Tagged: Raleigh RSS

  • shwineka 12:28 pm on June 11, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , ACC Sunday Night Hoops, Austin American Statesman, Baylor, , , , , expansion, K-State, , , , , Pacific, Raleigh, , , Tar Heel Fan, , Texas A&M, ,   

    Taking the offensive: the ACC Superconference 

    With all the hullabaloo over conference expansion going on in the Midwest, I was happy to see that the ACC and North Carolina were going largely unaffected. I like the current setup. Although I wish that UNC were guaranteed more games against perennial league contenders like Wake Forest every year, the competition is good for ACC teams’ RPI and the conference is well respected for its basketball.

    Apparently though there has been talk of hitting us right where it hurts, namely right at us – UNC that is.

    Tar Heel Fan pointed out this SEC wish list in the Austin American Statesman (via WRAL) and I find it quite disturbing. The SEC, pioneers of the 12-team conference and not wanting to be left behind the Pac-whatever-it-is-now, could be eying expansion and targeting UNC and Duke. This, according to THF would be a boon to their basketball prestige giving them three of arguably (well, arguably as far as Duke and Kentucky :-) ) the best teams in college basketball history in the same conference.  It would also look to boost its football stature by adding powerhouse Texas and it’s little brother Texas A&M (not to mention Butch’s boys in blue).

    THF pointed out that the Charlotte and Raleigh markets – let alone football crazed Texas – are nothing to sniff at, both coming in the Top 30 in the nation, so that could play a factor as well.

    Well, that’s all well and good, but rather than sitting on our Atlantic Coast cabooses, why don’t we take the offensive and spawn a superconference of our own?

    The Pac-10 has been courting with Texas as well, though I’m not sure what exactly is Pacific about Texas. Using that logic, Kansas, K-State, Baylor and Missouri seem ripe to come to the Atlantic Coast Conference to me.  The ACC’s basketball pedigree would instantly skyrocket. In the last coaches poll of 2010, taken after the tournament,  Kansas (6), K-State (7) and Baylor(10) were all in the Top 10, while Missouri received some votes for the Top 25.

    With that addition, no one could argue that the Big East was the best basketball conference any more, though we at the Rafters know that has never been true, and the spark in competition would make ACC games the must watch affair any night of the week. Forget ACC Sunday Night Hoops. How about the ACC Nightly Knockdown, Drag-out Brawl?

    Now I’m sure Roy Williams wouldn’t be too keen on the idea of his other love, Kansas, joining the conference, but as much as I love Roy I don’t think his personal preference would have much say in the grand scheme of things.

    If other conferences are licking their chops at some of the pillars of our conference, we should be looking around as well. Like I said, I’m happy with the current situation, but to let it fall below its current status would be a travesty, and we should think offensively.

     

    • kikus 9:40 pm on June 12, 2010 Permalink

      может у кого нить есть ещё информация по этому поводу??

  • shwineka 5:28 pm on January 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , Raleigh, , , ,   

    Guess Who’s Back? 

    (photos by Ethan Hyman of the N&O)

    Well, Ed Davis was back first of all, but more so, it was Carolina. I guess Roy makes a mean bologna sandwich, because last night the young Heels won on the road and had to come back in the second half, no less.

    Mimicking the formula of  UNC teams in recent years, the Heels went back and forth with a feisty over-performing opponent in the first half, and then pulled away to a double digit win. It’s both a blessing and a curse that UNC seems to get every team’s best shot. A curse for obvious reasons, and a blessing because of the past achievements that merit every team’s best shot.

    This far in the season we’ve seen more of the curse part.

    But not in Raleigh last night. The boys didn’t rattle at the raucous crowd, and I’m sure it was loud in there. As I’ve said before, it’s the sole purpose in a State fan’s life to beat Carolina.

    So sorry to disappoint.

    The point is things are looking up if the Heels continue to play at this speed. From Deon Thompson’s slick power-step-to-jam drive to John Henson’s weak-side blocks, things were just clicking. I wanted to say the block party had returned, but it was actually only Henson doing any blocking in his seven minutes of PT. Oh, don’t worry, I’ll repeat that stat below.

    Takeaways

    • The bench is getting shorter. All five starters played 28 minutes or more last night, and only Dexter Strickland and Travis Wear got double digit minutes off the bench.
    • Emergence of John Henson? Henson looked good in his limited time on the floor. He notched 2 pts, 2 rebs and 3 blocks. It’s nice watching this guy develop throughout the season. (I’m talking about his skills obviously —  kid is a beanpole.)
    • D-FENCE. UNC held NCSU scoreless for an 8-minute stretch in the second half. They did it lots of ways, too, whether it was Henson’s blocks or even Thompson creating steals at mid-court.
    • Good shots. UNC has been crushing the field-goal percentage category, including from three. Last night they shot 50.9% from the floor, 42.6% from downtown. Now if they’d only work on that 59.1% from the line.

    Superlatives

    • Blockmeister – Well, the only guy who got any blocks, John Henson. But especially for his two in one defensive possession.
    • Move that made you go “OHHHHH!” - Deon Thompson for that sick drive into jam. I will try to find some video of this, or make my own. I got DVR!
    • Not superstitious, just a little stitious – Roy Williams. Roy might think that talking about his ties makes us dadgum idiots, but did you see him wearing any stripes last night? All I’m saying is that our analysis shows us to be 0-3 in the ACC when he does. Just saying.
     

  • shwineka 12:04 pm on January 6, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , Arizona, Auburn, , , , Cleveland State, , , , , Georgia, , , Harvard, , Maine, , Marquette, , , , , , Northern Iowa, , , Power Rankings, Raleigh, , , 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.”


     

  • shwineka 2:34 pm on December 17, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , chapel hell, , cry-o-whine-a, , , , , , , pastel pansies, Raleigh, rival, Rivalry, Tar Heel, Tar Hole, , , UNC > Duke, UNX   

    Never Argue with a State Fan 

    The other day I did something that I have done before, but regret every time.

    Now, before your mind starts wandering, I’ll just tell you. I commented on an online message board that was mostly an argument between UNC and NC State fans.

    Now these types of things don’t keep me up at night. I don’t suddenly think about the perfect comeback I should have used, or a relevant fact I forgot to point out indicating that Carolina is superior – which it is.

    No, when I post on these message boards it just frustrates me because I can’t believe I spent valuable time posting on them. I try to take a high-level approach. I try to just state something I’m confident about. Perhaps something like, “Yeah, UNC lost to State this year in football, but we beat Va. Tech and Miami and are heading to a bowl game. I’m OK with that.”

    Here’s where the trouble starts.

    Sure I said I’m “OK” with losing to State if UNC has a good season. Sure some might even take that as a Tar Heel admitting that yeah, UNC lost to State and that sucks, but hey I’m a fan and glad that UNC had a good season.

    No, no, no, sir. These are NC State fans we’re talking about.

    I have entered myself into their arena. I have been thrown to the wolves — pun intended. I have subjected myself to the rantings of fans whose sole purpose in life is to rebuke me, no matter how indifferent I am to their irrelevant school in West Raleigh.

    I let them know this, of course, already hating myself for continuing this charade. I don’t really care if they think they’re our rival. I really don’t.  But for some reason I find the need to say something to the effect of “You are not our rival. Duke is.”

    This is probably the single worst thing you can say to a State fan.

    That’s when the name calling starts. I think the average N.C. State fan tries to come up with a new nickname for UNC every day. I’ve heard many: Pastel Pansies, Cry-o-whine- uh,  UNX (which I’ve only seen online and am still not sure what it means), Chapel Hell and my personal (and most State fans’) favorite, the Tar Holes. They’ll also send you pictures like this:

    I’m sure an NCSU student somewhere happily spent hours on that picture.

    Anyway at this point, the State fans are in defense mode in regards to why they are UNC’s true rival, and you will not hear any coherent argument, just their tried and yet untrue platform. Yeah, we’re both public schools, and yeah, both schools have mostly in-state students. But no, you are not our rival. You will never be our rival. There is a sacred rivalry on Tobacco Road, and the road leads to Durham.

    They will not understand this. They’ll call you classless, though Dean Smith wrote the book on class. They’ll call you dumb, when many UNC freshmen also got into State and chose otherwise, as the joke goes. They’ll even insist that their gross, blocky, modern-looking bell tower is prettier than yours.

    But mostly, they’ll say that they are your rival. It’s at this point that I once again realize the terrible mistake I’ve made by joining the discussion and go about my business doing something else.

    I’ll check the board again to see what the State fans are saying about the Tar Hole who mysteriously stopped commenting on the message board.

    “He’s a pastel pansy! He went to cry-o-whine-a to his mommy!”

    Then I glance over all my “Beat Dook!”  and “UNC > Duke” and “Duke Sucks!” memorabilia, and I get this warm sensation.

    I’ll sleep well tonight.

     

    • lulu 4:05 pm on December 18, 2009 Permalink

      laughed til I let out a long wolf howl—–had to stop so my voice could “heel” over before the next UNC/Duke game -Go Heels.

    • DFlair 4:06 pm on January 5, 2010 Permalink

      The best part about UNC-Raleigh’s bell tower, if I remember correctly, is that it doesn’t have bells in it. Due an inability to raise the neccessary funds over the last 50 years to purchase some bells, state resorted to installing a stereo at the top to make bell sounds. If this isn’t the best way to describe this institution I’m not sure what is. Build a large, imposing structure from the outside but forget to give it a heart.

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