Hack-A-Hansbrough

The Tar Heels posted their second straight impressive win Saturday night after the loss to the Hokies, beating Georgia Tech 77-61. Some thoughts from Section 200:

• Last time these two teams met, Tyler Hansbrough led a UNC comeback with 40 points. This year, Paul Hewitt had his Yellow Jackets hammer Psycho T every time he stepped on the court. A number of the fouls were pretty dirty with Zach Peacock and Ra'Sean Dickey drawing the two intentional fouls that were called. Overall, Psycho T hit 14 of 15 free throws, making GT pay for its tactic with 24 points. Nevertheless, it was a ridiculous showing...I thought Hewitt had more class than to pull a Rick Barnes move.

• Every year, the UNC athletic budget includes thousands of dollars worth of corrective surgery for varsity athletes. Everything from knees, to feet, to shoulders gets fixed up. So why can't UNC foot the bill and get Psycho T some LASIK surgery? For the third game that I've attended this season, the bug-eyed brute lost a contact after a hard foul Saturday. At least this time there was a timeout immediately following so he could put a new one in and get accustomed to it before shooting the free throws. Usually his sight is off a little bit after putting a new one in. So, for the sake of free-throw percentage, get Psycho T some LASIK or at the least some rec specs.
• Reyshawn Terry finally looked good offensively, going 7-for-9 for 16 points after scoring just 17 points total in the previous four games. He also had one amazing dunk on a fast break where he was fouled and hung on the rim, smacking the backboard. Definitely worthy of a SportsCenter top 10.
• My skills at ticket scalping came in handy again as there was almost no one selling before the game. Fortunately, I wore my warm clothes and was prepared to wait outside well after the game started. My goal was to get in for $20 or less, which wasn't going to happen with a regular ticket because of the out-of-whack supply and demand. So I went over and staked out the student entrance, holding up one finger and trying to look as pitiful in the cold as possible. It must have worked because after about 5-10 minutes, someone was nice enough to hand me his extra ticket for free.
  

Hokies in Top 25

For the first time in 11 years, Virginia Tech was ranked in the AP Top 25 for men's basketball. It wasn't a complete shock, and no one can say the Hokies aren't deserving of their No. 23 spot after beating No. 5 Dook and No. 1 Carolina in the same week. In the next week, Tech plays at Florida State and at home against Maryland, we'll see if the Hokies come back to Earth and play at the level of their competition as they're prone to do.

For more on the ranked Hokies, check this out.

Hokies and Heels

For the first time in many Virginia Tech-UNC matchups, I didn't know who I was going to root for on Saturday. Typically the Hokies and Heels make it easy on me: Tech is usually the best in football while UNC stinks, and UNC usually rules in hoops while the Hokies are weak. That meant that I could cheer for the team that had more riding on the specific game. A loss at Keenan Stadium would have ruined the Hokies football season this year, so I rooted for them. Last year, a defeat against Tech in basketball would have truly hurt the Heels' ranking, so I went for UNC. The Hokies win last week over No. 5 Dook tossed all that out the window.

UNC came into the game at Cassell Coliseum ranked No. 1 in the country and would surely lose that ranking if it lost. But the Heels were bound to lose at sometime, and it might as well be to the Hokies early in the season. Tech coming off one of its biggest upsets ever, could get its biggest ever and announce that it could really compete in the ACC. It ended up the Hokies won 94-88, and instead of ecstatic for Tech like I was after the Dook win, I was kind of just numb.
A few thoughts on the game:

• The Cassell was really rocking for the game with a sellout of nearly 10,000 fans. I've only been to a few games there when it was that packed...the ACC opener against UNC in Tech's inaugural season in the league and the NCAA women's tournament when Tech hosted two rounds come to mind. When Hokie Nation fill the Cassell, it really is one of the toughest places to play in the ACC. The way the arena is built, with the stands rising at a sharper angle than in typical arenas, makes for louder crowd noise than at the Dean Dome and it may be comparable to Cameron. If only the fans would come out when the Hokies play weak competition like VMI, then maybe they wouldn't blow those games.



• Seth Greenberg and the Hokies have done a good job approaching the ACC like they are a mid-major team. Instead of trying to compete with the Carolinas, Dooks and Marylands for the McDonald's All-Americans, they've recruited solid guys who will stay all four years. That may make for some lean years early on, but the Hokies are reaping the rewards now by being more polished than the young Carolina and Dook teams.



• The Heels' comeback was almost one for the books. They were down by 20 points with 4:30 remaining in the game and almost made it all the way back. I was getting images in my head of the game in 1992 when UNC came back from 22 down against Wake Forest and the game in 1993 when UNC came back from 21 down against Florida State. In those comebacks, however, the Heels had nearly the entire second half to rally. There just wasn't enough time against the Hokies.



• The final result was probably the best thing that could have happened. Now the Hokies have proven they can beat anyone, and they may actually have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996. The Heels will bounce back and have plenty of time to return to No. 1. Ahhh the beauty of college basketball, a tournament decides the champion instead of some random BCS voters.

For your viewing, reading pleasure:

• A great photo gallery of the game.
• The Heels' lack of experience.
• The Hokies' emotions.

Boo Hoos

Growing up in Virginia as both a UNC and Virginia Tech fan meant that I could fully explore my hatred of the University of Virginia. UVa is a bit like a slightly less objectionable version of Dook. UVa fans and people who go there look down on Virginia Tech and seem to think they're upper class citizens for some reason. UVa doesn't have a campus; it has the grounds. It doesn't have freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors; it has first years, second years, third years and fourth years. The school's founder isn't Thomas Jefferson; he is Mr. Jefferson.

Any way, Wednesday brought a day of the year that I always look forward to, when the Tar Heels play the Cavaliers at home and can whip those jerks. The Heels came into the game ranked No. 1 at 14-1 while UVa had been up and down, going 9-4 with wins over Arizona and Gonzaga, and blowout losses to Appalachian State and Utah. I thought this UVa team would give Carolina a run, and it did before the Heels pulled away to win 79-69.
Some thoughts:

• I took Susan to the game and it was the first time she'd ever been to a college basketball game. Thankfully it was a good game and she really got into it until the final couple minutes where UVa was forced to foul. Unlike after the last football game I took her to, VT-Duke, she said she will return to a basketball game.
• The fact that the Heels shot 37.9 percent from the field didn't bother me as much as the 63.4 percent on free throws. The free throws number was padded by some freebies in the final minutes because they seemed to clang them all night. They can overcome some of their shooting woes because they are good rebounders, but missing free throws like that will cost them against good competition.
• Virginia point guard Sean Singletary should get a lot more recognition. He only scored 14 points with 7 assists, but he carried the Cavs and kept them close all night. You could really notice a change in their team when he was off the court in foul trouble and Ty Lawson could not keep up with him.
• Despite his team losing focus against some opponents, I think Dave Leitao has the Cavs on the right track. In a couple of years he'll have them back in Top 25 territory after Pete Gillen sweatily ran the team into the ground. And I'm glad, it's not as much fun hating on a loser.
• It was good to see Roy Williams do his patented jacket toss, even if it was in anger at a ref and not his players. Nothing gets the Heels pumped up faster than when Ol' Roy breaks out one of his favorite angry moves: 1) slapping his hands while in the huddle; 2) throwing the clipboard to the ground; or 3) tossing the jacket.
• On another note, they really need to put some ATMs outside the Dean Dome. I guess they want to discourage scalping tickets, but it ratchets up the degree of difficulty when you realize you need a ticket and only have $10 in your pocket. But as I've found, there's always a way to get into a game...even if you have to get someone to come $30 off his asking price.
  

Hokie Nation travels

On Jan. 6, I was lucky enough to be in attendance at Cameron Indoor Stadium as Virginia Tech upset No. 5 Dook 69-67 in overtime.
A few thoughts on the game:

• Maybe it was because of global warming or perhaps Durham's proximity to hell, but it was 75 degrees outside. And despite all their fancy book learning, the Dookies obviously don't know how to work a thermostat because it was easily 105 degrees inside the cramped arena. I was wearing jeans and short sleeves and began sweating profusely as soon as I entered the door. It finally made sense to me why so many Cameron Crazies choose to go shirtless. By the time I got home that afternoon, my fiancee Susan insisted that I remained at least 3 feet from her at all times until I showered.

• It was my first trip to Cameron and I was impressed by the overall atmosphere, but it was not overly intimidating. As a favor to my friend Mike, who is a Dook fan and was nice enough to bring me along to the game, I only wore a maroon collared VT shirt. I left the gobbler noisemaker at home. The octogenarians in our section shot me a few dirty looks, but the biggest reactions I got were from fellow Hokies. There was a pretty strong Tech contingent there, because as everyone knows, Hokie Nation travels.

• As for the Cameron Crazies, I didn't think they were everything that Mr. Vitale makes them out to be. The VT players didn't seem bothered by the preppy kids' coordinated cheers or flailing arms either. Final free-throw count: VT 13-18; Dook 18-28. My thought is: You can't intimidate thugs. A couple of years ago, the Hokies had a player named Terry Taylor who admitted that he had previously sold drugs while basically living on the streets. Do you think a guy like that is going to care if a 140-pound beanpole with a 1,600 SAT yells "airball" at him? The Crazies did do one thing during Hokies free throws that seemed totally out of line. They pulled their shirts over their heads and jumped around like monkeys. The Crazies have to be smart enough to realize there are racial undertones to such behavior, and with the recent uproar over Dook lacrosse in the community, I'm shocked nothing has been said about this.

• Coach K once again revealed himself as a ridiculous blowhard. After the Tech win, Zabian Dowdell pulled his jersey out in the direction of the Crazies in celebration. This move is done all the time by players nowadays, and seeing as how Dowdell was on the court the previous year when Dook beat Tech on a last-second half-court shot by Sean Dockery, it seemed a more than reasonable celebration. Of course Coach K pulled him aside, and according to Dowdell, said "You're too classy a guy to be carrying on like that." Yeah K, your sideline cursing and your players' pompous behavior really shows you to be the picture of class.

• In the end it was one of the biggest wins in VT basketball history and certainly the best Tech game I've ever been to. It just made it all that much sweeter that it was at Dook.