Posts Tagged ‘North Carolina’

The Madness is Back and Who Will Win

Saturday, March 23rd, 2019

Updated: Originally published on March 21, 2019

by Gus Griffin

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NCAA

I have a lot of different column ideas backed up that I hope you all find interesting and thought provoking. That said, to write about anything other than college basketball this week makes about as much sense as a preacher giving a celibacy sermon in a brothel.

The “Madness” is back. I call it the single greatest sporting event in the world. Even the peripheral college basketball fan completes a bracket. The most OCD and micromanaging supervisors on the job realize the hope of any meaningful work being done this Thursday and Friday is futile.

Colleges that have little to no sports history of note, get on the big stage and unlike college football, actually have a chance to win. In addition, when the “little guy” like the UMBC Retrievers do win, it gives a college the single greatest recruitment tool it could hope to have. Underdogs who win typically experience about a 25% increase in applications the following year.

Magic & Bird - 1979 National Championship Game

Magic & Bird – 1979 National Championship Game

And still, with all the interests and the access to more comprehensive data than ever before, it remains, in my mind, the hardest major sports title to win or pick. I have never picked all four and rarely get more than two. It is difficult for those of us who follow the sport all year long, as I do and have for about 40 years. Speaking of 40 years, this is the anniversary of the Magic Johnson/Michigan State vs. Larry Bird/Indiana State showdown in the 1979 Finals, to which many suggest is the origin of the modern-day tournament popularity.

This year promises to be no different.

There is never a shortage of storylines. This year, for me, the most intriguing story line is the number of teams that have a chance to meet for a fourth time. This has always been rare but even more so now as conferences have grown. This growth made it impossible for all teams to play one another in the traditional home and away format. Then there is the chance of meeting in the conference tournament and then NCAA tourney. The most memorable (and painful, as a diehard

Maryland Terrapin fan) of these for me was 2000-01 between my Maryland Terrapins and the hated Duke Blue Devils. Duke overcame a 10-point deficit with 96 seconds left to beat Maryland in game one. Then won in ACC tourney and overcame a 22-point deficit in the Final Four meeting. Ironically, the only game my Terps won was at Duke. But all four games were absolute wars. Duke would win it all that year. Maryland would win it all the next year.

There are five potential fourth matchups this year and they are as follows: Michigan/Michigan State; Cincinnati/Houston; Seton Hall/Villanova; Tennessee/Kentucky; and of course, by far the most anticipated being Duke/North Carolina.

I am dropping Michigan and Michigan State since Sparty is 3-0 over the Wolverines. You have to win one of the first three to keep me interested (I was hoping San Diego State got in, which would give them a fourth crack at Nevada, whom they beat two of 3).  The remaining four are all 2-1 and none can meet again until the Final Four. That is drama.

With that, here are my Final Four teams:

Out of the South, I am going with the Tennessee Volunteers…in spite of their chronically underachieving coach Rick Barnes.

Out of the West, I pick Buffalo to be this year’s Loyola of Chicago. They are very good and have recent tournament experience.

Out of the Mid-West, the Tar Heels of North Carolina, if for no other reason than it is the one team that has no fear of Duke.

Finally, out of the East, as much as I hate to say it…Duke.

Some argue that Duke is vulnerable because they do not shoot the three well, nor are they very good free throw shooters. For your average talented team, I would agree that both flaws would undermine a team’s title hopes.

This is not just another talented team.

ZWZion Williamson (short of the ridiculously premature LeBron comparisons), is every bit as good and exciting as advertised. Both RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish will also be first round picks in the NBA draft someday. Tre Jones would be the best player on about 95 percent of the other teams in the tournament. They are all, technically speaking, freshman. However, in reality, there are no more freshmen playing this time of year. Having said that, maybe a lack of experience is a more valid concern than 3-point or free throw shooting. If either were such an “Achilles Heel”, they would have never been able to comeback from a 23-point deficit on the road to beat a good Louisville team. Furthermore, Virginia is easily the best defensive team in the country, giving up over 70 only 3 times this year. Two were to Duke and the Blue Devils were the only team to score over 80 on the Cavaliers. Most teams struggled to score 60 on UVA.

For all of the above noted, I pick Duke to beat UNC once more in an epic Final. Take a prop that it will go to overtime.

Do not get annoyed if I gave you a sheet with three different Final Four teams. I told you this stuff is hard and anyone with a lick of sense will hedge. LOL. Let the “MADNESS” begin.

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

Carolina Negro Jig

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

by Writing Battle Rap History

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Carolina Chocolate Drops, 2014

Carolina Chocolate Drops, 2014

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are one of the few black, old-time string bands that still exist today.  Composed of lead vocalist, violinist, and banjoist, Rhiannon Giddens, multi-instrumentalists, Hubby Jenkins and Rowan Corbett, and cellist, Malcolm Parson, the Durham, North Carolina based quartet are a coming of age musical-medium that bridge African-American influenced folk music to modern musical themes with a 21st century interpretation.

The banjo, an instrument that has its origins in West Africa, is quintessential in the makings of music in America.  As early as the 17th century, slaves were taught to play violins for their master’s entertainment.  Slaves combined European harmonies they learned on the violin with the rhythmic and syncopated cadences from their native Africa that they played on the banjo.   This cultivated into a sound that was uniquely African-American and was called “Negro Jigs.”

Joe Thompson

Joe Thompson

Before the Chocolate Drops became a group, they were inquisitive musicians that shared a common interest in learning more about string music, in particular, the African-American influence on string music of the 1920s and 30s in the Piedmont regions of North and South Carolina.  When white musicians started to incorporate banjos in their sets, string music became associated with being “hillbilly“, mainly because black musicians started embracing blues music and as a result black string band traditions faded, while “hillbilly” became the precursor to country and bluegrass music.  Wanting to preserve and share the black string band tradition, the Chocolate Drops sought the expertise of Joe Thompson, a legendary fiddler from North Carolina who comes from a line of black string band musicians. Thompson exposed them to old-time fiddling during jam sessions at his home.  The Carolina Chocolate Drops initially formed as a tribute band for Thompson before his passing in 2012 at the age of 93, but shortly thereafter, discovered success beyond him.  Click here to read the full review.

 

An “All-Star” Caliber Experiment: The New NHL Format

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

I’d just like to take a minute give kudos to the NHL for their “outside the box” thinking in regards to the format of this weekend’s NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh, North Carolina.  This isn’t the first time that they have tweaked the format of their All-Star EXHIBITION game.  The NBA, NFL, and ESPECIALLY MLB should all take note.  Though it is my opinion that the NFL has the worst all-star game in professional sports, I singled out Major League Baseball because they TOTALLY dropped the ball when they made the results of an exhibition game the determinant for home field advantage in the most important set of games in the entire sport.

Over the years, the NHL has experimented with several different formats such as East vs West, USA vs the World, etc.  This year’s format may be the most interesting one yet from a fan’s perspective, and most of the excitement will take place before the first puck is ever dropped.

The fans have voted in 6 “starters” (3 forwards, 2 defensemen, 1 goalie) from both conferences.  The NHL then selected another 36 All-Stars, which will give each team 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, and 3 goalies when the teams are eventually set.  That pool of 42 players then nominated 6 of their peers to serve as captains for the two teams (1 captain and 2 alternates for each team). 

Tomorrow (Fri, Jan 28) at 6pm, a televised Fantasy Draft will be held on the NHL Network, where the captains of each team will select their perspective rosters, with the order determined by a coin toss.  Then on Sunday (Jan 30), the selected teams will do battle.  I personally think this is a great format for and All-Star EXHIBITION.  Can you imagine if the NBA had a pick-up All Star Game?  Can you imagine if the NFL Pro-Bowl……..nevermind…….I don’t know what it will take for me to ever be interested in the Pro-Bowl again.  However, my advice to the other professional leagues is…TAKE NOTES…and remember, in the words of my Homie Duke from Rocky IV…”THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN EXHIBITION!”

"Throw the damn towel!!!"

Devin “Dev” McMillan of The War Room, for War Room Sports