05/04/09 There do seem to be a fair amount of problems besetting the Republic these days. From the recession to foreign wars to the death throes of the domestic automobile industry to the media’s Captain Trips scare, any and every venture into the various communication realms devoted to presenting what passes for ‘news’ these days [...]

So much for Destiny’s Darlings. The media-contrived efforts to turn a Michigan State team that won 26 games and the Big 11 title into some sort of Cinderella fighting for oppressed automobile workers everywhere lasted until Thompson’s first shot seconds into the game. The glass slipper was too small in the Heel. Carolina treated the [...]

Okay, let’s see a show of hands. When you filled out your NCAA brackets, how many picked Villanova and Michigan State in the Final Four? Anybody? I see a couple of hands, but not many. I was breezing along, having a pretty good tournament. Sure, I had made a couple of mistakes, such as vastly [...]

It was not exactly the stuff of Little Johnny’s tournament dreams. Of the seven ACC teams that marched off to do battle in the NCAA Tournament, four were home after their first game, while a fifth was bounced in its second. To add insult to injury, both of the league’s NIT entrants were gone by [...]

As usually happens this time of year, the NCAA has decided to conduct a basketball tournament. Once again, that august body’s Selection Committee closeted themselves in a luxury hotel, not emerging until they had thoroughly screened and vetted both the potential teams and room service options. We have the Final Sixty-Five. The NCAA Tournament will [...]

Florida State President T. K. Wetherell pronounced that he was “confused” over NCAA interpretations of penalties due from FSU’s latest scandal, this one involving academics. The NCAA had placed Florida State on probation due to the cheating scandal involving 61 Noles in 10 sports. Wetherell’s ‘confusion’ stemmed from the NCAA ordering the school to vacate [...]

The games dwindle down to a precious few. The exhibition portion of the basketball season is about to end. Teams continue to jostle for positions and seedings in what the media folks continue to assure us is the only reason to even play basketball, the NCAA Tournament. Cries of ‘We’re Number 66′ are not considered [...]

Spending a weekend snacking on ACC basketball enabled one to enjoy all sorts of tasty morsels. NC State encountered little more difficulty in taking Atlanta than did Sherman. There was something found in Hooville rarer than cheap wine. And there was another problem from Seth’s poster-boy recruit. It wasn’t too hard to put the finger [...]

What if they gave a conference championship game and nobody came? The ACC is blanketing the football airwaves with commercials begging people to buy tickets for its annual not quite extravaganza. Actually, forty-eight hours in Ybor City doesn’t sound half-bad. There does, however, seem to be a problem. Nobody wants to play in the game. [...]

The closing acts of the college sports season has brought us a monumental upset. A fairly unusual defense strategy was employed in a lawsuit directed at an ACC member. And a comedic icon has left the stage. There are a few intriguing headlines floating just ahead of the impending Dead Zone. It is human nature [...]