The Confidential

ACC Quick Hitters

As we near the middle of the “dead” period in college sports, there is not a  whole lot to report.  So, for today, let’s just do some “quick hitters.”

Although it is not ACC-centric, at least directly, Frank the Tank’s latest blog entry is as good as ever.   In it he discusses, among other things, why televised sporting events are so valuable.  As you know from experience, we watch sporting events live.  That means we cannot fast forward through the commercials, which means that the advertising space is more valuable.  But read his article for an expanded analysis, as well as his opinions as to why there is not likely to be a Sports TV rights bubble.

Returning to the ACC…

TNIIAM has a nice write-up about Syracuse defensive lineman John Raymon.  He is not a hero because he suffered such outrageous child abuse.  But he is a hero for overcoming it.  And to think that the ever-crooked NCAA could not interpret its rules to allow him to play last year.  For all our mocking of the imperialistic Big 10, the NCAA is and remains the most backwards organization that has ever existed.  The Big 10 is made up of outstanding academic institutions with proud athletic histories… and, of course, Rutgers.  The NCAA is an organization that syphons money off the free labor of student-athletes who are punished to set an example wherever possible.  Just add the John Raymon story to the list of NCAA absurdities.

The Louisville Cardinals basketball team is headed to Washington D.C. today.  No, they are not going to beat up on the Georgetown Hoyas.  Instead, they are going to be meeting President Barack Obama.  Nice.

As previously noted here and then again here, PJ Hairston and the North Carolina Tar Heels are in trouble.  ESPN has its own story on the “serious consequences” that PJ Hairston will face.   Where is the NCAA on that one?  Nowhere, of course.  Off rejecting transfer requests or drowning kittens or something.