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No crying on the bubble

From Tuesday's Dispatch

Usually, the day after selection Sunday, I have great sympathy for some team whose bubble got busted when the NCAA Tournament bracket was released.
Today, not so much.
In a year that cries out for a smaller-than-65-team tourna­ment field, I'm amazed the selection committee could find enough decent teams to fill out the at-large spots.
But just because I don't think anyone out there has a case doesn't mean there isn't a certain amount of whining go­ing on.
So let's break down the pretend­ers before getting into the teams that actually got on the dance floor.
Arizona State is the team that most pundits are stump­ing for, and I understand the argument. The Sun Devils beat Xavier, Stanford and Wash­ington State while sweeping Arizona and finishing ahead of Oregon in the Pac-10.
And they got absolutely jobbed in the Pac-10 Tourna­ment on a phantom over-the­back call.
But aside from his obligatory complaint about being left out, Coach Herb Sendek himself spelled out why his team was sent to the NIT.
It was all about schedule.
Want to get in? Don't lose to Illinois and Nebraska by double digits. Don't sign up to play Cal Poly, Florida Gulf Coast and Montana State.
Truth be told, the Sun Devils weren't expected to be any good this year, and scheduled ac­cordingly. Next year, especially if James Harden doesn't leave early, they'll be in with a bullet.
Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenburg is crying the blues about his Hokies getting left out, but if he really wants someone to blame for his team's exclusion, he should pause the next time he passes a mirror.
He scheduled four teams with RPI numbers higher than 200. His team lost to Penn State, Old Dominion and Rich­mond. Virginia Tech managed to beat one tournament team all season, and that was Miami in the ACC Tournament.
Sorry, but that just doesn't cut it.
Dayton and Illinois State?
Please. Beat somebody, then call me.
There are some quality games on tap for this year's edition of March Madness, however.
I think Miami/St. Mary's, Washington State/Winthrop and Clemson/Villanova could be fun to watch.
Looking for upsets? I like Davidson over Gonzaga in Charlotte, St. Joseph's over Oklahoma and Baylor to knock off Purdue.
Final four picks? I'll take North Carolina, Georgetown, Texas and UCLA. Carolina will get its revenge on the Hoyas in one semifinal game while UCLA will avenge an earlier loss to the Longhorns.
I'm no fan of UCLA, but it's hard to bet against a team that plays lock-down defense, has great guards and a big man inside to clean the boards as a potential national champion.
Check, check and check.
I'll take the Bruins over Carolina in a physical contest.
Let the madness begin.

Well worth a splinter

From Tuesday's paper...

DURHAM - Visit Cameron Indoor Stadium for a Duke/Carolina game. Check
Another item went tumbling off my sports fan to-do list Saturday night as I took in the 225th meeting between the Tobacco Road rivals.
Yeah, it was cool.
I parked my car at least a half-mile from the venue, giving me the chance to walk across a lovely campus while wishing I had brought a heavier coat and a lighter computer bag.
I rounded a corner and found myself in Krzyzewskiville, the tent village outside Cameron where students sleep in order to gain entry for games.
I’ve seen pictures of what Woodstock was like the day after, and Krzyzewskiville had a similar look. I’m sure it eventually got cleaned up, but let’s just say the folks at the Sierra Club would not have been happy with the state of affairs an hour before game time.
Having successfully navigated my way past the throng of face-painted future doctors and lawyers and into the front door, I carefully walked towards the floor.
Care was required because every so often, they’d let in a new group of Cameron Crazies that would come running in the door, around the concession stand and up into the bleachers.
Ah yes, the bleachers. There’s good news and bad news about covering Duke games. The good news is that, as a member of the working media, your seat is literally right on the floor.
The view is the best around. Of course, the bad news is that you’re six inches from the student section. When they jump, you feel it. When they cheer, it rings in your ears. And when they over-enunciate a D or S sound, you wish you wore a hat. Or brought an umbrella.
I had heard that you have to climb over the table to get in your seat, but I didn’t believe it until I found my assigned seat – across from the Duke bench - wedged in between folks from Rocky Mount, Danville (Va.) and a throng of Crazies.
They clearly knew way more about the climb-over than I did, holding my bag and keeping the chair out as I risked splinters sliding over the table.
I was so absorbed with the students and getting into my seat that I hadn’t really looked around until I got into my seat.
It was amazing how many people were crammed into that building. And all of them, it seemed, had a courtside seat. It’s easy to see why Duke has such a good home record. There’s no way for most players to not be at least a little intimidated while surrounded by a sea of dark blue.
Now, let’s clear up a myth or two about Duke fans. Even though the title of the cheer sheet, passed out to the Crazies before game time, was “Go to Hell Carolina,” I think I heard one fan use profanity one time.
Perhaps this line on the sheet was well heeded, “Keep cheers clever, witty and classy. If you want to use profanity, go to Maryland.”
There was a moment of silence before tip-off to honor the memory of Eve Carson, the UNC student body president who was shot and killed last week. The only, and I mean only, sound was the clicking of cameras from press row. It was a nice gesture, well done by the fans in attendance.
The ball went up, and the fans were in full throat. You’ve seen the deal where they hold out their right arm, shake their hand and yell, “oooohhhh.” It looks different from underneath the canopy of arms – a little like sitting under a loud, blue tree.
According to the cheer sheet, Peyton and Eli Manning were on hand as guests of new Duke football coach David Cutcliffe, who coached them both in college at Tennessee and Mississippi.
I finally spotted them sitting under the basket closest to the Duke bench. Eli looked happy, like a guy getting fitted for a Super Bowl ring should, while Peyton looked a little bored. I guess crowds are nothing new for him.
At least nobody yelled, “Cut that meat.”
It was a wild scene. Former Duke player and current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas surfed across the floor, on top of rolling Duke students as the band played “Wipeout.” ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews attracted lots of attention from fans and reporters alike, which I suspect is true in most places the four-letter visits.
I even saw Dick Vitale, way up in the rafters, calling the game. It’s a good thing they have monitors, because my seat was way better than his.
Halftime arrived and, in one motion, reporters hopped the table to head for the pressroom. Well, almost one motion, since I didn’t get the memo.
I ran into Mike Sosna, our ACC columnist, in the pressroom. I said, “Wow, that was awesome.” His response was, “yeah, I know,” before telling me what he was writing for the ACC Tournament next week.
Maybe it gets old after a while. I just don’t see how.

Regional fever

Southern Vance, once 0-5 and looking very ordinary, knocked off previously unbeaten Graham Friday night, 79-69, to earn a spot at the Regionals next Friday night.

Not to be outdone, Northern Vance wiped out a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to take down Rocky Mount, 76-73, in overtime.

Wow, next week is going to be fun...

Kids rock

From Tuesday's Dispatch...

I’m a cynic by nature, so it’s always a pleasant surprise for me when I find something that restores my faith in my fellow man.
And it’s even better when there are kids involved.
I delivered a speech at L.B. Yancey Friday on the importance of writing, a feat that produced two unexpected outcomes.
First, considering that I had been fighting a cold all week, the fact that I was able to stand up there and function for 10 minutes was a bit shocking. Then, instead of the boredom I was sure I’d cause, I got a room full of – dare I say it – interested students.
I rambled on for a few minutes, and then opened it up for questions. Very good ones, as it turned out. I have no doubt that one day; somebody in that cafeteria will be coming after my job.
Good thing I didn’t reveal all my secrets.
Seriously, I had a great time. Go Bulldogs.
This is still a sports column; so let’s hit a few high notes.

Seeds of discontent

I could write a whole piece on the oddity that is private school sports, but I need some help here. How is it exactly that the only team in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1A boys’ basketball ranks, 21-0 Norlina Christian, ended up with an eight seed?
The schools slotted ahead of them combined for 50 losses, including the seven seed, Gaston Day, which currently sits at 12-15. What’s the big deal, you ask?
Well, after a home game tonight with Hobgood Academy, the Crusaders run smack into Word of God, the team with one of the nation’s top juniors, guard John Wall, at the helm.
Seems somebody on that seeding committee doesn’t care for the ‘Saders too much.

Vikings get top billing

A lot of people I know in this business don’t think as I do when it comes to voting in polls. Some folks rank their schools near the top whether they deserve it or not.
Me, I make the home teams earn that distinction.
So, after weeks of denying them my top vote in 3A, I gave it back to Northern Vance in the last regular season NCPreps.com High School Basketball Poll.
No pressure guys.

ACC for me

I’m tired of hearing about how great the Pac-10 is and how the ACC should only have four tournament teams. I watched UCLA and USC stink up the court last night in a game that set offensive basketball back about 40 years. What a yawner.
This was, of course, the nightcap of a Fox Sports Net twin bill that had Wake Forest stunning Duke in a much more entertaining, up-and-down thriller.
These two games side-by-side provide the perfect illustration as to why the best basketball in the land can be found right here in the good ‘ol Atlantic Coast Conference.
Then again, maybe you like watching O.J. Mayo turn the ball over 10 times in a game?

0-52 — Time to ask for charity

From Sunday's Dispatch...

Usually, I have the utmost respect for the University of North Carolina and its basketball program. I’ve always admired Roy Williams and the Dean Smith Center is a great place to watch a college basketball game.
But for the next 24 hours, I have malice in my heart for all things Carolina blue.
I’m hoping for a gray sky today, just to avoid the hated hue. I’m hoping for a miracle — something that has never happened in 82 years or 52 tries.
What I’d really like today is to see Clemson leave Chapel Hill with a win.
My childhood team is 0-52 in the city limits of Chapel Hill. The Tigers are 0-21 in the Dean Dome and 0-32 in Carmichael Auditorium.
It’s sad, really. Remember when the Tar Heels shocked the college basketball world in the ‘01-’02 season by going 8-20? One of those wins was a 96-78 snoozer over Clemson on Feb 27, 2002.
Only seven of those 52 losses were decided by less than 10 points, including one-point losses in 1936 and 1974.
Clemson’s overall record against Carolina isn’t much better (19-119), and Clemson’s 34-18-1 football record against the sky blues doesn’t make me feel any better.
You would think that sometime over the last eight decades that the Tigers would have lucked out and won a game. But no, since 1926 the price of gas has gone from a penny per gallon to a rate 300 times that high and Clemson can’t win in Chapel Hill.
The Washington Generals won six games out of more than 13,000 against the Globetrotters in the years they’ve played, yet no Tar Heel has ever walked back to his dorm after losing a home game to Clemson.
There have been two World Wars, 14 presidents, seven popes, three ACC expansions and five generations of Capps men. And still, Clemson hasn’t found a way to knock off North Carolina in a game of basketball in Chapel Hill.
Is it Franklin Street? Maybe it’s the traffic on N.C. 15/501. Or perhaps its the fact that Clemson is a football school while the University of North Carolina is one of the elite programs in college basketball history?
It defies logic. It doesn’t make sense for the same two teams that share a conference to play 52 times and have the same result each time out. Surely, the law of averages would have to come into play somewhere, right?
This time around, Clemson can take comfort in the fact that it took Carolina to overtime earlier this season and only an on-fire night from Wayne Ellington saved the Tar Heels from losing in Littlejohn Coliseum. Maybe the Tigers can hope that jet-quick Tar Heel point guard Ty Lawson is still hobbled by a sore ankle.
Or maybe it’ll snow a foot, forcing a postponement of tonight’s game.
I’d love to boldly predict a Clemson victory, throwing caution to the wind and getting squarely behind the underdog. But it is written that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
I honestly believe that someday, while I’m still vertical, the stars will align and the boys from Tiger town will finally leave Chapel Hill with a victory. I also believe that it probably won’t happen today.
And it’s OK. I have a lifetime’s worth of experience with the pain of Tiger setbacks on the hill. Whether it was watching call after call go against Clemson as Carolina went to the foul line 59 times in a January game in 1998 or hiding my face as Rashad McCants torched the Tigers in a two-point loss in 2003, I know the misery of being a Clemson fan on these dark days.
Would it be too much to ask for just one win in the Dean Dome? You guys have four NCAA titles and 1,935 all-time wins. Can’t you spare one, tiny loss to your friendly neighbors to the south?
Heck, even Duke has been nice enough to let us win four games in Cameron Indoor Stadium. You don’t want the Blue Devils to be more charitable than you are, do you?
On Monday, I’ll go back to be a balanced, impartial observer of the ACC basketball scene. But today, I’ll do my duty and watch Clemson take loss No. 53 in Chapel Hill.
We’ll likely lose, but at least we’ll take it well. After all, we have loads of practice.

Contact the writer at
rcapps@hendersondispatch.com.

Super Bowl prognostication

It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times.
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, which means two things: It’s the most important and last meaningful game until Labor Day. And no, the Pro Bowl doesn’t count.
We had a Southern Vance student, Cameron Driver, in-house the other day for job shadowing, and I’m proud to report that he at least learned who would be playing in today’s game in his brief stay here on Chestnut Street.
Apparently, playing five sports while maintaining good grades eliminates the time necessary to closely monitor the National Football League.
That’s where I come in. That’s right, after watching two weeks worth of talking heads, reporters in wedding dresses, Giant guarantees, Brady’s boot and Hall of Fame hopefuls it’s finally time for some football.
Here’s hoping for a game that’s still in the balance after Tom Petty hobbles out on stage for the halftime show.
These two teams matched up a few weeks ago in the regular-season finale, and with the perfection-seeking Patriots installed as a 14-point favorite, the Giants actually led by 12 in the second half before finally falling, 38-35.
So, is there hope for this game to be close? New England, hoping to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history, is a 12-point favorite out in Glendale today. In 12 other Super Bowl games that featured a double-digit spread, the favorite is 6-5-1 against the number.
Not that we condone gambling or anything.
I’ve been all over the place on this one. I woke up Monday morning convinced that Tom Brady and the Pats will roll through Big Blue like Lindsay Lohan through rehab stints. On Tuesday, I told my dad I was leaning that way. On Wednesday, I read an old story about Joe Namath and his famous guarantee before Super Bowl III when the Jets were 17-point underdogs, and it got me thinking. Miracles can happen.
Then, on Thursday, Brandon Lang — the real handicapper on which the movie “Two for the Money” was based — picked the G-men to cover the number. He’s a genius — a staggering 15-0-2 in picking the Super Bowl in the last 17 years. I’d ask Petty, but he says he’s “for everybody.”
Thanks, Tom.
So, as I sit here now, I’m tempted to play it safe.
Brady’s one of the best big-game quarterbacks in the NFL’s history, Randy Moss had a monster season, Wes Welker catches bullets with his teeth and the defense always makes enough plays in the clutch.
And while the Giants have been smoking hot, I wonder if it can keep up. Eli Manning has been channeling his big brother, Plaxico Burress has been unreal and the defense has been even better than we all thought.
It’s hard to deny the magnitude of New York’s wins over Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay — all on the road — in the run-up to today’s game. I thought they’d lose in Dallas. I was sure they were going to freeze up on the tundra.
Today, who knows.
But while I’m a long way from a Miami pool side in 1967, I’m feeling a little like Joe Willie.
I say the fairy tale rolls on in the desert. Maybe Brady’s ankle gets a little tweak in the first quarter — or he elopes with that cute reporter that asked for his hand in marriage earlier this week. Maybe Randy Moss runs over a crossing guard on the way to the stadium. Maybe Bill Belichick can’t find a warm-weather hoodie and stays sequestered in his hotel room.
Perhaps Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison skip the game for the early-bird seniors’ discount at Denny’s. You just never know.
So, I’m thinking Brandon Jacobs — the bruising running back for the Giants — has the game of his life and becomes the next in a long line of unlikely Super Bowl MVPs.
I’m taking the Giants in a tight one.
Happy viewing, everyone. Now, pass the chili-cheese dip.

Contact the writer at rcapps@hendersondispatch.com.