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  • shwineka 1:44 pm on February 2, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , 3OT, , , Atlantic Coast Conference, Ben, , Boone, , , Charles Widmore, , , , , , , , , , Hugo, Hurley, Jack, Jack Shephard, Jin, John Locke, Juliet, Kate, Locke, Lost, , , , , Oceanic Six, , premiere, Republican Guard, , Ryan Reid, Sawyer, Sayid, Shannon, smoke monster, Sun, , the others, , , ,   

    ACC Power Rankings – LOST Edition!! – Feb. 2, 2010 

    We polled all the Rafters bloggers to see who is looking good in the ACC this week. If you check this poll throughout the season, you’ll notice a certain consistency at the No. 1 position. It’s not our job to tout other teams who might have had a better week than Carolina, it’s our job to tell you why, week after week, UNC is the best team in the conference. If you know a reason why the Heels are No. 1, send it to us at editors@raftersblog.com.

    This week, the Power Rankings take a wrong turn…………and get lost! OK, sorry had to do it. But we at the Rafters could not help but notice some certain consistencies among the the characters of the show “Lost” and the Atlantic Coast Conference teams, particularly at the No. 1 spot. So in honor of the premiere tonight, we bring you the Power Rankings a day early.

    SPOILER ALERT. If you are haven’t seen the show we do reveal some stuff that is a secret early on in the series.

    1. North Carolina (2-4) – Jack: We all know that UNC, much like Jack Shephard on the island, is the de facto leader of the conference. They’ve got skills, and he’s got his doctorate and a knack for saving lives. But there are times when even the most natural leader can go on a downward spiral. After Jack gets rescued from the island, he is happy for a while trying to start a life with Kate, but he falls into a spell of pill abuse and alcoholism, growing a bushy beard. After UNC won the 2009 National Championship, they were on cloud nine. They notched two wins against good teams in Michigan State and Ohio State, then plummeted to lose to Virginia at home by 15. Jack is trying to constantly deal with the high expectations set by his father, in UNC’s case Dean Smith.

    2. Georgia Tech (4-3) – Sun: Sun was in a very unstable marriage at the time of the plane crash. She allowed her husband, Jin, to be overprotective and controlling. Last year GT was in turmoil, being “controlled” by its ACC foes. After some rebuilding of her marriage on the island, Sun becomes a pistol-wielding badass in the most recent season. After some rebuilding, GT has become something of an upstart badass as well.

    3. Duke (5-2)- Locke: Traditionally Jack’s rival, Locke thinks it is his destiny to lead the island (ACC). It seems while on the island, things always seem to go Locke’s way, like the officiating in a Duke game. Locke fears leaving the island because in the real world he is crippled, much like Duke was crippled by Georgetown this past weekend.

    4. Virginia (4-2) – Boone: We thought he was dead for several seasons, but he shows odd signs of life here and there. Rumor has it that he returns this season, which is honestly just annoying.

    5. Maryland (4-2) – Ben: Pure evil. He’s also had his own rivalry with Locke, aside from Jack’s. Ben is a megalomaniac, ahem, Greivis Vasquez. He also thinks it’s his job to lead the island. Fear the smoke monster, Ben, not the turtle.

    6. Virginia Tech (3-3) – Charles Widmore: A frustrated former leader of the Others (conference), Widmore is another one of those who thinks the island is rightfully his, though he just can’t seem to find it. Widmore desperately wants to kill Ben for some reason, as well as everyone else on the island, but his M.O. just seems to be failure.

    7. Wake Forest (4-3) – Sayid: Sayid used to torture people for the Iraqi Republican Guard. Wake Forest similarly tortures people with their defense. And sometimes it takes a realllly long time. Like 3OTs in Roy’s first season.


    8. Clemson (4-4) – Juliet: Juliet comes into Jack’s life (i.e. Dean Dome), gets toyed around with, and eventually discarded. We all know Jack is in love with Kate.


    9. Florida State (4-3) – Hurley: Was lucky enough to be one of the Oceanic Six Seven teams to make it off the island last year and into the tourney, although they lost to Duke in the ACC tournament and had to enter the NCAA’s as an “at LARGE” bid. FSU is expected to perform about as usual this year, not blowing anyone’s minds but not underachieving badly, somewhat of a comic relief in this down year. If only the curse of the numbers will affect #42 Ryan Reid, as karma for his past abuse of UNC players.


    10. Boston College (3-5) – Charlotte: The red(maroon)-head Charlotte shows up with a gun, commanding authority. In the same way BC came into the ACC several years ago, playing physical Big East ball that caught many teams off guard. Later in the show Charlotte dies a slow, painful, delusional death. Yeah, delusional.


    11. N.C. State (2-5) – Sawyer: The quintessential con man, Sawyer is never as he seems. Is he Jack’s rival? Locke’s rival? One thing is certain, and that is he suffers from an inferiority complex to Jack.


    12. Miami (2-5) – Shannon: Shannon depends on others for her success, much like Miami just needs its opponents to have a bad game. She sun tans, taking advantage of the island’s hot climate, while others work hard to maintain survival. She is stubborn and repeatedly insists that she will be rescued, though rescue never comes, and Shannon meets an untimely demise.

     
    • Meredith 1:55 pm on February 2, 2010 Permalink

      This is brilliant, especially Ben/Maryland.

    • Caroline 2:13 pm on February 2, 2010 Permalink

      haha this pure genius. i love it — and all of the analogies are perfect. good job guys

    • lulu 7:58 pm on February 6, 2010 Permalink

      OMG how do your brains even think like that..clever, very clever. I’m going to read it again and again…until I’m no longer LOST>

    • Casey 1:11 pm on March 15, 2010 Permalink

      i’m just now getting around to reading this in full since i just caught up. AMAZING!!!!! i’m so impressed, but a little disappointed by the lack of love you show juliet. although if we’re talking in regards to jack, it’s still spot on. good job!

  • shwineka 2:20 pm on January 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    ACC Power Rankings – Jan. 28, 2010 

    We polled all the Rafters bloggers to see who is looking good in the ACC this week. If you check this poll throughout the season, you’ll notice a certain consistency at the No. 1 position. It’s not our job to tout other teams who might have had a better week than Carolina, it’s our job to tell you why, week after week, UNC is the best team in the conference. If you know a reason why the Heels are No. 1, send it to us at editors@raftersblog.com.

    These rankings are a day late and three teams short, but don’t judge.  You might be surprised to hear that the Tar Heels sit on top of the ACC for the fourth straight week! This week saw UNC fall out of the “national rankings,” but what do those guys know anyway? In light of that fact, we thought it’d be nice for some other teams who don’t get all that national attention to appear in some rankings of their own. So this week’s power rankings will seed the hottest teams in the ACC not ranked in the Top 25. Sorry, Duke, Clemson and Georgia Tech. These rankings are just too sexy for your, umm… ranking.

    1) North Carolina (2-3) – After that convincing win against N.C. State, UNC is once again the hottest team in the conference. True, it’s only a one-game win streak, but we’re going to assume the same team that led that comeback in the second half is who shows up next game.

    2) Maryland (4-1) – Maryland is a team we love to hate, but the fact is they are riding a nice streak right now.

    3) Wake Forest (4-2) – Wake just knocked off previously unbeaten-in-conference Virginia, not to mention that game they played last week against a then-ranked opponent.

    4) Virginia (3-1) - Take away that loss to Wake and this team is on top of the standings. They had won eight straight.

    5) Boston College (3-4) – Much like the Heels, the Eagles are riding a one-game win streak, and they beat a ranked opponent. Out of the basement two weeks in a row.

    6) Virginia Tech (2-2) - Only lost once since falling to the Heels, and it was to a then-ranked opponent, who so happens to be the next team on our list.

    7) Florida State (3-3) – Truth is, there aren’t that many hot teams in the ACC. It might be a stretch to see any of these teams on someone else’s power rankings. FSU hasn’t really put together anything consistent, but gets here because they’ve managed to remain .500 in conference, a tough feat this year considering only four teams have winning records.

    8 ) N.C. State (2-5) - Yeah, the Wolfpack has lost two in a row, but who can blame them for losing to UNC? They beat Duke, but the poor celebration didn’t get them any points — or any other Ws.

    9) Miami (1-5) - After starting the season off well, Miami has only notched one league win, and that was only by one over Wake. Losing four in a row will get you down here, and it looks as if Miami might not be making any moves from this spot soon.

     
  • shwineka 12:08 pm on January 20, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , Benn Wineka, , , , , , , , , grant hill, Hokies, , , , , , , , , , throwback, , UVa, , ,   

    ACC Power Rankings – Uni-edition – Jan. 20, 2010 

    We polled all the Rafters bloggers to see who is looking good in the ACC this week. If you check this poll throughout the season, you’ll notice a certain consistency at the No. 1 position. It’s not our job to tout other teams who might have had a better week than Carolina, it’s our job to tell you why, week after week, UNC is the best team in the conference. If you know a reason why the Heels are No. 1, send it to us at editors@raftersblog.com.

    Our little disclaimer above takes a very literal turn this week, as yet again, the Heels are No. 1!

    You might have been worried that we wouldn’t be able to justify it this time. Wrong. Have a little faith. You can still talk junk to Clemson, even after that 19-point drubbing. They wear purple and orange. Child, please. Here’s a web album of all the inferior unis that attempt to challenge Carolina in the conference.

    1. North Carolina (1-2) – No one can touch the blue set on the road. This is easily the best uniform in the ACC, if not the country. The argyle up the side adds class, and somehow allows UNC to wear a color that could easily be used wrong with style. The white ones ain’t bad either, and then there’s the sick retros — all Jordan brand by the way. We could go on.

    2. Florida State (2-2) – At first glance, you might thing FSU is rockin’ a boring, maroon set with white and gold stripes down the side. But look again, that’s a feather going the length of the jersey and onto the shorts. Nice touch.

    3. Virginia (3-0) - UVa gets a little bump because of their record, but their unis ain’t hurtin. Pretty good meld of classic and contemporary design. For the amount of crap some teams put on uniforms now, this isn’t half bad.

    4. Virginia Tech (1-2) - We love the “Hokies” on the front, even if it is just a castrated turkey, but really hate the not-as-nice-as-Texas’ orange.

    5. Georgia Tech (3-2) - GT is here at No. 5 because they, too, are wearing throwbacks this year. Problem is, they don’t look that much different than their current jerseys. Not to mention these aren’t throwbacks to a championship team, they’re throwbacks to an Elite 8 team.

    6. Wake Forest (2-2) – Lumped in here with Ga. Tech because, well, they wear the same colors, and they’re colors that remind us of an old lady in church.

    7. Boston College (2-3) - BC climbs out of the basement of the rankings this week, not because they have sweet jerseys or a good record, but because there’s nothing to like or dislike about those unis.

    8. N.C. State (1-3) - Now we get to the bottom feeders of the league. State lands at No. 8 because even their own fans dislike their court wear. As Rafters blogger Benn Wineka put it, they’re  ”too bland to even be ‘classic.’”

    9. Miami (1-4) - The ‘Canes have been losing and looking bad while doing it. They rock the epitome of useless stripes down the side of their uniforms. They should take note from their fellow Floridians FSU and accent those jerseys with something less cliche.

    10. Clemson (3-2) - There’s so much potential to use a sweet paw print logo on Clemson’s sets, but instead they decide to waste it by wearing purple and orange. Let it sink in……………..purple…………..and orange.

    11. Maryland (2-1) - Maryland is another with squandered potential. The yellow/black checker from the Maryland state flag could be so cool. It’s almost used well on the home whites, but Benn reminded us that their yellows are unforgivable.

    12. Duke (3-1) - We’ve been waiting to put the Durhamites down here for a while, and this week’s theme provided the perfect opportunity. You remember when Duke had some pretty classic-looking jerseys and the rivalry match-ups with UNC just reeked of tradition?

    Per usual, the Dukies decide to ruin everything. In homage to their “famed” Gothic architecture, they are wearing what looks like a circuit board on their backs this year. And for a while now, they’ve switched the white out of their away blues (like Grant Hill is wearing above) to black, and “accented” that with black shoes. Black shoes, guys, really? Guess they’ve come to embrace their role, which is of course,  pure evil.

     
  • shwineka 10:16 am on January 13, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , ATL, , , , , , , , , , , Richmond, , Seminoles, , , Tallahassee, , , , , , , Xavier   

    ACC Power Rankings – Jan. 12, 2010 

    We polled all the Rafters bloggers to see who is looking good in the ACC this week. If you check this poll throughout the season, you’ll notice a certain consistency at the No. 1 position. It’s not our job to tout other teams who might have had a better week than Carolina, it’s our job to tell you why, week after week, UNC is the best team in the conference. If you know a reason why the Heels are No. 1, send it to us at editors@raftersblog.com

    ACC play kicked off this week and it looks to be a typical conference season full of upsets and nail-biters. One of the hallmarks of the conference has to be the high level of play, and the fact that even at that high level, any team is capable of beating any other team on a given night. N.C. State beat a ranked Fla. State, while Wake Forest and Maryland had to settle things in OT. Oh yeah, Duke lost, too.

    1. North Carolina (1-0) – Sitting pretty and undefeated in the ACC, UNC had a great character-building win on Sunday against Va. Tech. The rest of the week will be a bit tougher against Clemson (tonight) and Ga. Tech (Saturday), who are both ranked — albeit in very different places depending on who you ask. UNC won the battle on the court and the battle of style this week, with Roy Williams outdueling VT’s Seth Greenberg.

    2. Georgia Tech (1-1) – Young team with tons of potential showed the at-the-time-Top-5 Dukies that experience isn’t everything. Tech held preseason conference player of the year Kyle Singler to 2-13 from the field and got some good production from everyone.

    3. Wake Forest (2-1) – Wake can’t seem to end things in regulation, playing three of their last four game into OT. Thing is, they find a way to win if they make it to overtime, beating both Xavier and Richmond before Maryland last night. They lost to Miami in regulation in the midst of that stretch, but they’re feisty, and that gets them to No. 3.

    4. Duke (1-1) – Kyle “Sloth” Singler camp up limp as he and the rest of the Goonies went down in ATL.

    5. Virginia (1-0) – Finally got a good win. 

    6. Clemson (1-1) – Beating BC was ho-hum. It’s going to take a awful lot for Clemson to impress us. And we don’t think that will happen tonight.

    7. Maryland (1-1) - Beat Fla. State, but lost to Wake, and that win over FSU doesn’t look as good after the Seminoles went down to the Wolfpack.

    8. Virginia Tech (0-1) – What can they say? They lost to the best team in the conference.

    9. North Carolina State (1-2) – Yeah, they beat FSU, but it was by one point. To rise in this poll they’ll need some momentum.

    10. Miami (1-1) – Losing to BC must still sting, but that win over Wake is starting to look better and better.

    11. Boston College (1-1) – The maroon-headed step child remains in the basement of the league and goes to bed without supper for a second straight week. We don’t think Clemson is that good, so that one loss almost counts like two, right?

    12. Florida State (1-2) – The biggest fall of the week comes to us from Tallahassee. Falling from No. 2 to No. 12 is no easy task but losses to both Maryland and N.C. State will put you here. Even if you’re technically ranked.

     
  • shwineka 12:04 pm on January 6, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , Arizona, Auburn, , , , Cleveland State, , , , , Georgia, , , Harvard, , Maine, , Marquette, , , , , , Northern Iowa, , , Power Rankings, , , , Seton Hall, South Florida, St. Joseph's, Stanford, , , , , , , , , , , , Wisconsin,   

    ACC Power Rankings – Jan. 6, 2010 

    We polled all the Rafters bloggers to see who is looking good in the ACC this week. If you check this poll throughout the season, you’ll notice a certain consistency at the No. 1 position. It’s not our job to tout other teams who might have had a better week than Carolina, it’s our job to tell you why, week after week, UNC is the best team in the conference.

    In the inaugural edition of the ACC Power Rankings,  we have a couple of teams with a sizable advantage, being that they’ve already played a conference game. Or is that disadvantage? Feel free to discuss.

    1. North Carolina (0-0) – The Heels might have dropped a game to College of Charleston, but their other losses are to the best of the best in the NCAA, with all three being to teams in the Top 5. The CoC loss also came without two starters (Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves), on the road, in overtime and after the Cougars had to hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left just to get to OT. Not too bad for a rebuilding year.

    2. Florida State (1-0) – Already beat a conference foe, and to top it off, it was a ranked conference foe (Ga. Tech).

    3. Duke (1-0) – You could say the same thing about the Dukies as you can about FSU, but as we’ve said before, a victory over Clemson is overrated. Plus they lost their only true road game of the season at Wisconsin, which we all know is the sole reason the ACC lost the Big 10/ACC challenge for the first time EVER. Way to go, Duke.

    4. Wake Forest (1-0) – A pretty decisive win over N.C. State by this young team is a good sign.

    5. Georgia Tech (0-1) – Gritted out their loss to a good FSU team. They are another really young squad who will only get better over the course of the season. We’re overlooking the rivalry loss to Georgia. 

    6. Clemson (0-1) – Only this high because they’ve played an ACC game already. Still not sold on Clemson without their outside shooters from last year. As despicable as Terrence Oglesby was, he was still a pretty good, yet awkward shot. Trevor Booker is good, but he can’t carry them.

    7. Virginia (0-0) – Nice wins over Cleveland State and UAB coupled with three losses by a combined nine points says this team is going to be frustrating for its fans. Those three losses (Penn State, Auburn and Stanford) are all to teams who are more or less evenly matched with Virginia. They also have a more lopsided loss to South Florida.  UVA might slide from this spot, but right now we’re going to give them a nod as a team whose “almost clicking.”

    8. Virginia Tech (0-0) – Wins over Penn State and Seton Hall look OK, but are they good enough for a NCAA berth? Not so sure. 

    9. Miami (0-1) – Losing to Boston College was miserable, but it was a one-point game on the road in conference. They can come back.

    10. North Carolina State (0-1) – The Wolfpack has had some tough losses already this season, including a heartbreaker Sunday night against Florida and a two-point loss to Arizona. They do have a win over Marquette, but the losses to the dismal SEC and Pac – 10 tells us that things might not be looking up in Raleigh just yet.

    11. Maryland (0-0) - That was a nice game against William & Mary, eh? I’m just elated the bar I was in would only play your pathetic excuse for a game while the Heels were destroying Albany. Have to admit though, seeing Greivis Vasquez go down is almost as much fun as imitating Jon Scheyer, which I did during many times during that night of drinking. UMD has also lost all the games they needed to win to make a statement pre-conference with their best win coming against a down-year Indiana squad.

    12. Boston College (1-0) – Why rank a team who has actually won a conference game this low? Five reasons: St. Joseph’s, Northern Iowa, Harvard (AGAIN!), Rhode Island and Maine. And as one Rafters blogger put it, “they are just the maroon-headed step child of the ACC.”


     
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