Yearly Archives: 2011

My official thoughts on #903 are coming later today at Grantland, and I’ll link them here. For now, let me give you a synopsis:

-Coach K is amazing.
-Andre Dawkins is a badass.
-Austin Rivers is a work in progress, but last night was ugly.
-The Plumlees are about as bad as we could ever imagine.
-This team is probably not #6 in the country.

Like I said, a lot more coming later. Now, quick fall sports updates.

Women’s Soccer:

1. The Duke women beat Radford with ease in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They’ll face Georgia in Round Two Friday night at home.  Duke, a 1-seed, will have homefield advantage through the quarterfinals if they keep winning.

2. The UNC women posted a 3-0 victory over William & Mary. They’ll face Baylor in Florida Friday afternoon, and will likely meet Florida, a 2-seed, if they reach the Sweet 16.

Men’s Soccer:

1. Duke lost in the semifinals of the ACC tournament to Boston College, and will face Georgia State in the NCAA first round at home tomorrow night.

2. After winning the ACC tournament, UNC is a 1-seed with a first round bye. The Heels will play at home against Elon or Coastal Carolina Sunday night.

Field Hockey:

1. Duke lost in the Elite 8 to Old Dominion, the #2 overall seed.
2. UNC, the best team in the country, is in the Final Four. A rematch with Maryland, who they’ve met in the championship game the past two years (lost in 2010, won in 2009), is looking very possible.

Please welcome Jill to the TRB fray. This is her first post for the site.

Once upon a time, during a chilly November, two revered athletic programs sat on the brink of history. In one arena, nearly 10,000 fans, dressed in blue and white, cheered in adoration, celebrating their legendary coach. In another, over 100,000 fans, also dressed in blue and white, cheered in confusion, mourning the loss of theirs. Only 435 miles separate the Gothic Wonderland from Happy Valley, but on Saturday, the two college havens, both of which sound like villages out of a fairy tale, could not feel farther apart.

As we have recently and painfully learned, a storybook ending can be rewritten in a matter of days. On October 29th, Coach Joe Paterno set the all-time record for wins in Division I football. His Penn State faithful worshiped accordingly, kneeling in reverence before his bronze statue on campus. The man they lovingly call JoePa, like everyone’s favorite grandpa, was an elder statesman who ruled over his Happy Valley Kingdom for six decades with a heart seemingly made of gold. Although insufferably arrogant at times, it was with this heart that he set a gold standard, both for his football program and for his university. He poured his soul into Penn State, he donated and raised millions of dollars, he won two championships without one NCAA infraction, he benefited the lives of thousands. Those facts are unquestionable. On November 9th, just 11 days after making history, Joe Paterno was unceremoniously fired by telephone. It is also unquestionable that he deserved to be.

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Every Friday, a group of fearless webmasters and sports fanatics from around the Triangle will gather to predict five college football games against the spread. Every Duke, Carolina, and N.C. State game will be featured, along with a smattering of high profile non-Triangle games. As the season goes along, we’ll keep the standings updated and see who emerges as the one true prophet. Make your predictions in the comment section. Each week, we’ll feature any and all commenters who pick all 5 games correctly.

Current Standings

1. John Watson, The Devil’s Den – 29.5 points

2. Nate Friedman, UNC football correspondent – 26.5 points

3. Me – 25.5 points

4. Tar Heel Fan Blog – 24.5 points
4. James Henderson, Publisher, Pack Pride – 24.5 points

6. The Devil Wolf, TRB – 23.5 points

7. Jim Young, Editor, ACCSports.com – 22.5 points

8. William Earnhardt, Site Designer – 20.5 points

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The season is here! The season is here! Sweet f#*$ing gobstoppers, the season is here! I’m going to climb a tree and fight a squirrel. I’m going to lecture the pavement. I’m going to dress up like a mailman, break into your house, and spray paint a mural of Coach K in your bathroom. Everything’s on the table here, man. EVERYTHING.

What a great day. And what a great weekend, with the NCAA tournament kicking off for most fall sports. Let’s take a look at what’s happening over the next few days. Beginning, of course, with the best sport in the history of the universe. (At least since they banned lion fighting.)

-Tonight, at 9pm, the Dukies take on Belmont. You might remember Belmont as the team that almost crushed our spirit in 2008 before Gerald Henderson saved us. The spirit was quickly crushed two days later by West Virginia, but hey, at least it wasn’t Belmont. I don’t know about this year’s team, guys. I’m not feeling that No. 6 ranking right now, though I do hope I’m wrong. But where’s the scoring coming from against the good defenses? One-on-one play from Austin Rivers, and the occasional Curry hot streak? As much as Duke ever has a rebuilding year, I think this is it.

-Earlier, at 7pm, UNC is playing Michigan State on a BOAT. Here’s what I hate about this: why is the boat docked? That’s right, docked. Seriously, what is the purpose of playing on an aircraft carrier if it’s not at least going to cruise around the bay? I mean, damn, the boat might as well be in the middle of Kansas. This is like saying you’re playing on ice whenever you play at Madison Square Garden. Yeah, there’s ice somewhere under there, but come on. Anyway, not only will this let us see the greatest collection of basketball talent ever assembled on one team, but it’ll also give us an indication of what Duke faces when Coach K tries to break Knight’s record against the Spartans next week.

-Tomorrow, at Fetzer Field, the UNC women play their first round NCAA game against William & Mary. It’s been a relatively tough year for the Heels, and William & Mary actually drew against Duke in an exhibition earlier this season. Carolina will be the favorite, but I’m going and expecting just about anything. 2pm.

-Sunday, at 2pm, Duke hosts Radford in its first round match. The Blue Devils are one of three 1-seeds from the ACC (FSU and Wake are the others), and they should be able to handle Radford with relative ease.

-Tonight, in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, UNC will meet Virginia at 5:30 and Duke will take on Boston College at 7:30. Here are the highlights from Duke’s 0-0 tie against Clemson in the quarterfinals, after which Duke advanced 5-4 on penalties. It looks like an insanely fun game where both teams had a lot of chances. But guys, if you’re going to make a highlight video of a game that went to penalty kicks, is there one particular element you think you should definitely include?

-Tomorrow morning, top-ranked UNC kicks off the NCAA field hockey tournament against Ohio at home. Duke plays Stanford in Norfolk, Virginia. Potential great match-up the next day if Duke meets No. 2 Old Dominion in the quarterfinals.

Triangle Prophets coming this afternoon! Life is good. Happy Birthday, Emily.

We’re not Penn State alums.

In two days both Duke and UNC will officially begin their college basketball seasons.  UNC will play against Michigan St. on an aircraft carrier (this is an awesome but at the same time an idiotic idea) and Duke will play against Belmont in Cameron.  Both Duke and UNC are expected to win, but anything can happen in college basketball.

I don’t know too much about Belmont besides the fact that Duke narrowly avoided being upset by them in the NCAA tourney a few years ago.  Supposedly they are a decent team with a decent amount of experience.  They have more size than the exhibition teams Duke has played, but they are in Tennessee so it’s remarkable they know actually know what a basketball is.  When I think of Tennessee I just imagine banjos, biscuits and overrated football teams.

I think Duke may struggle in this game for the first half.  The players will likely come out with a decent amount on anxiety, but they will eventually relax and overwhelm their opponents.  I know the Plumlee’s will rain fire and destruction upon Belmont, but that’s to be expected.  There really isn’t too much to say besides thank god college basketball is finally beginning and life is happy again.