How old do you have to be to play with matches?

My wife Amy our boys and I went to Elizabeth City for the weekend. It was good visit. The ride back became most interesting.
On our way back we were slowed by fire. Yes we got to see first hand what the “brush” fires did in North Carolina. Not one, two or even three of these fires but four seperate ones! The four does not include the smoke on the horizon we saw from others. According to the NC Forestry Service, North Carolina saw over 300 fires Sunday into Monday with more than 3,000 acres charred in the progress. Even more dumbfounding is this, over 40% of the fires are believed to have started with someone burning debris (trash leaves etc)
Now I will admit that I am not the brightest bulb on the tree so to speak, but it seems as though with winds gusting to 60 mph and a Red Flag warning early yesterday morning that it would be pretty easy to realize that it was not a great day for burning. I hope that there is some type of discipline handed out so that the next time there is a wind storm coming through North Carolina all these guys and their buddies will think twice before pulling out their lighter.

5 things I learned from last night’s game

After watching the Duke/UNC game, here are some things I learned (or at least confirmed) last night.
In no particular order they are
1. Yes Ty Lawson would have made a difference. I am not saying that UNC would have won and truly neither can Tarheel fans, but to say it would have made no impact is crazy.
2. Tyler Hansborough is as good a big man as there is in college basketball. Again, not a big fan, but after watching him tear Duke apart last night, why is he not gettng more hype?
3. Duke has no inside game. This scares me if we run up with a team dedicated to getting the ball in the paint. When Carolina lead or made their runs, it was when they pounded it to #50. I do not understand why they went away from it but when they did it sure changed the flow of the game for them.
4. Carolina has no perimeter defense. There were times last night Duke’s shooters could have been mistaken to be at a shoot around instead of an actual game. This really suprises me as well since again Duke did not give them anything inside to clamp down on.
5. Even with the lack of a big man inside Duke may be the best defensive team in the nation. The on the ball pressure is second to none and K’s boys no how to play help defense.

One question remaining to be answered….. Did the officials read my blog before the game? They actually let them play for a while last night!

Send’em back to Footlocker

Saturday afternoon my son Cameron, one of my best friends Michael Oldham, and I went to Cameron Indoor for the Duke vs. Miami game. After watching the game in person, I am convinced of one thing, the officiating in the ACC is the worst I have ever seen it.
During this particular game I saw Paulus get leveled by an elbow to the nose and Lance Thomas practically knock a guy down from behind with no whistle, yet there were “fantom” calls both ways in which it seemed as though no one was touched and the whistles blew.
I am a Duke fan but I love ACC basketball. This year I have seen games called so tight that if a guy drunk to much water he might get a technical yet other games where there was more hitting than a heavyweight championship with no call. Where did these refs come from? If they can’t call it consistent send the stripes back to Footlocker.
It is obvious that this yeariis and will continue to be a year where anybody can beat anybody else in the ACC. All I am asking is that the players on the floor get to decide the game instead of the boys in stripes. Call it fair but be consistent. If not maybe try Champs for your next set of game officials.

It’s Coming!

I am very excited. If there is anything I enjoy, it is good food. One look at my “manly” figure will back this up as well. On Saturday The Sanford Herald will publish our first edition of “Dining In & Out.” It is a collection of menus from some of the best restaraunts in the area. If your house (or office) is like mine, somewhere in it is a folder or drawer packed with menus from your favorite places to eat. Come Saturday morning we can clean that out.
As always let me know what you think about our menu guide.

The big one…

So in my first attempt in blogging, I thought I would breakdown what will surely be the one thing that will divide North Carolina more than anything over the next few weeks. Democrat or Republican, Hilary or Obama???? No I am talking about the greatest rivalry in college basketball Duke vs. UNC!
If anything I am a Duke fan but I think (of course we all do) that I can be non biased in looking at this matchup between two top 5 teams.
I ‘ll start with UNC. Certainly there is no doubt that Tyler Hansbrough is statistically the best big man in the conference and one of the top 3(if not the top) in the nation. No I do not like him but stats are stats and his 22 point/10 rebound average backs it up. Throw in Ty Lawson, who may be the quickest point guard in the ACC, and the improving play of Wayne Ellington and there is a dangerous 3 some. Though Carolina can run as well as anyone, I think it would be to their advantage to slow it down. Make Duke play half court and pound it inside to the big guy. It is no secret the best interior player at Duke is……. well…. there is none. yeah I know Zoubek may be back for this game but he is only a big body with 5 fouls. With the size skill and ability Carolina brings inside the paint could be the Tarheels playground.
As far as the Blue Devils go, much has been made of the team play in Durham this year. With 4 players averaging double digits (Demarcus Nelson, Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler, and Jon Scheyer) and 2 others knocking at the door, this may be the most balanced team offensively Duke has seen in a while. Alot of Duke’s success will be based on how well they are shooting from the outside and what type of pressure they can maintain on the Carolina backcourt. In the Maryland win, Duke was able to over come a 50+% field goal percentage by forcing 22 turnovers. While I certainly do not think Lawson and crew will come anywhere close to throwing it away 20 times, constant pressure will be a must for Duke.
I also think that depth could play a factor. As I said before, Duke does not have a real big guy but what they do have is a bench going 8 or 9 deep. Not only is it fresh legs on the floor but it is without a tremendous drop in talent.
Bottom line in this matchup is this. Certainly playing in the Dean Dome is advantge for the Heels but anyone that has watched this matchup knows when the game tips off it is anybody’s ballgame. With two of the best coaches in the country leading the way, it should be a great game to watch!