Tyrese Rice is just nasty....

3/1/2008 3:59:20 PM

What a terrible list. Everyone knows it's Duke #1, UMD #2, and State #3. After that it is very debatable. Also the Deacs student section is known as the Screamin' Deacons not the Freakin' Deacons. This guy's a dumbass.

http://tinyurl.com/2bxf65

Which ACC school has the toughest fans?

One of the trips I've been looking forward to since coming back on the Maryland beat is a trip to Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. It has nothing to do with the game itself, since I doubt tonight's matchup between the Terps and Demon Deacons will live up to others I've covered, especially those involving two relatively unknown freshmen named Joe Smith and Tim Duncan.

It's because of the Freakin' Deacons.

I've admired them from afar since their inception 10 years ago. Something about the tie-dye shirts and headbands appeal to the hippie in me. The Cameron Crazies were original about 20 years ago, but they've now resorted to parroting the chants that somebody writes down on a blackboard.

I know the Freakin' Deacons have inspired nearly every student body in the country with their theme song. It's played at just about every arena to get the students stirred up. I even heard it played at an American University women's game with about 12 fans at Bender Arena. I hope they live up to my expectations tonight.

But here's a question: which school has the toughest fans in the ACC?

1. Wake Forest -- The Demon Deacons have lost only once this year at home, in part because of the Freakin' Deacons.

2. Virginia Tech -- Cassell Coliseum is one of those old-school gyms that because of size and acoustics makes it tough for the opposing team to hear.

3. Duke -- Despite a lack of originality and an abundance of obnoxiousness, their proximity to the Coach K Court is not good for opponents with the slightest bit of claustrophobia.

4. Maryland -- Hate to say it, but the fans at Comcast Center are not as intense as they were a few years ago or as they were at Cole.

5. North Carolina -- Much improved from the early years at the Dean Dome when Sam Cassell called it a "cheese and wine crowd", but they still have a ways to go.

6. Georgia Tech -- They didn't come out in big numbers for Maryland's trip to Alexander Memorial Coliseum, but it still got pretty loud down the stretch when the game was close.

7. North Carolina State -- If Cameron has historically had the most creative chants, the Wolfpack faithful remain the most vulgar -- young and old.

8. Clemson -- There's something of a basketball mentality with Oliver Purnell, but it's not close to Death Valley during football season.

9. Miami -- I was surprised how vocal the 7,000 fans got on Saturday when the Terps lost down there, but they had little to do with Miami winning.

10. Florida State -- I'll never forget Pat Kennedy explaining to fans in Tallahassee the difference between basketball and football before a Maryland game. Hasn't changed a whole lot.

11. Boston College -- Unless it's a hockey game, the BC students don't come out. They certainly didn't for Gary Williams' 600th win.

That's my list, what's yours?

Explanation on Virginia

Just a note to those of you who thought I was dissing Virginia in this post.

I was missing Virginia. I meant to put in a disclaimer since I have not been to the new arena and it has been a long time since I have been to Charlottesville. I will give a new review after Maryland visits there March 9. Hopefully I will be allowed in. And out.

[Edited on March 2, 2008 at 6:06 PM. Reason : tinyurl]

3/2/2008 6:04:20 PM

A Maryland person calling us vulgar. What a whiny bitch.

3/2/2008 6:16:43 PM

LJVM Coliseum is basically a funeral home.

3/2/2008 6:48:40 PM

damn. Anyone else watching the Clemson vs Maryland game? Ogelsby just drained one like 8 feet behind the arc.

3/2/2008 9:28:35 PM

Wow Clemson has made a monster comeback. They are now only down 4 with 2:49 left.

3/2/2008 9:41:08 PM

Whoo! Go Tigers! They just tied it up off a steal with 45 seconds left. I hate hate hate Maryland.

3/2/2008 9:46:00 PM

AND 1

3/2/2008 9:50:13 PM

lol at Maryland

3/2/2008 9:51:18 PM

Maryland pulled off some NC State shit right there

3/2/2008 9:53:04 PM

That was an amazing comeback. I didn't really like them going for such a low percentage shot, but Oglesby when he's in a groove he can knock down just about anything. Huge collapse by Maryland. They were up 59-39 with 11 minutes left. I can't believe though how pathetic their crowd and students were. It was like they were in so much shock that they couldn't get up to try and make enough noise to help out their team. Usually when I see such a close late game situation, our students and alum are making a ton of noise.

3/2/2008 9:53:09 PM

Quote :

"Which ACC school has the toughest fans? .... 4. Maryland -- Hate to say it, but the fans at Comcast Center are not as intense as they were a few years ago or as they were at Cole. .... "

4? wat?

3/2/2008 9:58:30 PM

Tim Brando has one of the best jobs in the sporting world. He hosts the NCAA show at CBS headquarters wherever that is, and has done the Sunday night hoops and seen the best games the conference has had this year.

3/2/2008 10:06:27 PM

One thing you can count on if Tim Brando is doing the game is that you will hear him say "oh and the iron unkind" if someone misses a shot that was in the cylinder but popped back out.

3/2/2008 10:09:25 PM

TIGERS!!!!!
http://i25.tinypic.com/1j5l61.jpg%20%3Cbr%3E

[Edited on March 2, 2008 at 10:37 PM. Reason : ;]

[Edited on March 7, 2008 at 4:08 PM. Reason : ]

3/2/2008 10:35:40 PM

If you were to rank the ACC Coaching jobs, where would we stand? I think the best way to do it would be to first rank them by certain categories, then use those rankings as a point system to make a composite score for each. The categories should be facilities, fanbase, program prestige, etc.

3/7/2008 9:35:57 AM

Facilities (combination of arena and training facilities)

1. State
2. UVA
3. Maryland
4. UNC
5. Wake Forest
6. Duke (despite Cameron being old and decrepit, Duke does have a nice training center)
7. Clemson
8. Georgia Tech
9. Florida State
10. Virginia Tech
11. Miami (their arena while small is newer and nicer than BC's Conte Forum)
12. Boston College


State used to be a little farther down the list when we had the players practicing at Reynolds Coliseum.

3/7/2008 1:44:12 PM

Fanbase (i.e. who fills up their arena consistently, contributes the most money to the program, etc.)

1. UNC (yeah they are bandwagoners, but right now they are consistently filling up the Nose Dome)
2. Maryland
3. State
4. Duke (they have a small local fanbase, which may be why they don't plan on building a larger arena, but they have a ton of people across the country that follow them)
5. Wake Forest (they fill up LJVM pretty well considering how small the school and local alumni base is)
6. UVA (mainly for them getting the money up to build the nice JPJ arena. i'm still wondering when we'll start seeing that thing be empty though. i guess newness of the building will keep it filled for a few years.)
7. Clemson (they are a lot better than they used to be)
8. GT (it dissappoints me that for a school that's had a pretty decent basketball history has trouble filling up such a small venue)
9. Virginia Tech (getting better but they still are a football school. the move to the ACC really helped them out)
10. Florida State
11. Boston College
12. Miami

3/7/2008 1:57:31 PM

^ you know UNC has had attendance problems all year, right? they had over 1,000 student tickets go unused for their senior night game. the only game that was completely filled up was Duke

3/7/2008 1:59:46 PM

I thought that the State game was a sellout. Besides, they have the largest arena in the conference. What the hell matters if they have 1,000 seats out of 21,000 empty. That's still more than anyone else.

3/7/2008 2:10:10 PM

Program Prestige (pretty self-explanatory)

1. North Carolina
2. Duke
3. State
4. Maryland
5. Georgia Tech
6. Wake Forest
7. Virginia
8. Boston College
9. Clemson
10. Florida State
11. Virginia Tech
12. Miami

I was tempted to put Maryland ahead of us since they have won a national championship and the ACC more recently then us, but the fact that we have 2 national championships to their one and 10 ACC championships to their 3 makes me give the nod to us over them. Also I think that Wake Forest and Virginia can possibly be interchanged. It depends on whether you give more weight to UVA's 2 Final Fours and 1 ACC Championship or Wake's 1 Final Four and 4 ACC Championships.

3/7/2008 2:44:21 PM

FSUs Sura/Ward and Cassell days trump anything BC has ever done. I can't remember a single noteworthy thing that program has ever done other than have two Curley's at one point and develop some pretty nice players for other programs (Penn and Herring)

They won one big east title and then tied for another regular season one after choking up a 3 game lead with 3 to play.

[Edited on March 7, 2008 at 2:49 PM. Reason : x]

3/7/2008 2:47:35 PM

Boston College - 3 Elite Eight Appearances. 2 Big East Tournament Championships (1997, 2001). 4 Big East Regular Season Championships (1981, 1983, 2001, 2005). 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, 10 NIT trips.

Florida State - 1 Final Four (1972). 1 Elite Eight (1993). 1 Sweet 16 (1992). 10 NCAA appearances. 6 NIT appearances.

3/7/2008 2:56:01 PM

Eh, they blow. They'll always be the team that UConn beat 18 straight times to me...

3/7/2008 3:01:30 PM

Quote :

"Duke (they have a small local fanbase)"

just because it's a small school doesn't mean they have a small local fanbase. i'd be willing to bet that Duke could sell out an 18,000 person arena every game

3/7/2008 4:06:36 PM

this season or last?

3/7/2008 4:10:49 PM

^^ Well why don't they expand Cameron or build a new arena? They could easily do something like what Oklahoma State did. That place was very similar in layout to Cameron and they expanded it and made it even better. Gallagher-Iba Arena is probably the second loudest venue in the Big 12 after KU's Allen Fieldhouse. It makes sense to do so. They would make more money, have a larger more up to date venue, and still be able to preserve the atmosphere of the building.

3/7/2008 6:57:45 PM

Well here's how it all shakes out.

Points Breakdown
School - Facilities, Fanbase, Program Prestige, Total Points
Boston College - 1, 2, 5, 8
Clemson - 6, 6, 4, 14
Duke - 7, 9, 11, 27
Florida State - 4, 3, 3, 10
Georgia Tech - 5, 5, 8, 18
Maryland - 10, 11, 9, 30
Miami - 2, 1, 1, 4
North Carolina - 9, 12, 12, 33
North Carolina State - 12, 10, 10, 32
Virginia - 11, 7, 6, 24
Virginia Tech - 3, 4, 2, 9
Wake Forest - 8, 8, 7, 23


Rank
1. North Carolina - 33
2. North Carolina State - 32
3. Maryland - 30
4. Duke - 27
5. Virginia - 24
6. Wake Forest - 23
7. Georgia Tech - 18
8. Clemson - 14
9. Florida State - 10
10. Virginia Tech - 9
11. Boston College - 8
12. Miami - 4


I seriously don't understand how one can say that Duke would consistently sell out an 18,000 seat arena when UNC can't always sell out their 21,000 seat arena. UNC is a large public school (27k students) with a ton of alumni in the area. They are the darling university of the state. Duke is a small private school (8k) with not many alumni in the area. There are a lot more UNC fans that live in Durham than Duke fans. Take a look at Maryland too. They have like 35k students, a large local alumni base, and have been one of the better programs of this past decade, yet they routinely have empty seats.

I also don't know if Duke could stay on the level that K has had them at once he retires. Coach K is one of those special coaches that doesn't come along that often like John Wooden, Bobby Knight, and Dean Smith (man I hate Dean Smith ). What alum do they have that is a proven coach to replace him? Capel at Oklahoma seems to be the only one. Johnny Dawkins while knowing the program doesn't have any head coaching experience. I doubt they could lure one of the big coaches away from any of their current gigs since most of them have nicer facilities than Duke. UNC could get Roy b/c of his special connection to the university.

3/7/2008 9:33:48 PM

^your numbers are pretty retarded

look at merchandise sold. duke sells more than we do at state or maryland despite having a much smaller school and stadium. cameron indoor stadium is a historic landmark for durham and most people involved with duke basketball have said they don't think they could ever build another stadium.

it's not like it matters though, the acc standings are the only things that matter to me and it's pretty bleak for us right now.

[Edited on March 7, 2008 at 10:12 PM. Reason : /]

3/7/2008 10:10:17 PM

umm...merchandise sales are factored into the program prestige rankings. the schools that win all the time have a lot of merchandise sales. besides all their success that is another reason why Duke is #2 on program prestige. you look at the Forbes list and UNC is #1, Duke is #5 or 6 iirc, and State is #13 (tied with UCLA). so if you look at the prestige rankings they fall right in line with that. UNC 1, Duke 2, State 3. i mean i could break out the numbers from 1 or 2 years ago that show that State is the #4 most profitable program in the nation also if you'd like. you say that Cameron Indoor Stadium is a historic landmark. that is not true. it is not on any historic landmark lists (although it should be). Gallagher-Iba Arena an arena that was very similar to Cameron in structure was renovated, expanded and is still one of the best arenas in the country. most of the Ok State alumni agree that it made the building better in fact. why couldn't Duke do a similar renovation? they've got the money.

bottom line is Duke players don't go to Duke for the "outstanding" facilities. they go to Duke for the chance to play for Coach K.

[Edited on March 7, 2008 at 10:44 PM. Reason : ]

3/7/2008 10:41:39 PM

Quote :

"6. Duke (despite Cameron being old and decrepit,"

Old, yes. Decrepit? No. Have you been inside that place? Its nice as hell. Duke's facilities are top notch all around for basketball. Just because its small doesn't mean it sucks. I don't think recruits give a shit how many people can fit in the arena. The atmosphere is more important.

3/7/2008 11:41:42 PM

Ok I'd be willing to move them above Wake on the facilities part, but there's no way in hell that I'm putting them above State, UVA, Maryland and UNC. You look at what State has to offer. They have a great atmosphere, the nicest arena in the ACC, and a brand new practice facility. Virginia also has a new arena and a brand new practice facility. Then Maryland has another new arena, but they don't have the separate practice facility like UVA and State. Then UNC added on a small practice court to the Bowles Room and Educational Foundation offices. Plus UNC's locker rooms and lounges are pretty pimp. The Duke players still have to practice in hot, old Cameron. The Schwartz-Butters Athletic Center is pretty nice though.

Quote :

"I don't think recruits give a shit how many people can fit in the arena. The atmosphere is more important."

I agree that atmosphere is important, but a recruit is going to be more impressed with an NBA style arena than a high school gym on steroids. Brackman said that the RBC Center was one of the reasons he came to State and was very impressed by it. Bottom line is most recruits go to Duke for Coach K. Duke does have the best atmosphere in college basketball though, which does get them a lot of players.

[Edited on March 8, 2008 at 12:32 AM. Reason : ]

3/8/2008 12:19:12 AM

did you see Duke's new practice courts?

[Edited on March 8, 2008 at 12:34 AM. Reason : i've agreed with most of what you've said ]

3/8/2008 12:33:27 AM

^ they added new practice courts?


http://ncstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=739403

Quote :

"James Mays, Clemson Who has the craziest fans? Duke man, the Cameron Crazies by far. NC State is a close second and then Maryland. I went to so many games at NC State, I can't even count how many. I also went to so many Duke and Carolina games too. Who has the best facility? By far it has to be NC State. The RBC Center is crazy. It's huge. When you get it packed in there, it's crazy."

Quote :

"A.D. Vassallo, Virginia Tech Who has the best facility? Traditionally, I like the UNC facility, it's real nice. NC State has the premier facility. The RBC Center is pretty much brand new, so that makes it better."

Quote :

"Jeremis Smith, Georgia Tech Who has the best facility? NC State. I also like the new facility at Virginia. If they had a pro [basketball] team at the RBC Center, they definitely could host games."

Quote :

"Harvey Hale, Wake Forest Who has the craziest fans? NC State. Man, they just some say some tough stuff, some harsh stuff. I was like, 'Wow. Did he really say that.'"

Quote :

"Marcus Ginyard, North Carolina Who has the craziest fans? NC State and obviously Duke's, they are loud and crazy. I'd think everyone's top two answers would be NC State and Duke. Who has the best facility? I haven't been to Virginia yet. Virginia Tech is definitely last. NC State maybe. They play in the RBC Center and that isn't bad. Boston College has a nice gym and Clemson has a nice gym. It's a toss-up. I'd have to say Boston College and I'm assuming Virginia because it is brand new."

This one made me mad though. FUCK YOU SEAN SINGLETARY!

Quote :

"Sean Singletary, Virginia Who has the best facility? I feel the most comfortable at NC State. I like the floor and the fans aren't that loud."

[Edited on March 8, 2008 at 12:39 AM. Reason : ]

3/8/2008 12:38:48 AM

i love the quotes, except for that singletary fucker

3/8/2008 12:46:34 AM

Yeah seriously how is he going to say the fans aren't that loud when we, along with Maryland, are the ones most mentioned after Duke by all the players? I can't remember, have most of the UVA games in the past been on weeknights or when we didn't have good teams. I do remember Singletary and Reynolds beat us down by themselves on a Wednesday night last year. It's all good we got our revenge on them in the ACC Tournament. The only reason why they tied with Carolina for first place in the ACC last year was b/c they had the easiest conference schedule of all the teams. That's why I wish we could go back to the round-robin format.

3/8/2008 12:56:41 AM

Brass Monkey - I agree. I don't think attendance at UNC of 20,520 - 21,750 (sell out) for all ACC games constitutes attendance problems. According to the numbers I was looking at the Duke and State games at Carolina were both sold out.

I think State has been averaging around 17,400 for ACC games. That number may be off just a little, but not much.

Either way, that's a lot of people. And ticket prices are getting crazy.

3/8/2008 1:21:32 AM

Legendary March Moments

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?page=marchlegends&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

Quote :

"• March 9, 1974: Tom Burleson, NC State, ACC championship game vs. Maryland Burleson had 38 points and 13 rebounds in what is often considered the greatest game ever played, North Carolina State's 103-100 win over Maryland in the ACC title game. "

[Edited on March 12, 2008 at 2:25 PM. Reason : ;kl]

3/12/2008 2:24:57 PM

^ at the bottom of the page is a link to a page where you can vote for your favorite performance. Burleson only has 9.3% of the vote right now. TWW Poll Skew to the rescue!

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/ballot?event_id=3368&incoming=1

3/12/2008 5:20:24 PM

Quote :

"It's a great place and a great atmosphere. I admire how they stand up the whole game."

lol who doesn't do that

Quote :

"^ they added new practice courts?"

i knew i had seen this on WRAL a few weeks back, just found the article:
http://www.wral.com/sports/story/2410063/

3/12/2008 5:40:18 PM

Quote :

"Also the Deacs student section is known as the Screamin' Deacons not the Freakin' Deacons."

I think they were at some point called the "Freakin' Deacons" -- at least I have an LJVM cup that has that printed on the side

But yeah, that list is shit.

3/12/2008 6:55:02 PM