“Well, you lost me when you said ‘internet.’ You don’t need to be anybody or have anything to have an internet site.” – Roy Williams to a caller on tonight’s call-in show.
You mean everybody else, right, Coach? Not me, right?
In all seriousness, I really don’t try to put rumors out there or get on anyone’s nerves. I just react to actual news and comment on games and recruits and such. Certainly don’t want to be the news. I do plan on checking out some AAU games this summer if my schedule allows.
Raymond Felton is the Heels’ first ACC Player of the Week of the season. That’s a neat idea, since all season long I’ve tried to point out how much of a team this year’s group of Heels is, rather than a collection of individual stars. Nevertheless, Raymond did have a great week stepping up in Rashad McCants’ absence. Felton did a great job taking over games on the road in hostile environments.
No McCants news – tonight on the show Coach Williams said he doesn’t expect him to play against FSU Thursday.
That’s right – there is still Florida State before the big game this weekend. Let’s beat the Seminoles first.
What a great day for Tar Heel fans! The men escape College Park with a nail-biter over Maryland, even without Rashad McCants. Maryland put up a great fight in a must-win game. They got ‘up’ for the game and didn’t give up even down by ten. I applaud their effort, but I sure am glad we won.
Great games all around. The unlikely hero of the game is David Noel, with 12 points on 5–7 shooting, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 22 minutes. Also kudos to Jackie Manuel with 9 points and 10 rebounds. Sean May again campaigned for All-American, and Raymond Felton too had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists. He is the drive in the engine.
So the men stay in the driver’s seat for the ACC regular season championship by surviving Maryland, and need to beat Florida State to have the opportunity to lock up the title by beating Duke.
Did I say lock up the ACC title by beating Duke? Because that’s exactly what the Lady Tar Heels did tonight in Cameron Indoor Stadium. A thrilling 77–68 win over a team unbeaten in 33 straight ACC games at home. Both teams finish with 14–2 conference records, but the Heels lock up the title by sweeping the Blue Devils.
Great play from the starting five. Ivory with 23 and some big free throws to seal it. Erlana Larkins was huge underneath, with 19 points and a great enthusiasm for a freshman. Nikita Bell with 9 steals? Are you kidding me?
So the Lady Tar Heels take the #1 seed into the ACC Tournament, beginning Friday in Greensboro. Start making plans. Yours truly hopes to be there with HeelsBlogMom, perhaps. We’ll see.
Baseball Heels stay undefeated, Ladies clinch, and men survive a gritty match with the Terps! What a great day.
Well I don’t know if I’d go that far just yet, but State won’t finish better than 8–8 in conference and probably needs a win or two in the ACC tournament for an NCAA bid, thanks to a seriously weak non-conference schedule and some really bad losses.
The Tar Heels got a quality 81–71 win over a hungry team in front of a hostile crowd, all without leading scorer Rashad McCants. Nice job in bigger roles by Melvin, David, and Reyshawn. Melvin had some big shots, although he rushed a couple of three attempts. Did a good job taking advantage of the starting spot to break out of a personal slump.
Reyshawn and David contributed well without scoring. Rey had some nice defensive plays and hit a three. David didn’t attempt a shot, but helped on the defensive end as well.
Big games from Jawad, Sean, and Marvin as well. Must shout out to Ilian Evtimov as well, who pushed Marvin in the heat of battle but made sure he apologized.
Player of the Game has to go to Raymond Felton, whose quickness broke down State’s defense when it mattered. 21 points, 7 assists, 5 defensive rebounds, 1 steal, and zero turnovers. Zero. Great game from the point man.
Close behind is Sean with another double-double of 14 and 12. Ho hum. If he is not an All-American, no one is.
This is not a sports entry. It is about something important to me, and HeelsBlog is my forum.
On the morning of Saturday, February 19th, the Paramount Theater in downtown Goldsboro caught fire. The 123–year-old building was the only real arts center in Goldsboro and the hub of downtown. Local restaurants would give horse carriage rides to the theater after dinner. There were plans for a Wayne County ‘walk of fame’ to go in front of the theater.
Growing up, I was involved with a youth theatre group called StageStruck. The company performs a premiere show each spring with performers aged 6–18. I performed in 5 productions with StageStruck. During the first three years of the company, the productions were held at the Wayne Community College Auditorium. In the early 1990s, the Paramount was renovated, and Stagestruck moved its productions there. The Paramount held almost 500 people, whereas Wayne Community holds about 350 (I think). On the Paramount stage, I performed in Bye Bye Birdie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Guys and Dolls with StageStruck. I also starred in Eastern Wayne High School Drama Club productions of Grease and Jackie Lantern’s Halloween Revenge. I didn’t say they were all great productions.
During my last-ever show, as a senior in high school, I decided to steal the show. Literally. When a windowed room set piece came down for an indoor scene, I (as Lt. Brannigan) chased gangster Glen Smith on ‘the street’ and could be seen through the windows. I inserted myself at a table at ‘The Hot Box.’ Just for fun. One of the producers chided me backstage, but I had my fun.
I remember having to run down a list of gangsters I ran into in one scene. Since they weren’t referred to by name in other scenes, I made their names up. One of the gangsters that night was ‘Jersey Mike.’
If you’ve ever been involved in community theatre, or if you’ve ever seen Waiting for Guffman, you know that local theatre can takes itself too seriously. In fact, youth theatre often becomes a contest between Starstruck Moms vicariously living through their children.
But youth theatre gives children and teenagers a taste of drama, comedy, and live performance. A lot of the Stagestruck alumni I know went on to pursue dramatic arts or music. I probably would not have majored in Communications with a concentration in Performance were it not for the Paramount Theatre.
All in all, rehearsals and performances, I probably spent six months of my life in that building.
One day, Goldsboro will have its encore performance.
Wake Forest plays at Duke tomorrow night at 6:30 on Fox Sports Net. Who do Carolina fans pull for?
Normally it's an easy decision. Anybody but Duke. Anybody. There's no question. But Carolina needs Wake Forest to lose.
Both the Heels and the Deacs are at 10-2 in conference, tied for first. But, Wake gets the tie-breaker by virtue of beating the Tar Heels in their only meeting. Thanks to no round-robin, the Heels don't get another shot at Wake during the regular season.
So the Deacons must have at least one more loss in conference for the Heels to beat them out in the final standings.
After Sunday, the Deacs have games at home against Virginia and Georgia Tech, and on the road at N.C. State. None of those teams jump out as spoilers, though anything can happen.
So, back to my original question? Who do we pull for? Either way, we win, and either way, we lose. Wake Forest loses, the Heels go to first place, but Duke has won. Wake wins, we stay tied (for now), but Duke has lost.
I'm hoping the Hoos, Jackets, or Pack can topple the Deacons, but not counting on it.
About what was expected. The 32-point drubbing was not pretty for the Tigers. I really didn't enjoy watching it as much as I wanted to, just because of the respect I have for Oliver Purnell. I know he wants to build a solid program in Clemson, and he's got some talented young players that will get it together in time.
One good thing about the Tar Heels' attack was the balanced scoring. Four in double-figures, Jackie with 9 and Rashad with 9 under less-than-ideal conditions. Hope his stomach feels better. It won't if he listens to Musburger's commentary. Boo on that guy.
HeelsBlog Player of the game is Marvin Williams. 14 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal in 16 minutes. Sean was golden as usual today, but Marvin's steal came while he ran across the state of North Carolina while the ball was in mid-air and got a lay-up.
Other points of note: HeelsBlogGirl found out she got into grad school at UNC today! Congratulations!
I am so tired of hearing that we've beaten Clemson 50 times in a row at home. But it continues today.
HeelsBlog is a fan of OP, but he needs time to get his talent and implement his system. In 2-3 years, Clemson will become a player for 4-6th place in the ACC. Mark it down.
Tar Heels by 31. If Clemson still had Chris Hobbs, it'd only be 28.
Untouchable (practically forever): K, Roy Williams, Gary Williams, Skip Prosser, Paul Hewitt
Safe for now: Leonard Hamilton, Seth Greenberg, Frank Haith, Oliver Purnell – All these guys are either new to the ACC or new to their schools, or doing a good job with the talent they have now (Hamilton). Purnell is a great guy and I am pulling for him. Greenberg and Haith have done terrific jobs this season.
Very hot: Herb Sendek – In the case of both he and Gillen, in the games against the Heels so far at least, I really felt like the teams under these men weren’t playing to win, but playing not to lose badly. That’s no way to succeed.
Gone: Pete Gillen. – I really feel sorry for the guy. He’s coaching for his career this year. But going to the school you left and losing by over 20 is just sad. UVA can’t open their new arena with PG at the helm. I wish him the best.
I’ve started a fantasy racing league on Yahoo for HeelsBlog readers. Go to http://racing.fantasysports.yahoo.com. Click Join Private Group. The Group ID # is 35619. Password is ‘ourboyroy’ for the group. It’s first-come, first-serve.
Basically how it works is you pick drivers in 3 categories each week before qualifying: A, B, and C. You pick 2 A Drivers, 4 B, and 2 C. Then, after qualifying, you select 1 A and C Driver and 2 B. You get points for qualifying, laps led, and finish. You can only select a driver 9 times during the season.
I enjoy it because it makes NASCAR more interesting. I know this isn’t Heels news but this is North Carolina, in case you didn’t know. Join up!
The HeelsBlog player of the game award is not a Most Valuable Player award. It’s an award that goes to the player who makes the most of his minutes and plays well within himself. It also goes to the player that steps somewhat out of his role as us fans define it.
Last night, that award goes to Melvin Scott and Sean May. Melvin made some nice moves, had 6 points, 4 rebounds, and an assist. A great spin move for a layup that should be all over the highlight films.
Sean had another huge game. He’s a beast right now, and one of the best big men in the country. Bottom line.
Shot of the game goes to ….. Quentin Thomas. Because, it was the shot of his season. He was wide open, and he’s been hesitant to put the ball up all season. That 3 was a true highlight for a kid most fans don’t give any credit to.
Also spoke to Cameron Sexton before the game outside the Smith Center last night. Very friendly and we’re excited he’s a Tar Heel. Told him we’d be at the spring game if we weren’t at the Final Four in St. Louis. He laughed and said he hoped we’d be in St. Louis, but if not, definitely at the Spring Game. Check out the football Heels on April 2.
