It’s happened again!  Yes, for the 50th time in the past 50 years, fans are upset about ACC officiating.  All you have to do is log onto any college’s sports message board and you’ll find it.  Vitriol, hate, disgust, smack talk… all aimed at the ACC’s men in stripes.  Some say this year’s officiating has been the worst ever.  Then again, some said that last year, and the year before and so on and so on…

   Are the accusations true?  I don’t think so.  And here’s why:  the game has become impossible to officiate according to the rules.  What was once a no-contact game has become a full-contact game.  Hand-checking, bumping, banging.  Yes, there is inconsistency in calling it.  But officiating is an inconsistent art, not a science.  If officials called every touch foul, games would never end.  Actually, I take that back.  They’d end before halftime, because everyone would have fouled out.

     If, as some claim, the ACC’s officials are bad, where would you propose the powers-that-be find new ones?  The Pac-10, the Big East, the SEC, NAIA?  NBA?  It isn’t a full-time job and never will be.  Unless of course you’re willing to pay another surcharge on your ticket price to foot the bill for full-time officials.

    Then there’s the ACC conspiracy theory:  Duke and Carolina get all the calls because it makes the conference more money.  How exactly does that work?  Don’t you think a larger state school such as NC State or Maryland would pump as much if not more money into the league coffers if their school was a perennial Final Four team?  More concessions, more souvenirs, more, more, more.  I’ve yet to meet or interview an official that has a bias toward or against a team.  My feeling is that it would be pretty noticeable and that ref would not be working in the ACC any longer.

   I do agree that home teams and better teams get more calls.  But that’s a nature vs nurture argument… environment dictates unconscious  or subconscious decisions.  It’s a fact in peewee ball, middle school, high school, college and the pros.

   So next time a call goes against your team, yell at the ref, yell at the tv or yell at the radio if you like.  But you’d be better off yelling at your team to play better.

 Boston College

Aug. 30      at Kent State (Cleveland)

Sept. 6        Georgia Tech

Sept. 20      UCF

Sept. 27      Rhode Island

Oct. 4         at NC State

Oct. 18       Virginia Tech

Oct. 25       at North Carolina

Nov. 1        Clemson

Nov.  8       Notre Dame

Nov. 15      at Florida State

Nov. 22      at Wake Forest

Nov. 29      Maryland            

Clemson 

Aug. 30      Alabama (Georgia Dome)

Sept. 6        The Citadel

Sept. 13      NC State

Sept. 20      SC State

Sept. 27      Maryland

Oct. 9         at Wake Forest (Thu.)

Oct. 18       Georgia Tech

Nov. 1        at Boston College

Nov.  8       at Florida State

Nov. 15      Duke

Nov. 22      at Virginia

Nov. 29      South Carolina                     

Duke      

Aug. 30      James Madison

Sept. 6        Northwestern

Sept. 13      Navy

Sept. 27      Virginia

Oct. 4         at Georgia Tech

Oct. 18       Miami

Oct. 25       at Vanderbilt

Nov. 1        at Wake Forest

Nov.  8       NC State

Nov. 15      at Clemson

Nov. 22      at Virginia Tech

Nov. 29      North Carolina   

Florida State 

Sept. 6        Western Carolina

Sept. 13      UT Chattanooga

Sept. 20      Wake Forest

Sept. 27      Colorado (Jacksonville)

Oct. 4         at Miami

Oct. 16       at NC State (Thu.)

Oct. 25       Virginia Tech

Nov. 1        at Georgia Tech

Nov.  8       Clemson

Nov. 15      Boston College

Nov. 22      at Maryland

Nov. 29      Florida                       

Georgia Tech

Aug. 28      Jacksonville State

Sept. 6        at Boston College

Sept. 13      at Virginia Tech

Sept. 20      Mississippi State

Oct. 4         Duke

Oct. 11       Gardner-Webb

Oct. 18       at Clemson

Oct. 25       Virginia

Nov. 1        Florida State

Nov. 8        at North Carolina

Nov. 20      Miami (Thu.)

Nov. 29      at Georgia           

Maryland      

Aug. 30      Delaware

Sept. 6        at Middle Tennessee State

Sept. 13      California

Sept. 20      Eastern Michigan

Sept. 27      at Clemson

Oct. 4         at Virginia

Oct. 18       Wake Forest

Oct. 25       NC State

Nov.  6       at Virginia Tech (Thu.)

Nov. 15      North Carolina

Nov. 22      Florida State

Nov. 29      at Boston College 

Miami     

Aug. 28      Charleston Southern (Thu.)

Sept. 6        at Florida

Sept. 20      at Texas A&M

Sept. 27      North Carolina

Oct. 4         Florida State

Oct. 11       UCF

Oct. 18       at Duke

Oct. 25       Wake Forest

Nov. 1        at Virginia

Nov. 13      Virginia Tech (Thu.)        

Nov. 20      at Georgia Tech (Thu.

)Nov. 29      at NC State         

North Carolina

Aug. 30      McNeese State

Sept. 11      at Rutgers (Thu.)

Sept. 20      Virginia Tech

Sept. 27      at Miami

Oct. 4         Connecticut

Oct. 11       Notre Dame

Oct. 18       at Virginia

Oct. 25       Boston College

Nov.  8       Georgia Tech

Nov. 15      at Maryland

Nov. 22      NC State

Nov. 29      at Duke                      

NC State

Aug. 28      at South Carolina (Thu.)

Sept. 6        William & Mary

Sept. 13      at Clemson

Sept. 20      East Carolina

Sept. 27      South Florida

Oct. 4         Boston College

Oct. 16       Florida State (Thu.)

Oct. 25       at Maryland

Nov.  8       at Duke

Nov. 15      Wake Forest

Nov. 22      at North Carolina

Nov. 29      Miami 

Virginia  

Aug. 30      Southern California

Sept. 6        Richmond

Sept. 13      at Connecticut

Sept. 27      at Duke

Oct. 4         Maryland

Oct. 11       East Carolina

Oct. 18       North Carolina

Oct. 25       at Georgia Tech

Nov.  1       Miami

Nov. 8        at Wake Forest

Nov. 22      Clemson

Nov. 29      at Virginia Tech 

Virginia Tech 

Aug. 30      East Carolina (Charlotte)

Sept. 6        Furman

Sept. 13      Georgia Tech

Sept. 20      at North Carolina

Sept. 27      at Nebraska

Oct. 4         Western Kentucky

Oct. 18       at Boston College

Oct. 25       at Florida State

Nov.  6       Maryland (Thu.)

Nov. 13      at Miami (Thu.)

Nov. 22      Duke

Nov. 29      Virginia 

Wake Forest 

Aug. 30      at Baylor

Sept. 6        Mississippi

Sept. 20      at Florida State

Sept. 27      Navy

Oct. 9         Clemson (Thu.)

Oct. 18       at Maryland

Oct. 25       at Miami

Nov. 1        Duke

Nov.  8       Virginia

Nov. 15      at NC State

Nov. 22      Boston College

Nov. 29      Vanderbilt 

Here are the latest football signees, culled from college sports websites and e-mails, as of 6:00pm, February 6th:

From Wake Forest:

From Appalachian State:

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School (Previous College)
Ingram Bell DB 6-0 190 Murrell’s Inlet, S.C./St. James
Malcolm Bennett DL 6-2 255 College Park, Ga./Banneker (Georgia Military Coll.)
Demery Brewer LB 6-2 200 Lincolnton, N.C./Lincolnton
DeMorris Brooks DB 5-10 200 Shelby, N.C./Shelby (San Bernardino Valley Coll.)
Rod Chisholm RB 5-9 190 Charlotte, N.C./Independence
Jordan Gary TE 6-3 245 Greenwood, S.C./Greenwood
Ed Gainey DB 5-11 190 Winston-Salem, N.C./Mt. Tabor
Justin Lloyd DB 5-10 180 Charlotte, N.C./Victory Christian
Sam Martin PK 6-1 180 Fayetteville, Ga./Starr’s Mill
Dominique McDuffie ATH 6-2 195 Chattanooga, Tenn./Red Bank
Terrence McLean LB 6-2 215 Laurinburg, N.C./Scotland County
DeAndre Presley QB 5-11 170 Tampa, Fla./Middleton
John Rizor DL 6-2 215 Fayetteville, N.C./Jack Britt
Lanston Tanyi DL 6-2 230 Shelby, N.C./Shelby
Chad Turner OL 6-3 270 Twin City, Ga./Emanuel County Institute

From UNC:

From NC State:

Zach Allen          6-3 • 300 • Offensive Line  Tifton, Ga. • Tift County HS

Brandon Barnes 6-0 • 180 • Running Back   Bunn, N.C. • Bunn HS

William Beasley 6-2 • 225 • Linebacker  Milton, Fla. • Milton HSLeRoy Burgess  6-1 • 300 • Defensive Line  Columbia, S.C. • Georgia Military College/Ridgeview HSMario Carter 6-4 • 230 • Tight End Charlotte, NC • Independence HSDominique Ellis 5-11 • 190 • Defensive Back Wendell, N.C. • East Wake HSMarty Everett 6-4 • 300 • Defensive Line Bushnell, Fla. • South Sumter HSMike Glennon 6-6 • 195 • Quarterback Centreville, Va. • Westfield HST.J. Graham  6-0 • 180 • Wide Receiver Raleigh, N.C. • Wakefield HSGary Grant 6-0 • 190 • Defensive Back Miami, Fla. •  Dr. Michael M. Krop HSColby Jackson 6-2 • 225 • Fullback Dublin, Ga. • Trinity ChristianAhmad Jaradat 6-4 • 290 • Offensive Line London, Ontario, Canada • Catholic Central HSClem Johnson 6-0 • 190 • Defensive Back Carlisle, Pa. • Valley Forge Military College/Carlisle HSSam Jones 6-5 • 300 • Offensive Line Fuquay-Varina, N.C. • Hargrave Military Academy/Fuquay Varina HSKyle Linney 6-3 • 300 • Defensive Line Taylorsville, N.C. • Hargrave Military AcademyThomas Locust 6-3 • 325 • Defensive Line Riviera Beach, Fla. • Cerritos Community College/RIviera Beach HS Sterling Lucas 6-2 • 220 • Linebacker Orangeburg, S.C. • Orangeburg Wilkinson Senior HS

Dwayne Maddox  6-2 • 220 • Linebacker Shelby, N.C. • Crest Senior HSRoy Mangram 6-1 • 200 • Defensive Back Brunswick, Ga. • Glynn AcademyTerrell Manning 6-3 • 220 • Linebacker Laurinburg, N.C. • Scotland County HSR.J. Mattes 6-6 • 270 • Offensive Line Concord, N.C. • Jay M. Robinson HSShea McKeen 6-5 • 250 • Defensive Line Princeton N.J. • Nassau Community CollegeTobais Palmer 5-10 • 165 • Running Back Pittsboro, N.C. • Northwood HSAndrew Wallace 6-5 • 280 • Offensive Line Charlotte, N.C. • Olympic HSC.J. Wilson 5-11 • 171 • Defensive Back Lincolnton, N.C. • Lincolnton HSEarl Wolff 6-0 • 190 • Defensive Back Raeford, N.C. • Hoke County HS 

   For a guy who was born and raised 20 minutes from Foxboro, where the Patriots play, I was happy the New York Giants won the Super Bowl.  Once upon a time, I covered the Patriots, but that was once upon a time.  Since then, I have more connections to the Giants, some personal, some less so.

   I was happiest for Giants’ offensive line coach Pat Flaherty.  He was an assistant under Jim Caldwell at Wake Forest, a class guy and a great coach.  A couple years ago, he went through a colon cancer scare.  So it was great to see him come back and win a title.

   Same for Fred Robbins, who played on the defensive line at Wake.  It’s always great to see guys with a local connection do well.

  And that gets us to Madison Hedgecock.  The Ledford HS and UNC alum is from here… one of our own.  And he only ended up with the Giants after the Rams had cut him.  Now he returns home to Wallburg as a Super Bowl champion.

   During his stints as head coach of the Jaguars and even the last year or so with the Giants, Tom Coughlin was portrayed as a ‘hardass.’  Media hammered him because they said players wouldn’t play for him — he couldn’t adapt, players had to adapt to him.  Whatever he did this year, it certainly worked.

  And maybe Coughlin was the link to that last unbeaten team, the 1972 Miami Dolphins.  After all, Coughlin played running back at Syracuse with a guy named Larry Csonka.

  As Paul Harvey would say, “And now you know the rest of the story.”

   Wonder what Wolfpack fans are thinking now?  After the Tar Heels spanked ‘em on Saturday, it’s hard to fathom the ACC media’s third-place pick for the Pack.  All the promise that Sidney Lowe brought in his first season has evaporated before the second week of conference play.  Injuries have hamstrung Lowe’s attempts at finding a replacement point guard for graduated Engin Atsur.  In fact, injuries haven’t helped anywhere.  Nor has the Pack’s anemic offense, which I guess you could attribute to the lack of an experienced and healthy point guard. 

   To add fuel to that fire, did you see who cracked the AP Top 25 yesterday?  Would you believe Arizona State?  And y’all remember who the Wildcats’ head coach is, right?  That’s right, Herb Sendek, the guy who got out while the gettin’ was good.  Despite an 8-22 record that included 15 straight losses in his first season in Tempe, Sendek has turned things around at ASU.  The Wildcats are 13-2 headed into Thursday’s first Pac-10 road game at Cal.  In fact, aside from three games on the neutral floor at the Maui Classic, Arizona State has played only one road game thus far.  If Sendek’s guys show they can win on the road, Wolfpack fans might be casting rueful glances from afar.

  It’s North Carolina…..

then Duke…..

then maybe Clemson..

    and Miami….

then everybody else.

That’s what ACC basketball looks like after a week or so.  Who can get a read on Wake Forest?  They blow out a pretty good BYU team, then look as if they have no interest in playing at BC.

How about NC State?  The media (including yours truly) picked the Pack to finish third.  And they still might… in the MEAC!  (Rim shot, please!)

Shouldn’t Virgina be better?  The Cavaliers have the league’s best combo guard in Sean Singletary.  But he hasn’t gotten enough support from the rest of his teammates.

BC lost to Robert Morris.  Virginia Tech has green guards.  Maryland isn’t good.  Neither is Georgia Tech.  The surprise of the bunch may turn out to be Florida State.  Then again, maybe it won’t. 

Thank God we have two more months… or maybe not.

   Happy New Year to everyone… I hope the holidays were good to you.  I’m just back to work after eleven days off, during which time I attended several sporting events.  And I have to tell you, it was weird to watch as a fan without any deadlines to worry about.

   My family and I attended a couple of Wake basketball games, a hockey game or two, and the Frank Spencer Classic.  And we spent a lot money on concessions!  And now, five pounds later, it’s time to get back to business… and back to the gym.

   And Sunday, my hockey team, the Bears opens defense of its Piedmont Hockey Association Championship.  However, the league has combined the two divisions, which means all the really good players will be playing with us old guys.  So much for any hope of a personal single-season scoring record.  The best part, we open with four games in five nights at Winston-Salem’s Coliseum Annex.  There will be plenty of Ben Gay used… maybe that’s where the record will be set?!?!

   After 20 months, we’ve finally seen the Mitchell Report.  OK, I’ve seen some of it — scanned about 100 of the 400-plus pages.  And here’s what I gleaned from it:  major league baseball has a problem.  Believe if you want that the 80 or so players named in various places in the report are guilty of using.  Then extrapolate that out for all the users who didn’t leave a paper trial and for all the HGH users who can’t be named, since there’s no test to detect it.  And you have what for a number?  100?  200?  300?  Everyone in the majors and another 500 in the minors?

   And that’s the problem, the perception that the number of ‘cheaters’ is much bigger than what’s been revealed in the report.  As Senator Mitchell himself said, those who don’t use are then forced to make the choice to either stay at a competitive disadvantage, or use themselves.  It is a moral dilemma.  Choose between supporting yourself and your family by doing whatever it takes to perform in peak condition, or doing the ’right thing.’  Thankfully, there are enough people who still believe that the clean way is the best way.

   Perhaps the most bothersome part of the report was Mitchell’s assertion that there are hundreds of thousands of high school and younger athletes who currently use steroids or other performance enhancers.  That’s a lot of kids, kids who are in danger of physical harm and in some cases death.

   Though I’m not big on promoting professional athletes as role models, the truth is, that they in many households, they are.  Because they do their jobs on a public stage, that is an unavoidable consequence.  I hope the players realize that because of that, they need to do the right thing.

1. LSU

2. MISSOURI

3. KANSAS

4. WEST VIRGINIA

5. OHIO STATE

6. OKLAHOMA

7. OREGON

8. GEORGIA

9. ARIZONA STATE

10. SOUTHERN CAL

11. VIRGINIA TECH

12. FLORIDA

13. BOISE STATE

14. BOSTON COLLEGE

15. VIRGINIA

16. TENNESSEE

17. CLEMSON

18. UCONN

19. ILLINOIS

20, TEXAS

21. HAWAII

22. CINCINNATI

23. WISCONSIN

24. MICHIGAN

25. SOUTH FLORIDA

Others I thought about:  KENTUCKY

PENN STATE

BYU

OKLAHOMA STATE

AIR FORCE

TROY

AUBURN

1. LSU

2. Oregon

3. Oklahoma

4. Missouri

5. Kansas

6. West Virginia

7. Ohio State

8. Arizona State

9. Georgia

10. Southern Cal

11. Virginia Tech

12. Clemson

13. Florida

14. Boise State

15. Boston College

16. Virginia

17. Tennessee

18. UConn

19. Cincinnati

20. Texas

21. Hawaii

22. Illinois

23. Penn State

24. Kentucky

25. Michigan