will certainly will be tested more as the season progresses but it was a fantastic start to Seth's career. As the two brothers were in high school, it was initially believed that Seth was the better player but after Stephen's performance last year it is hard to say that Seth will surpass him. Yet he could equal him if he leads Liberty to an NCAA berth during his time at Liberty and has a good showing. As hard as it is to lead any team to the Elite 8, it seems unlikely Seth will bring his team to the same level but he may prove to be just as impressive an individual player.
The Big South and the Southern Conference are two mid-major conferences that have had significant impacts on the national college basketball scene in the last few years. The Big South's showcase team was Winthrop, who nearly defeated Tennessee three years ago and who beat Notre Dame two years ago in the NCAA tournament. Obviously the Southern Conference's premiere team is Davidson led by Stephen Curry and their quest to repeat a deep run in the NCAA tournament. With Stephen returning this year and Seth making a promising debut at Liberty, along with VMI's early victory over Kentucky, it should be an interesting and highly contested season of college basketball down south.
Monday, October 20
Hard Hand Dealt to College Basketball's Tallest Player
Unfortunately for fans of UNC Asheville, the Big South, and college basketball in general Kenny George will miss the season and most likely his career due to a merca staph infection. The infection has caused doctors to reportedly remove portions of his right foot. It is a tough blow to the Bulldogs but an even tougher one to the young man who no doubt has faced challenges as enourmous as his size. We wish him a healthy recovery.
"Huge Setback For Nation's Tallest College Hoops Player" [Deadspin]
"Asheville's 7-7 George to miss season amid reports of foot amputation" [CBSSportsline]
