ACC Nation (weekend of June 30)

On this weekend's ACC Nation, Patrick and Chris put the wraps on the College World Series when Adam Lucas of Tar Heel Monthly joins them.

Also, the Courtmaster himself, Jim Johnson, is on the show, reflecting on the tragic anniversary of Len Bias' death 20 years ago. He also talks about his contribution to "Hoop Tales: Maryland Terrapins Men's Basketball," a book co-authored by Johnny Holliday and Stephen Moore.

The guys also continue to shamelessly plug their own book, "Mad About U." By the way, you can pre-order the book beginning Wednesday, July 5. You'll get a discount for ordering early, so check it out.

Let's talk coaches
Sports Illustrated college-football writer Stewart Mandel is trying to get some discussion going in the otherwise quiet dead of summer - so is it a crime for me to piggyback on his efforts and do the same here?
I think not ...
Mandel put together a list of the best and worst coaches in college football - and three Atlantic Coast Conference guys made the list.
Only one of them was on the best-coaches list - Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech, who, to my surprise, is way down at #7in Mandel's reckoning.
If it were me, I would have Beamer up at #2 - behind Pete Carroll of USC - if only because Beamer has led his Hokies to a 14-3 record in ACC play in his first two years in the league, during which time he had two different starting quarterbacks, not to mention the turmoil that one of them (Marcus Vick) had the team embroiled throughout his tenure in Blacksburg.
I don't disagree with the name at the top of Mandel's worst-coaches list - North Carolina State's Chuck Amato, who somehow wins seven games a year despite having guys like Philip Rivers and Mario Williams (one of three Pack first-rounders in this year's NFL draft) on the field.
The other entry - Chan Gailey of Georgia Tech at #3 - had me scratching my head at first. But the more I thought about it - seven wins a season, wins in 2005 over Miami and Auburn, losses to N.C. State and Virginia - the more it made sense.
One question - how many of the above criticisms of Gailey and Amato apply to Virginia's Al Groh? Hmm ...
- Chris Graham

Tom/Terry
How about this blast from the past for consideration for Mount ACCMore - remember Tom Smith?
The former Food Lion president and CEO was no stranger to Atlantic Coast Conference fans in the glory years of the 1980s - when the grocery chain seemed to be the main corporate sponsor of ACC basketball, in particular.
(I also recall Natural Light being a prominent sponsor back in the day - still can't get that jingle out of my head. What's more natural than ... Natural Light?)
I digress.
Smith was featured prominently in the 200 or so Food Lion commercials that were broadcast during the average ACC basketball game of the day - and it didn't take long for fans to notice that he bore an uncanny resemblance to Virginia coach Terry Holland, whose teams were among the league's elite at the time.
It got to the point where UVa. fans took to carrying placards featuring Smith's likeness on one side and Holland's on the other.
I bring this up because if we decide to leave Smith off Mount ACCMore, which would seem likely, we at least could sell those placards in the gift shop.
- Chris Graham

Game management dooms Heels
The attention placed on North Carolina's disastrous eighth inning Monday night that ended up costing them the national championship has been on second baseman Bryan Steed's throwing error that allowed Oregon State's Bill Rowe to score the eventual winning run.
The demise actually began with two outs and nobody on and Rowe standing in the batters' box - when UNC coach Mike Fox went to the mound to talk to starter Daniel Bard.
Bard had retired 13 straight Beavers to that point - with his fastballs registering 97 mph on the scoreboard radar gun. But Fox had lefty ace Andrew Miller ready and waiting in the bullpen.
After a lengthy discussion on the mound, Fox ended up leaving Bard in the game - but the righty was clearly rattled, and he walked Rowe on five pitches before surrendering a bloop single to Tyler Graham.
Miller then relieved Bard and got the one-hop grounder from pinch hitter Ryan Gipson that Steed misplayed into history.
"This is not ever about one player, it's never about one pitch," Fox said after the game. "This is a team sport. I love Bryan Steed to death. So do his teammates.
"It's as much me. I mismanaged the game a couple times. ... You can put any of that on me. We're not putting any of it on the players. That's for sure," Fox said.
- Chris Graham

Don't call it a comeback
Robert Woodard was cruising along - though the thought had crossed my mind that Oregon State might be due for a comeback.
No biggie, I thought to myself. Carolina's up 5-0, and Oregon State has already put their closer in. At worst, Woodard eats up some innings, the Beavers make a late rally, and the Heels go into Monday's clincher with an obvious advantage on the mound.
And then UNC coach Mike Fox got a happy trigger finger - and put Carolina at a distinct disadvantage going into tonight's national-title game.
"That inning happened pretty quickly," Fox said of the seven-run fourth that erased the 5-0 UNC lead and propelled OSU to an 11-7 victory Sunday night.
The quick part, from my vantagepoint, had to do with Fox and his treatment of his starter, who had posted 12 innings of shutout ball in the College World Series before being touched for a two-run double by Shea McFeely.
Inexplicably, Fox sauntered out of the dugout and in the direction of the pitcher's mound to lift Woodard from the game.
A three-run homer from Bill Rowe capped the comeback and made a genius of Oregon State coach Pat Casey - who called on closer Kevin Gunderson with two outs in the fourth with the Beavers' season on the line.
Gunderson did as he usually does in terms of closing out the game - he logged five and a third innings en route to earning the win.
"This will be about execution," Fox said. "The box score was a little misleading tonight. We had no errors, but we don't field bunts and failed to turn a double play when we had it. Those are the little things that make the difference in a game."
Add one other little thing to the list, coach - because game management was as big an issue as any other.
- Chris Graham

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

In a rain-delayed contest, North Carolina rallied for a 4-3 win over Oregon State in game one of best-of-three College World Series championship. Carolina starter Andrew Miller may have been disappointed in the way his appearance ended, but he can't be upset that his Tar Heels are one win away from a national title.

Pat Forde of ESPN.com writes that the championship series is a victory of all cold-weather college baseball programs.

While we're on the subject of baseball, this year's No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, Clemson, is hoping that their top pitcher will return to school next year.

Former Tar Heels Raymond Felton and Sean May had their options picked up for a third year by the Charlotte Bobcats.

Virginia's Dave Leitao is focusing on character as well as talent while recruiting. Al Groh should take a lesson from the basketball coach.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg is trying to get size and speed. Of course, who isn't?

Finally, as the NBA draft approaches, the Orlando Sentinel looks back at the 1986 draft, where two ACC players were taken high then done in by drugs and the entire draft seemed to be "haunted," according to Pat Williams of the Magic.

Mad About U
Chris Graham and Patrick Hite are in the finishing stages of their first joint book project, Mad About U: Four Decades of Basketball at University Hall. It's a look back at the history of University of Virginia basketball in U-Hall, which closed to basketball after this past season.
The book will be available in early October, but visit the link above for more information about the book, including several excerpts. One of those excerpts is below. Enjoy.

Five - Starting from Scratch
The first game Dan Bonner coached at Virginia was at Mary Washington. It was Dec. 2, 1975, and Bonner, a 22-year-old graduate student, was leading the Virginia women into battle in the program’s third season as a varsity sport.
At halftime Virginia trailed home 13-12.
"I thought I was going to kill myself," said Bonner.
Virginia went on to win 41-19, but Bonner doesn’t give himself credit for some inspiring halftime talk or a great adjustment that allowed his team to prevail. Instead, in his mind, he wasn’t a very good coach at all that first season. His technical knowledge of basketball was fine. And the offensive and defensive schemes he employed worked well enough to keep the Cavaliers competitive, even win a few games. Virginia won the first five games that season and finished 12-9 overall. But Bonner admits he had things to learn as a head coach.
"I think that the biggest problem the kids had to overcome was that I was an absolute lunatic on the bench," Bonner said. "I was cursing and swearing and it was just awful."
Once the season was complete, Bonner began dating his former player and future wife, Terry Israel. He’s clear that the two never went out until the season was over – "I would have been fired on the spot" – but since Israel was a senior, when the season finished, so was her time at UVa. and the two were free to date.
During the offseason, Israel gave her former coach some advice. She told him that everyone was excited that he was the coach and they appreciated that he was taking the time to teach them the finer points of the game.
"But your mouth …" she told him.
So, the next season Bonner implemented a rule – no cursing.
"The rule was if you cursed you had to run. And if the coaches cursed they had to run. So it was just as hard for Debbie (Ryan, Bonner’s assistant) as it was for me, but we never ended up doing that."

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

North Carolina continues its quest for a baseball national championship tonight when game one of the championship series opens up with the Tar Heels taking on Oregon State in the best-of-three series. It's the first time the two schools have played one another in baseball. Neither school has ever won a national title in baseball, but one of them will within the next few days. If Carolina wins, it will mark the first baseball national championship for the ACC since Wake Forest won way back in 1955.

Florida State lost one of it's fastest wide receivers after he was kicked off the team. Meanwhile, Maryland revoked the scholarship offer to one of its football recruits.

Former Virginia soccer coach Bruce Arena hasn't decided if he wants to return to coach the U.S. soccer team again, after the Americans were bounced from the World Cup earlier this week.

Evidence continues to come out in the Duke rape case, and now it appears the accuser may have changed her story on several key points. If you haven't seen it yet, Sports Illustrated has a special report on the case in this week's issue.

We missed this earlier in the week, but the lessons learned from Len Bias' death 20 years ago are too important to forget. The Washington Post has a story on the tragic anniversary, plus a column from Michael Wilbon. And our friend, Jim Johnson, over at The Courtmaster also has this story.

ACC Nation (weekend of June 23)

This week it's the Best of ACC Nation as Patrick and Chris take a break from the show to concentrate on their upcoming book, "Mad About U."

The guys will return next week with an all new ACC Nation, but until then enjoy these past interviews.

We have a pair of best selling authors - John Feinstein discusses his latest book, "Last Dance," while Homer Hickam, author of "Rocket Boys", tells us how he became known as the Cannon Boy at Virginia Tech.

ESPN Radio's Erik Kuselias debates Patrick on the subject of Roy Williams being names coach of the year.

The Travel Channel's Samantha Brown tells us the best places to stay in ACC Nation.

And Duke golfer Amanda Blumenherst gives us the skinny on Michael Jordan's golf game.

UNC advances
North Carolina entered 2006 having won all of two games in four College World Series appearances.
The Tar Heels bettered that by one Wednesday night - and they're now headed for the Series' championship round.
"It's obviously exciting to think about and say the words, 'We're playing for a national championship,' " said UNC coach and friend of the "Nation" Mike Fox after his team's 6-5 over Cal State-Fullerton that propelled them to the best-of-three title round that begins Saturday.
Not bad for a team that detractors said would struggle to get out of the regionals after hitting a rough patch at the end of the regular season. The Heels' troubles began in Charlottesville in May when they lost two out of three to Virginia that preceded a two-and-done flameout in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
After being ranked #1 for several weeks in the '06 campaign, Carolina ended up being left out of the top eight national seeds by the NCAA tournament-selection committee.
To say that the team responded well to the adversity would be understating things - UNC is 8-0 in tournament play heading into the weekend.
"The feeling is almost indescribable, because it's what all these kids have been working for. Just to see the looks on their faces is a thrill itself," Fox said.
- Chris Graham

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

OK, not much time today, so we'll keep this brief.

The ACC is down to one team remaining in the CWS after both Clemson and Miami were sent home yesterday. North Carolina plays tonight, in part because of its secret weapon. If the Heels win either tonight or tomorrow night they'll advance to the best-of-three finals this weekend.

Coach K, in his words, will be a "busy little guy" this summer. During his annual summer press conference, the Duke basketball coach also broke his silence on the lacrosse scandal at his school.

Lefty and Mount ACCMore
Here's a vote for The Lefthander for a spot on Mount ACCMore - our mountain shrine to Atlantic Coast Conference sports legends.
Lefty Driesell came to Maryland in 1969 proclaiming that he would make it "the UCLA of the East." He fell a good bit short of that - Driesell's teams never even made it to a Final Four - but the droll coach did put the Terrapins on the college-basketball map in short order.
His 1974 team that finished 23-5 might have been the best team never to make it to the postseason - they failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament after losing to eventual national champ North Carolina State 103-100 in overtime in an ACC tournament final for the ages and then declined a bid to the National Invitational Tournament.
The Terps were perennial contenders thereafter - and Driesell was a perennial thorn in the side of North Carolina's Dean Smith and Virginia's Terry Holland.
One selling point for putting Driesell on Mount ACCMore - the smooth bald head would be ideal for rock climbers.
Another selling point - carve his head next to Smith's, and we wouldn't have to worry about the sour puss on ol' Dean-O ever reverting to a fake smile.
- Chris Graham

Paying the bills on JPJ
The news that the University of Virginia is still trying to finish out the fund-raising portion of its campaign to build a new basketball arena is not exactly of the breaking variety.
Times-Dispatch reporter and friend of the "Nation" Jeff White reported today that the school is about $18 million short of its $130 million goal - which it had hoped to have met by the time the new John Paul Jones Arena opened this summer.
"It's been a challenge," Dirk Katstra, the executive director of the Virginia Athletics Foundation, the fund-raising arm for UVa. athletics, told the T-D.
"A $130 million building, all privately funded, with a pretty short timetable to get it done. Every gift you miss on, you've got to make up someplace else," Katstra said.
The political climate in the Commonwealth is a big part of the reason the fund-raising part of the project is behind schedule. Recent arena-construction projects at North Carolina State University and the University of Maryland were done with significant public-funding support. The UVa. project, as Katstra referenced, is being done entirely by the school - to the point that the university picked up the tab for a connector road linking JPJ to the U.S. 250-U.S. 29 bypass to its west.
"To do what they're doing at Virginia would certainly be challenging," said Joe Hull, the senior associate director of athletics at the University of Maryland who was the project manager for the development effort that led to the opening of the Comcast Center in 2002, in an interview done for Mad About U, a book that I am coauthoring with "ACC Nation" cohost Patrick Hite that is slated for release on Oct. 5.
The $126 million, 17,500-seat Comcast Center was financed to a great degree by Maryland taxpayers - with public dollars accounting for $58 million of the $108 million arena-construction costs and another $18 million in transportation costs, according to figures provided by Hull.
"Primarily what it does is it affects how you go about doing what you do. Because we didn't have as many pressures related to the money that we had available at our disposal, we were able to make decisions with respect to the construction of the building based on what was for the best of the building and the best of the university without having to worry as much about the impact on the bottom line," Hull said.
That's where Katstra's focus is right now - on the bottom line.
"We're going to keep needing to raise money to support the project. We're hopeful we can get to $130 [million] soon and then figure out where we go from there," Katstra said.
- Chris Graham

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

The ACC still has three teams remaining in the College World Series, but two will be facing elimination the next time out. Miami fell to Rice last night and now must play Oregon State in an elimination game. Clemson is also playing what could be its final game of the season when they face Cal State Fullerton tonight. Meanwhile, North Carolina is off until Wednesday when they play the winner of Clemson-Cal State Fullerton.

Sidney Lowe has passed his recruiting test, but there are much bigger tests to come for the new NC State basketball coach.

Virginia will play in a new basketball arena next season, but it looks like now it won't be paid for by the time the Cavaliers move in. There is still lots of money to raise for the JPJ. While we're on the subject, check out Chris and Patrick's upcoming book, "Mad About U."

Finally, the Florida State freshmen are getting ready with a ... scavenger hunt?

Stormin' Omaha
Miami is hot - and no, we're not talking about the streaking Heat.
"Going out here tonight and winning 11-1 and swinging the bats like we did, and Scott pitching like he did against a nationally ranked team like Oregon State, I think we're coming out here showing everybody we're for real," said Dennis Raben, who homered and drove in four runs to help lift Miami to an 11-1 victory in their College World Series opener Saturday night.
The Hurricanes, who face Rice tonight at 7 p.m., are, to be more accurate, hot-t-t-t-t-t - winning six of their last seven since being eliminated from the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament by fellow CWS participant Georgia Tech last month.
To say that the run was unexpected would be putting things mildly. The loss to the Yellow Jackets in Jacksonville ended a stretch of one win in five games for the 'Canes, who were 36-21 heading into the NCAA tournament.
But that's baseball - it's not about winning early or even late; it's about winning when losing means going home.
Two more wins, and Miami will be where Miami teams expect to be when they suit up in January - in Omaha with a chance at a national title.
If they're able to pull it off, nobody will notice the few dozen eggs broken on the way there.
- Chris Graham

Two-for-two
When Chris and I had a chance to speak with Virginia baseball coach Brian O’Connor a little over a month ago, he was almost prophetic. O’Connor gave North Carolina pitchers Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard their due, but just a couple of days before the Tar Heels came to Charlottesville, O’Connor said it was another pitcher that worried him most.
“I happen to think that Robert Woodard is as good a college guy as you’ll find out there,” O’Connor told ACC Nation.
Woodward went on to give North Carolina its only win in that weekend series against the Cavaliers, pitching a complete-game shutout.
Sunday night, Woodard pitched only his second complete-game shutout of the season, blanking Clemson 2-0 in the College World Series. It was the first time in 131 games that the Tigers failed to score.
And now, with Carolina off until Wednesday, and knowing whatever team the play has to beat them twice in order to advance out of their side of the bracket, the Tar Heels are sitting pretty.
Friday night I wrote that Carolina seemed to be a team of destiny when Lady Luck cast her wand in the Heels’ direction. Sunday it wasn’t luck, but a masterful performance by Woodard and some key hits that gave the Tar Heels the win.
There’s still some work to be done, but right now Carolina looks like the team to beat.
- Patrick Hite

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

Wow. Maybe Miami is the team to beat in the CWS. Despite a long rain delay, the Hurricanes whipped Oregon State 11-1 last night.

The other three ACC teams are back in action today. Clemson and North Carolina play for the first time this year. Both coaches have now played and coached in the CWS.

Meanwhile Georgia Tech will play elimination game against Cal State Fullerton.

Former Virginia football player says he was treated unfairly by Al Groh. The coach says that's not the case.

Finally, Richland, NC, celebrated "Mario Williams Day" yesterday morning in honor of the top pick in this year's NFL draft.

Bag it, Michael (with apologies to SI)
I understand what Bob Johnson is trying to do. However, I don't agree with it.
Earlier this week the Charlotte Bobcats' owner named Michael Jordan as an ownership partner with the team. Johnson also put His Airness in charge of basketball operations for the team.
Certainly Johnson is trying to build interest in the team by naming the greatest NBA player, not to mention the greatest Tar Heel, of all time to a high-ranking position with the Bobcats. Johnson also tried to pull in Tar Heel fans last season by drafting Sean May and Raymond Felton. Good public relations move, all of them, but bad basketball moves.
Does Johnson not remember the great Leonard Hamilton and Kwame Brown experiments? Or how about getting rid of Richard Hamilton in return for Jerry Stackhouse.
All of those moves came when Jordan was in Washington trying to turn the Wizards around. It didn't happen. Not even close. In fact, the only success - if you can call it that - during M.J.'s stay in Washington was when he returned as a player. It wasn't success on the floor, but it was in the seats as attendance figured soared.
Since Jordan's playing days are way in the past - at least we all hope that's the case - I'm not sure how this move will benefit the Bobcats. It's possible that Jordan has learned something since leaving the Wizards and will turn out to be a shrewd evaluator of basketball talent. Doubtful, but possible.
My thought - M.J. should stick with running his high-school all-star games and fine turning his golf game. Leave the front office decisions to those who know what they are doing.
- Patrick Hite

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

The College World Series got under way yesterday with a pair of ACC teams winning. Clemson beat Georgia Tech in the afternoon opener, while North Carolina needed 13 innings and a little luck to stop Cal State Fullerton last night. Miami plays its first game tonight.

For Florida State's baseball team, it has been a rough offseason. Not only did they not reach the NCAA tournament, but the Seminoles have been losing players left and right.

The NBA draft is just around the corner and a pair of Duke players hope to go in the first round. Several years ago there were high hopes for another Duke star, Jason Williams. Now Williams is just hoping to catch on with an NBA team as he is still recovering from injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash three years ago.

Former Tar Heel Jerry Stackhouse was suspended for Game 5 of the NBA finals after a flagrant foul on Shaquille O'Neal ,

And, we missed this story earlier in the week, but Maryland finally hired a running backs coach, which prompted a few other changes on the staff.

Team of destiny?
I haven't given North Carolina a chance this postseason. I said they'd lose in the regional, then in the super regional, then in the College World Series.
I've changed my tune.
Carolina will win the NCAA title because the Heels are a team of destiny. Just look at Friday night's opener against Cal State Fullerton if you need proof.
The Heels had Andrew Miller, their ace and the No. 6 pick in the baseball draft, on the mound. He wasn't all that effective, giving up two homers, one more than he'd given up all season.
But Carolina managed to hang around and get the game to extra innings.
In extra innings, Fullerton had two men reach base on dropped third strikes, and another on a third strike that was called ball four. Carolina botched a sure double play after botching a throw to second where the Fullerton runner was a goner trying to steal. Instead the ball got into center field and the runner was safe.
Carolina somehow made a pitcher's throw over to third work by getting the Fullerton runner out, then ended the inning with the right fielder making a partial dive for the catch and out.
Carolina came back to score twice in the 13th inning - on a string of singles - and held on for the win in a game they should have lost.
Add all of that up and it equals team of destiny. So go ahead, give the Heels the championship. They can't possibly lose.
- Patrick Hite

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

The ACC has half the field in the College World Series, which gets under way today. It should be an interesting week and change.

Not even on the job yet and Sidney Lowe has two players committing to NC State. Lowe officially begins his job Monday.

Some new athletics facilities are on the way in Tallahassee.

Michael Jordan is back in the NBA. He may not have gotten all that he wanted, but it was enough.

And, three former Cavaliers are on the move.

ACC Nation (weekend of June 16)
It's baseball season, so of course Patrick and Chris talk basketball and football on ACC Nation this week.
Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress,com joins the guys to talk about the ACC players projected to go in the upcoming NBA Draft. Also, Kerry Watkins, former Georgia Tech wide receiver and current Montreal Alouette talks CFL with the guys.
Eventually, Patrick and Chris do get around to baseball and the College World Series. Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Miami will be in Omaha this weekend trying to capture the NCAA baseball crown.
And, in Sound and the Fury the guys try to answer whether having four teams in the CWS or three teams in the women's basketball Final Four was more impressive.
All coming up on ACC Nation.

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

Teams with the most momentum, not necessarily talent, win the College World Series, according to Miami's Jim Morris.

While Miami is no stranger to the CWS, it's been a few years since North Carolina was there.

Clemson will be looking to steal some bases when it opens up play Friday against Georgia Tech.

Still more on the Duke lacrosse rape case. It appears some of what the district attorney has been saying is contradicted by the facts. And some people want the DA out of office.

Bob Lipper of the Times Dispatch writes that J.J. Redick was lucky he was caught.

The best of times
What a year for the Atlantic Coast Conference ...
Four teams in the College World Series, three teams in the NCAA Women's Final Four ...
OK, so men's basketball had a down year - two teams in the Sweet 16, none in the Elite Eight, and if we're lucky, we get one or maybe two players in the NBA draft lottery.
And football wasn't so good - though Virginia Tech and Florida State were briefly ranked third and fourth in the country, respectively.
Virginia brought home the men's lacrosse national title; Duke brought lacrosse to its knees with the O.J. Simpson story of 2006.
Duke won (yet another) national championship in women's golf - raising the question, if North Carolina, as Dean Smith said, is a women's soccer school, then is Duke a women's golf school?
What can we do for an encore in 2006-2007?
Honestly, it will be hard to top what we saw in '05-'06.
- Chris Graham

Stripes
How about a referee on Mount ACCMore - our memorial to the people who made Atlantic Coast Conference sports what they are today?
If we would dare to go in that direction, my vote would be for Lenny Wirtz - hands down.
Why? Because everybody hated Lenny Wirtz - everybody.
And that's not an easy thing to accomplish - it's harder than being loved by everybody, that's for sure.
Every single ACC fan was convinced as long as Wirtz was on the floor that their team was going to get hosed.
Dean Smith didn't get along with him, Mike Krzyzewski didn't get along with him.
Do you know how difficult that is - getting Deano and Coach K to agree on something?
Oh, sure, he wasn't the only referee who was vilified for being inconsistent on block-charge calls and the rest. Rick Hartzell actually cost Virginia a late-season game against Duke in 1996; Dick Paparo was a favorite at Maryland, I remember; and who doesn't loathe the day Ted Valentine was born, really?
That said, those guys are all pretenders to Wirtz' throne.
It almost makes me tear up sorting through the memories of cursing him in person and on TV when he'd get it wrong - and he always got it wrong.
Alas, Lenny, I doubt we'll actually find a place for you on Mount ACCMore. Unless ...
No, I just checked, and there isn't money in the budget to carve a horse's ass on our mountain in your memory.
Hey, I tried.
- Chris Graham

Disappointed Dukie
Waking up to the news of JJ Redick getting charged for a D.W.I. is not the kind of news that puts a smile on my face. In fact, it’s the kind of news that makes me want to bury my head further into the pillow.
First off, I am still in shock. Like myself, most Duke fans have come to accept that JJ has "cleaned up his act" since his freshmen and sophomore years of partying. Sure, he undoubtedly drank and partied during his junior and senior seasons, but there's no question that he definitely knocked the partying life down a few notches (otherwise, do you really think he would've become the player that he is today?) I've never had problems with my Dukies partying and having some drinks - come on...they're college students when it's all said and done. If I ever criticized any of them for doing that kind of thing, I'd be the biggest hypocrite in the world.
BUT when you are JJ-freakin'-Redick and you are going to be drafted by an NBA team in just a few weeks, making an illegal U-turn at a checkpoint at 1 in the morning does not strike me as acting like someone who has just graduated with a Duke education.
Oh JJ...why, why, why? His BAC wasn't astronomical (0.11 - over the limit in NC is 0.08), but I still can't believe he would put himself in that situation. Lord knows, many people have probably driven when they shouldn't have, but we are also not going to get millions of dollars from an NBA team in a few weeks and we also wouldn't get the national attention that JJ will get for this mistake. In a way, it's actually unfair, but it comes with the territory when you become a public figure. Once you step into that limelight, as JJ did when he first put on that Duke uniform, you are held to a different standard. You do good things - you will be celebrated. You do bad things - it will be all over the news and people will be talking and writing about you for weeks, months, and even years. It’s quite simple - you don't have to have a Duke education to figure that out.
In light of the lacrosse situation, it would have seemed that anyone affiliated with Duke would watch their backs. People are out to expose Duke for what it "truly" is - just read The Rolling Stone article if you need an example.
This isn't going to help. I'm sure those involved at Duke are behind JJ 100 percent and I am too. Don't get it twisted - I am in shock and I'm disappointed, but this doesn't make me feel any different about what JJ did at Duke or what he represented. I'm not new to loving teams and athletes that have run-ins with the law (I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan, remember?)
But going deep down to the absolute root of my feelings, I never thought JJ would've done this. I guess it might make some of us reevaluate their feelings about his judgment. I thought he had good judgment, but this situation brings a whole other opinion to the surface. He had the world in the palm of his hand and he is still going to get the big bucks in a few weeks - did he really have to drive? As we all know, you never know when a checkpoint will be out. And if you're JJ Redick and you know that getting caught means tons of news coverage, you might think to yourself that you should just hand over the keys, even if you aren’t that intoxicated. But I guess we all know how alcohol can impair judgment, even if it's not taken in large doses.
I guess I still don't know what to think. It’s horrible for him and I feel for him, but I can't help but feel sheer disappointment as well. He doesn't really need to feel the disappointment from fans though, because when it's all said and done, the people who he really needs to worry about is his family and his Duke family - those who have really been there with him firsthand throughout his whole career. The disappointment that he will receive from those people will probably be enough for him to realize the magnitude of this "bad-timing" mistake.
We all make mistakes, and it sure doesn’t feel good when we do. We beat ourselves up over them, our parents and friends beat us up over them, absolute strangers beat us up over them, but most importantly, with the beatings come the realization that you can also learn from them. Learn JJ, that's all you can do. I hope he can keep his head up throughout all of this because this situation is going to be a field day for all the Duke haters in the world. Believe me, I'm sure I'll have to deal with plenty of them in the upcoming weeks.
With all that said though, I'm still behind JJ. I hope he goes to an NBA team who can utilize his talents and appreciate and acknowledge his accomplishments. I just want him to go where he has a fair shot at succeeding. The NBA repulses me, but I cannot change the fact that for some Duke players, that is just the next step. I might not like the game, but I will always support the Duke almuni who goes to it in hopes of continuing their basketball careers.
-Tasha Dean

J.J. benched by Durham police
Bad news for J.J. Redick fans - the Duke star was arrested early today and charged with drunken driving.
What this means for Redick's NBA-draft prospects - the 6-4 sharpshooter is considered a late-lottery pick by most analysts - is still being sorted out right now.
The impact could be surprising - given that one thing that was not at question with the Roanoke native's resume was his character. His size, athletic ability, ballhandling skills and ability to play defense have all been put under the microscope in recent months - but Redick, from all accounts, was a model citizen at Duke, where he broke the NCAA record for three-pointers made in a career and the Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring mark in a storybook senior season that saw him named the Associated Press player of the year.
I would like to think that one act of immaturity on the part of a person with Redick's background would not influence a team that was already comfortable with his court skills to pass on him - but it does seem that character issues are playing a bigger role in the current player-personnel climate than they were even a couple of years ago.
If Redick slips out of the lottery, this could be a key reason why.
- Chris Graham

Redick arrested

Reports out of Durham are that J.J. Redick has been arrested on a DWI charge early this morning. Here are a couple of stories on the arrest:

ESPN.com

News & Observer

Herald Sun

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

To answer Chris' question from yesterday, four. That would be four ACC teams heading to Omaha. Miami got a grand slam and seven RBI from Danny Valencia as the Hurricanes beat Mississippi in game three of their super regional last night. Miami joins Clemson, Georgia Tech and North Carolina in the College World Series beginning Friday. By the way, the Tigers and Jackets meet in game one of the CWS.

Meanwhile, Florida State may be looking for a new closer next season if all goes well for Luke Tucker this summer.

So, let's get this straight. Virginia Tech wins just four games in ACC basketball this past season, but Seth Greenberg gets a raise. Not bad if you can pull it off.

Finally, the Virginia women's basketball team has lost a player. Lindsay Hayward, a 6-9 redshirt, has decided to transfer.

Three ... or four?
Consider the questions answered.
Three Atlantic Coast Conference teams punched their tickets to Omaha over the weekend - and Miami has a shot to make it four tonight in their super-regional rubber match with Mississippi.
Clemson, Georgia Tech and North Carolina all swept their way to the College World Series in impressive fashion - with UNC's run through Alabama coming as the surprise of the weekend to at least a few observers, given that the Tar Heels had to play the Crimson Tide on the road after spending much of the 2006 ranked at or near the top of the national polls.
Given their success, and the seasons put in by Florida State, North Carolina State and Virginia, all of whom spent the better part of '06 making noise on the national scene, we can start talking about 2006 being the year the ACC put its name on the map of the college-baseball world.
- Chris Graham

Win the Shirt Off Chris' Back

If you think you know ACC trivia, e-mail patrick@accnation.com and challenge Chris on an upcoming show.
I'll give you five questions, then Chris will get the same five questions (don't worry, we lock him away while we ask you the questions, so he can't cheat).
If you tie or beat Chris, you win an ACC Nation T-shirt and are qualified for our grand prize drawing later this year. Visit ACC Nation for more details.

More Zzzzs
When Duke recently won the NCAA women’s golf tournament, a pair of freshmen played a prominent role. It’s not unusual for freshman to be key for the Blue Devils, and it’s certainly not surprising that Duke won the title, considering it was their fourth overall championship.
But what may be a little surprising is what those freshman – Amanda Blumenherst and Jennie Lee – talk about when asked why Duke makes it possible for early success. It’s not the hard work that they mention first, but rather more rest and lots of fun.
“When I came to college I had more time to practice,” Blumenherst recently told ACC Nation. “More time to work out and more time to sleep. I was really able to fine tune my game.”
She fine tuned it so well, and so quickly, that Blumenherst won the individual title in Duke’s first tournament of the year at Vanderbilt.
But wait a minute. Something doesn’t add up. Duke is not only a great golf school – dare we say, fearing the wrath of Coach K, that Duke is a women’s golf school – but it is also one of the top academic institutions in the country. So how does a freshman come in and find more, not less, time to not only work on her game, but (gasp!) sleep?
“I went to a very, very hard high school. It was four-and-a-half hours of homework every night. It was really challenging. When I came to college I felt like, oh, I have so much time off,” said Blumenherst, who, last week, was named Golfweek magazine’s player and freshman of the year.
There’s an idea for Duke’s admissions office if it needs a new slogan– It’s easier than high school.
Meanwhile, Jennie Lee, who finished second in the individual competition at the NCAA tournament, credited coach Dan Brooks and his philosophy toward the game.
“He’s always so relaxed and he’s there to have fun,” Lee told ACC Nation. “And when you play it’s always for the fun of the game.”
Lee, who was recently named, along with Blumenherst, to the 2006 United States Curtis Cup team, also said her older teammates helped with the transition. Liz Janangelo, Jennifer Pandolfi and Anna Grzebien helped both Blumenherst and Lee with their adjustment to college.
“They just really pulled us together as a team and we just had a lot of fun out there,” Lee said. “That brought a lot of comfort to the team when we first joined as freshman.”
So all of you college coaches, listen up. The key to success – fun and sleep. And if you can squeeze in some practice between the two, that’s probably OK also.
-Patrick Hite

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

Chad Flack should be carried through the streets of Chapel Hill. The North Carolina sophomore hit not one, but two go-ahead homers to put the Tar Heels in the College World Series. Flack hit one homer in the eighth to put Carolina up 5-4 and then, with the Heels trailing Alabama again in the bottom of the ninth, Flack hit a dramatic two-out shot for the win.

Clemson also had to rally, the second time the Tigers had to do so in two nights, but the tournament's overall No. 1 seed is headed to Omaha as well after sweeping Oral Roberts.

Meanwhile, Georgia Tech didn't have to worry about late-inning heroics as the Jackets buried the College of Charleston to make it three ACC teams in the CWS.

The conference could have as many as four team in Omaha, but Miami would have some work to do to make that happen. The Hurricanes were on their way to a win over Mississippi, but let a six-run lead get away and fell behind one game to none in the best-of-three series.

In Sacramento, Calif., Florida State captured the men's track and field title Saturday. Garrett Johnson won the shot put championship to help the Seminoles in their quest. A pair of Tar Heels also won individual championships Saturday.

Omaha bound
It's funny. When the ACC expanded to 12 schools, the thought was the conference would begin to dominate in football while remaining a force in basketball. No one mentioned baseball.
And then the ACC got just one BCS berth - something they could have done before expansion - and that team, Florida State, lost. When basketball season rolled around, it wasn't much better. Four teams reached the NCAA tournament, and none even made it to the Elite Eight.
But here we are, late Saturday night, and three ACC teams are already part of the eight-team field in the College World Series. And Miami still has a chance to give the conference half of the field. And did we mention that seven ACC teams reached the field of 64 in the baseball tournament this year?
Of course, only one of those seven was a recent expansion team - Miami - while the other two expansion teams were busy going 13-46 in conference play this baseball season (and recently the coach of one of those teams - Boston College - jumped ship to the other - Virginia Tech. Isn't that like going from the frying pan into the fire?)
The outlook for football is bleak, at best, for the fall, and it's anyone's guess if basketball will rebound (I thought about going with bounce back, but I think rebound was the way to go) next season.
But for now, let's not worry about that. Let's focus on baseball. Because if Tyler Colvin and Chad Flack can keep up their late-inning heroics, and if Georgia Tech can keep up its dominance, the ACC has a real chance to end up with a national champion in Omaha. Football and basketball should be so lucky.
-Patrick Hite

The ACC Nation Morning Edition

Three of the four ACC teams won game one of their super regionals last night. The fourth, Miami, begins its series with Mississippi tonight. When Miami takes the field, so will a sore Jemile Weeks, who will play second for the Hurricanes.

Clemson's Tyler Colvin had a big week. First he was a first-round pick by the Chicago Cubs in baseball's draft and then, last night, he hit a walk-off grand slam for the Tigers. Georgia Tech and North Carolina are also one win away from the College World Series. By the way, Andrew Miller, who pitched a wonderful game for Carolina last night, is a finalist for the Roger Clemens award.

Another national title for North Carolina, this time in track and field. Vikas Gowda took the men's discus title yesterday. And Virginia Tech's Spyridon Jullien captured the hammer throw yesterday. But it's Florida State making all of the news at the NCAA track and field championships. The Seminoles could take the overall title today.

Finally, former Clemson quarterback Woody Dantzler is still trying to make a go of it in the Arena Football League. But he isn't playing quarterback, and hasn't played quarterback as he's bounced around the NFL, NFL Europe and now the AFL.

Showing them the door
Former Virginia Tech basketball coach and Virginia basketball player Ricky Stokes is in some hot water because he decided to purge players who weren't playing up to his expectations from the basketball team at East Carolina, where Stokes is now the head coach.
Stokes informed eight players recently that they did not fit into the team's future plans. Seven have transferred to other schools and one, Japhet McNeil, has declared for the NBA draft, apparently hoping no one will notice he only scored 4.3 points per game on a bad team this past season.
Stokes has the support of his athletics director, Terry Holland (who coached Stokes at UVa.), but others are saying Stokes' actions are dirty.
It's a good lesson for these young men to learn - nothing is promised to you. Athletics scholarships, like most academic scholarships, are awarded on a year-to-year basis. It's not often that they aren't renewed, but there are cases where academic scholarships were taken away when students didn't do well in the classroom.
In this case, the players didn't do well in their classroom - the basketball gym. As a result, they lost their scholarships. Case closed. Sorry it didn't work out. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
The only real problem I have is that the NCAA will still make those who transfer to Division I schools sit out a year. If the players don't make the decision to leave, then they shouldn't have to suffer if another school wants them. Kelvin Sampson isn't sitting out a year at Indiana. It only seems fair to allow these players to step on the court next year.
But do I have a problem with what Stokes did? Sure it's a bit unusual, but it's certainly no crime. And I don't even think it's unethical.
The school owes nothing else to these players. Some of them got as many as three free years of college out of the deal. Tell some 24-year-old struggling to pay back college loans that these players were mistreated.
They didn't live up to their end of the bargain, and now they're gone. You're owed nothing in life, and the sooner kids understand that the better off they'll be.
Life isn't just about showing up and working hard. That's all well and good, but at some point you have to perform. If you don't you may be asked to leave. That's what happened here.
Consider it a lesson learned the hard way.
- Patrick Hite

The ACC Nation's Evening Edition

OK, OK. I've been derelict in my duties the last couple of days. I'll do better (although I worry about the amount of ACC news I'll find over the next month or so. Still, I'll do my best to find quality stories for you, our dear readers).

I never got the chance to comment on ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd's rant against UVa. a week or so ago. But now the Roanoke Times' Doug Doughty has done it for me. Let me just write that if Cowherd isn't the worst sports-talk-show host on a national network, he's quickly moving up (down?) to claim that spot. I still miss TK.

While we're at it, here's some more UVa. talk.

We missed this story yesterday, although Chris Graham did report the rumors earlier this week. Virginia Tech has a new baseball coach, one who should be familiar with the ACC.

More news on the rape allegations against three Duke lacrosse players. The second dancer at the now infamous part told authorities that the accuser's story was "a crock." And the defense lawyers in the case are disputing some of the information that has come out.

Good story on FSU track star Ricardo Chambers.

Another quarterback has decided not to play at Miami. Instead, Daniel Stegall will play baseball in the New York Mets' minor-league system. That makes three quarterbacks that have left the Hurricanes high and dry in recent months.

ACC Nation (weekend of June 9)

A new ACC Nation is available for your listening pleasure. Click on the ACC Nation link or visit www.accnation.com to hear this weekend's show.

On this week's show, Duke freshman golfer Jennie Lee joins the guys fresh off her second-place finish (and Duke's team title) at the NCAA women's golf championships.

Also, Patrick and Chris update you on the ACC players taken in the Major League Baseball draft, they discuss if Virginia fans should worry that their baseball team can't get past the regionals and they ask the question: should ACC Nation adopt the U.S. World Cup soccer team? (If you haven't noticed, there's a lot of ACC flavor on the squad.)

And, on the Sound and the Fury, the guys wonder which ACC coach they'd most (and least) enjoy dining with. (Hint: they have no problem agreeing on which one they don't want at their dinner table.)

A new vision for college baseball
My grand plan for bringing college baseball to the level of college football and college basketball continues to evolve.
The latest step in the scheme - replace the outdated conference tournaments with another round of NCAA playoffs.
I know what you're thinking - why, exactly, would we do that?
Aha - I'm on to you.
Here's why - we use that week that we gain from the elimination of outdated conference tournaments to play the entire 64-team NCAA tournament like we currently do the super regionals.
That's right - best two-out-of-three all the way.
We'd also have to shorten the regular season a week - if we wanted to end things up around the same time that we do now, roughly the last week of June.
So there are some disadvantages to this - one less week of Duke-Virginia Tech, for example, and no more double-elimination tournaments that feature starting pitchers who weren't even good enough to get out of the bullpen in the regular season being thrown out to the wolves to keep the season alive.
The advantages are obvious - hey, isn't this the way baseball was meant to be played? I mean, it's worked in the big leagues for the past century or so, and this is how we're sending teams to Omaha and determining a national champion.
The series format will take care of attendance issues, it's made for TV, it will add to fan interest across the board ...
Of course, so would a college-football playoff.
So, alas, we can expect that it will never happen.
I can dream, though, can't I?
- Chris Graham

The ACC Nation's Afternoon Delight

Four ACC players went in the MLB draft's first round yesterday, led by a pair of Tar Heel pitchers and a Clemson outfielder taken by the Chicago Cubs.

Maryland basketball fans got some good news - Ekene Ibekwe is returning to College Park for his senior season.

Duke has a new men's lacrosse coach, at least in the interim. And Kevin Cassese knows he will be watched closely in his new position.

Good story on Carolina's Cassie King, who will be competing in the NCAA track and field competiton tonight.

ACC coach switching uniforms
Here's something you don't see happen all that often - a head coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference leaving to take a head-coaching job at another ACC school.
But that is apparently what is in the works with Peter Hughes, who has reportedly told his Boston College baseball team that he will be the new head coach at Virginia Tech.
Both teams finished at the bottom of the conference in 2006 - BC was fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 9-21 league record and a 28-25 overall mark, and Tech was sixth in the Coastal with a 4-25 ACC record and 20-33 record overall.
Which is to say, this ain't exactly Mike Krzyzewski leaving Duke for North Carolina.
That said, it is ... curious.
- Chris Graham

The Coach K Way
For all the criticism that Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski gets from detractors who criticize his style of play as being basically roll the ball out there and let 'em do what they do, you have to wonder - if it's that easy, why don't more coaches follow along and do the same kind of thing?
To be fair, the critics are oversimplifying the Coach K Way - his offense has its share of Xs and Os and set plays and screens and quick hitters and the rest. But its beauty lies in its simplicity - the emphasis being, as one might learn in The Philosophy of Basketball 101, on proper spacing that allows littles the room to maneuver on the perimeter and bigs the room to maneuver in the lane.
And on the other side of the ball, the focus, again, simply and most pleasing aesthetically, is on effort - which is 90 percent of what it takes to stop somebody; the other half of it, as Yogi Berra might say, being mental.
So exert maximum effort on D, spread the floor on O, recruit kids who will, for the most part, stay four years, and voila, you have Duke basketball.
The hard part for Krzyzewski has to be in keeping things as simple as they need to be kept - because for all the points made for years about how college basketball and pro basketball were beginning to look more like college and pro hockey, nobody ever examined the obvious one, namely, that both games can be and often are overcoached to the point of paralysis by analysis.
So to revisit my earlier question - it is that easy, so why don't more coaches follow along and do the same kind of thing?
- Chris Graham

The ACC Nation's Morning Edition

The number remains at four. With Florida State's loss Monday night in the regional championship game, the ACC has four teams advancing to super regionals in the NCAA baseball tournament. Early in the Athens regional it looked like the Seminoles might have enough to pull off the upset, but a lack of offense eventually let the team down.

The four teams remaining: Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Miami. For the matchups in the super regionals, visit Friend of the Nation, collegebaseballinsider.com.

One more baseball note - the MLB draft is today. North Carolina should have a couple of pitchers go, and Virginia football is watching the draft closely.

A stronger case
So we've answered one question about Atlantic Coast Conference baseball - it's good.
Four teams are in the super regionals - and another, Florida State, can make it an even five with a win tonight over Georgia.
Now the trick is to get a team or two or more to Omaha - which the conference wasn't able to do last year.
After having eight teams ranked in the national polls at one time or another this spring, the drumbeat was beginning to get to the point of being deafening - is the ACC a January-to-May baseball conference, or a June baseball conference?
The jury is still being seated - but with Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Miami readying themselves to make the case, things are looking pretty good on that front, for now, at least.
- Chris Graham

The ACC Nation's Morning Edition

The baseball standings after the weekend: Four ACC teams advance, two don't and one is still in the hunt for a Super Regional berth.

North Carolina broke out the whupping sticks against Winthrop Sunday, winning 14-2. The Heels beat Winthrop twice over the weekend by a combined 28-6 score. Clemson rallied for an 8-6 win over Mississippi State to advance to the Super Regional. Georgia Tech and Miami also moved on.

North Carolina State did the ACC proud by sending Texas home, but the Wolfpack couldn't win two on Sunday and didn't advance. Virginia also was knocked out of the NCAA tournament, losing in their home stadium.

Meanwhile, Florida State has to beat Georgia tonight to move on to the Super Regional.

We'll know shortly if Duke has a new men's lacrosse coach. It appears the school's president, Richard Brodhead, will announce that the team will be back next year and Duke assistant Kevin Cassese will be the interim head coach.

At least they have lacrosse
A Virginia fan recently told me that he thought other Cav fans were starting to get behind the idea that UVa. was a baseball school.
They certainly aren't a football school. Other than that brief flirtation with a No. 1 ranking in 1990, it's mostly been about high expectations (at least since Al Groh arrived) and disappointing endings.
As for basketball, well, Ralph Sampson has been gone from Charlottesville a long time.
The fan I spoke to figured Virginia fans were realizing that it might never happen in the two big sports, and while it's nice to be the national champion in lacrosse, perhaps baseball is where Virginia fans should place their passion.
Not so fast.
It's much too early to start a FireBrianOConnor.com Web site. In fact, Virginia baseball was barely a varsity sport before O'Connor arrived three years ago. O'Connor has put the Cavalier baseball program on the national map, with the program hosting two NCAA regionals in three years, and qualifying for the NCAA tournament in each of the coach's first three seasons in Charlottesville.
But there's a trend starting to develop that Virginia fans may want to watch closely. Postseason hasn't been friendly to this team. In the past three years Virginia is 3-6 in the NCAA tournament and hasn't gotten out of a regional yet. In the ACC tournament the Cavaliers are 4-5, and that includes a run to the championship game last season. Virginia lost that game to Georgia Tech.
Now, it's tough to blame O'Connor for the losses this weekend that sent the Cavaliers packing. If blame has to fall somewhere, it's probably the much ballyhooed pitching staff.
ACC player of the year Sean Doolittle gave up five hits and six earned runs against South Carolina Saturday night. Evansville chased Jacob Thompson, with his 10 wins this season, after two innings Sunday. Even in Virginia's one win this weekend, Mike Ballard gave up five earned runs and seven hits to Lehigh Friday afternoon.
There's still plenty of promise for this young team. And expectations should be high next year. This weekend's setback won't take away from that.
I'm just saying ... temper the talk of College World Series appearances and national titles for now. At least make it out of a regional first.
- Patrick Hite

The ACC Nation's Morning Edition

Baseball. And lots of it.

The state of Florida is providing the shock factor to this point.

Florida State is one of the ACC's surprise teams this year. That sounds strange, considering the history of the Seminoles' baseball program, but this team was struggling late in the season. But after beating Georgia in Athens, FSU is one win away from the Super Regionals.

Miami is also a win away from the Super Regionals, and the biggest surprise for them is that regional host Nebraska - the tournament's No. 6 seed - is out. Miami will play either San Francisco or Manhattan tonight for a chance to advance.

North Carolina, Clemson and Georgia Tech are also each one win away from the Super Reginonals in what is turning out to be a very good regional tournament for the ACC.

The only ACC teams with their backs against the wall as of this morning are Virginia, which lost to South Carolina last night, and North Carolina State, which edged Texas-Arlington yesterday afternoon, but now must beat regional host Texas if the Wolfpack want to survive.

Not much else happening on the ACC front, except Wake Forest men's golf team lost in the NCAA championships yesterday.

Ship of fools

So let me get this straight. Duke University isn't just an institute of higher learning, but one of the elite institutes of higher learning in the nation. Yet school officials at Duke are a bunch of fools.
Yeah, that about sums it up.
Reports by various news sources, including Newsday and ESPN, indicate Duke will announce next week that they are reinstating the men's lacrosse program for next season.
For those who have lived under a rock for the past few months, Duke suspended the men's lacrosse program for the season after an alleged rape at a team party.
Duke officials first underreacted then overreacted. They didn't bother to even pause for a breath in the middle.
Officials listened to their own campus police immediately after the incident and believed there was nothing to it. So they did nothing. Strike one.
Then, when they realized something did happen, school officials had a knee-jerk reaction and suspended the program for the year and forced the coach to resign. That was before, mind you, any of the players had been arrested or formally charged. Strike two.
Now, with these reports out that the program will be back next year, officials have publicly denied that is the case.
If it is true and the team will be back next year, why deny it? Just keep quiet until the announcement.
But if it isn't true and the school isn't bringing back the program, then Duke officials are even dumber than I thought possible.
After all, if the NFL banned teams every time a few players committed a crime, no matter how severe, we'd be down to about three teams. And keep in mind, it hasn't been proven that any of the Duke players did anything wrong yet.
Either way, it's strike three.
Duke - you're out.
- Patrick Hite

ACC Nation polls

Two new polls are up at ACC Nation. Tell us which ACC baseball teams will reach the College World Series and if you think J.J. Redick is a first-round NBA pick or not.

Also, don't forget, Win the Shirt Off Chris' Back. Just e-mail patrick@accnation.com if you want to challenge Chris. You could win a T-shirt and qualify for the grand prize drawing later this year.

The ACC Nation's Morning Edition

Don't forget that a new ACC Nation show is available for the weekend. Check it out here.

Good news, maybe, for Duke lacrosse as a whole, but bad news for another player. ESPN.com reported yesterday that the men's lacrosse program will be reinstated next year after play was suspended this season following allegations of sexual assault by several of the players. But school officials are denying that report for the moment. And the saga continues.

Meanwhile, rising senior Matthew Wilson was suspended from the team after police arrested him on May 24. Wilson had a blood-alcohol level of 0.21 percent, nearly three times the 0.08 legal limit, when he was stopped. Police also found 6 grams of marijuana and a glass pipe in his car.

OK, let's get to the NCAA regional baseball action from Friday. The word of the day yesterday: rain.

Virginia whipped Lehigh 11-5 in Charlottesville. But the second game was postponed because of rain, meaning South Carolina and Evansville will be played at 11 this morning. The Cavaliers are in good shape because they get the winner of that second game tonight at 7. The loser has to turn around and play again at 3.

In Clemson, Elon beat Mississippi State in game one, but rain forced the Clemson-UNC Asheville game to this morning at 11.

Same deal for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets play two games today, the first at 11 a.m. against Stetson. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt beat Michigan before the rain came.

At least both game were played in the Chapel Hill regional. North Carolina had to rally, but beat that noted baseball power Maine 15-7. The Heels now play Winthrop, a 14-2 winner over UNC Wilmington, today.

Both games in Athens, Ga., were affected by rain. Florida State did get in seven innings and will have little to worry about when play resumes this morning at 9. FSU leads Jacksonville 18-0. The second game, Georgia and Sacred Heart, play at 11 a.m. today.

No rain in Lincoln, NE, as Miami beat San Francisco 11-2. But the story out of that regional was Nebraska's loss to Manhattan, giving Miami a big boost.

One ACC team did lose Friday. North Carolina State fell to Stanford 7-2 in the Austin, Texas, regional. The Wolfpack plays Texas-Arlington today, while Stanford and Texas also play.

Driesell is back at Maryland. OK, not that one. But Lefty's son, Chuck, was hired yesterday as an assistant on Gary Williams' staff at Maryland. He left a job as head coach at Bishop Ireton after two years.

More on Mount ACCMore
The argument for Bobby Bowden's inclusion on our Mount ACCMore - the Mount Rushmore of Atlantic Coast Conference sports greats - is that he was somehow responsible for where ACC football is today.
To me, that line of thinking does a disservice to two Clemson coaches who I see as having laid down the foundation for ACC football.
Frank Howard won six conference titles in the first 15 years of league play - and set the bar high for Ford, who later led the Tigers to the 1981 national championship.
It was Howard's teams who established the reputation of Memorial Stadium being Death Valley; it was Ford who made Clemson the standard-bearer of ACC football, to the point where schools up and down Tobacco Road did their best to keep up with what Clemson was doing in terms of its stadium amenities and training facilities.
Their legacy was so strong that Ford's successor, Ken Hatfield, got fired after four seasons because he was only able to win 71 percent of his games.
That Bowden and his Florida State program came in at the tail end of Hatfield's tenure is interesting in terms of the timing.
The Howard-Ford connection set the standard for ACC football for the better part of four decades. Bowden has a couple more to go before he can approach their influence on the conference.
- Chris Graham

ACC Nation (weekend of June 2)

A new ACC Nation is available just in time for the weekend.

On this week's show Patrick and Chris go inside the NCAA baseball tournament.

Paul Strelow of The State gives the skinny on the tournament's top overall seed, Clemson, while Friend of the Nation Adam Lucas, publisher of Tar Heel Monthly, joins the guys to talk Carolina baseball.

And finally, Sean Ryan of CollegeBaseballInsider.com talks about all seven ACC teams in the tournament that begins this weekend.

Plus the Sound and the Fury, and a look at a pair of recent national titles in the ACC.

The short ends of the stick
Do North Carolina and Virginia have a beef with their seedings in the NCAA baseball tournament? Without question.
The Heels and 'Hoos were locks for top-eight seeds in the tourney - until their early exits from the ACC baseball tournament last week.
Which means a couple of days in late May means more than the entirety of a season.
Makes sense, eh?
UNC was 45-13 overall and 22-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (including the tournament). Virginia was 46-13 and 22-11.
Georgia Tech, for its part, ended up 45-16 and 22-13 - good enough for third in the ACC's Coastal Division.
But hey, the Yellow Jackets were 3-2 in Jacksonville last week - which is how they ended up getting the eighth seed nationally, one would have to suppose.
Because it wasn't on the merits of the whole of the 2006 season.
The same could be said for the placement in the top eight of teams like Nebraska (10th in the CollegeBaseballInsider.com composite poll) and Georgia (11th in the CBI poll) - but enough with the quibbling.
Carolina and Virginia - ranked seventh and second nationally in team earned-run average, which would seem to be important as the postseason gets under way - are headed to Omaha whether the tournament-selection committee wants them there or not.
- Chris Graham

The ACC Nation's Afternoon Delight

The NCAA's ruling this week that football coaches can challenge one play per game has the ACC, and other conferences we can assume, wondering exactly how to implement the new rule.

Florida State's Mike Martin is worried that the draft may cause some distractions for his baseball players as the Seminoles enter regional play this weekend.

Speaking of FSU, here's a disturbing story about two former Seminoles, including a current NFL player, charged with stealing from a current Seminole football player.

NC State's assistant basketball coaches are trying to keep the program afloat as they wait for Sidney Lowe to join them. Meanwhile, Lowe, an assistant for the Detroit Pistons, is busy trying to figure out how to keep his own team afloat. The Pistons trail Miami 3 games to 2 in the best of seven series.

Former Miami player and current Washington Redskin safety Sean Taylor avoided jail time.

And finally, the Duke women's basketball team has lost a player. Laura Kurz will transfer out of Durham.