The Confidential

The ACC Sports Blog

Archive for the category “ACC only”

08 Apr 2014
2 Comments

All Things FSU & Beyond

Before I begin, I’d like to start off with a quick thank you to the Confidential for providing me this opportunity to write about FSU and the ACC as a whole. This is something I’ve been tempted to do for quite some time and finally jumped at the chance. While I looked over the Confidential, I could not help but notice that this blog was missing a particular garnet and gold tint that I’ve become so accustomed to in my years as an FSU and ACC fan.  I am hoping I can provide that for my fellow FSU fans and ACC friends alike.

My name is David Shrimpton, I am almost 26 years old and a proud Alumni of Florida State University. I graduated with both my Bachelors and Masters degrees from FSU in Sports Management. Most people told me it was great that I was going to get an advanced degree right away, but truthfully I just wanted (okay, maybe needed) one more football season. After all I couldn’t graduate before beating the Gators at least once as a student, it just wouldn’t be right.

I spent the previous 2 years as a sales associate for a professional sports team, which was a great and unique experience. However, I recently switched up career paths to a traveling job that provides me the opportunity to spend more time with both my girlfriend and family. I know that sounds like it doesn’t make sense, a traveling job while seeing a girlfriend and family more? Well…that’s what happens when you have a girlfriend in Michigan and family in Florida.

Ironically enough my 3 favorite schools growing up were FSU, Syracuse (Born in NY) and North Carolina (I mean, who didn’t love watching Vince Carter?). I guess I was destined to be a “Go ACC” guy from the get go. However there was always something pulling me closer and stronger toward the garnet and gold. I’ve never looked back since, even though I wouldn’t blame anyone after having gone through the Chris Rix and Drew Weatherford eras. Once I got to FSU in the fall of 2006 my passion grew deeper and I developed a love for the school that even my girlfriend grows concerned at times. Yeah… we’ve had a few “disputes” over my fanaticism, yup, I’m that guy.

My goal here is to spark some conversation on all things surrounding FSU and the ACC. With that said I wanted to give just a brief overview of the “big 3” sports at FSU and where they currently stand, how I feel on them.  This should help give the casual fan of FSU some basic knowledge or maybe provide some insight for a friendly rival here in the ACC.

Basketball:

I figure I’d start with the one sport that no longer has an active team, and the sport as a whole won’t be after tonight’s championship game. FSU had their bubble burst this year, narrowly missing the tournament as one of the dreaded “last four out”. The team was able to make a decent run to the NIT Final Four, including dropping a cool 100+ on Georgetown (Georgetown still sucks, right Cuse fans?). However the  run ended as they were ousted in overtime by the eventual champion Minnesota Gophers. Honestly though, it’s the NIT and who really gives a hoot about that? I care about the NIT as much as I do the PapaJohns.com Bowl in football. Anyway, the team has a lot to replace losing arguably their two most important players in Ian Miller and Okaro White. I plan to discuss the team more in-depth down the road, but look out for Aaron Thomas next year if you don’t already know the name. If you don’t, I promise you’ll know it next season. I still suspect FSU to fall in that “second tier” of teams of the ACC come next year, anywhere from the 5th-9th place.

Baseball:

I could start both this and football with the same sentence: #1. FSU is currently ranked first in 2 of the 4 polls, and not ranked lower than 3rd in any poll. The team is coming off a sweep of Notre Dame, helping keep that #1 ranking in tact. I recommend googling for the rain delay videos as the two teams jousted, yes jousted, during it among other games to entertain themselves. It is definitely worth it and a good laugh to say the least.

The offense is led by DJ Stewart and John Nogowski but the arms on this team are really where it’s at. Brandon Leibrant, Mike Compton & Luke Weaver are an awesome trio for any weekend match up. Not to mention in relief there is Gage “the stache” Smith and my personal man crush as my girlfriend says, Jameis Winston. I fully expect the Noles to make it to Omaha this year yet again, but will they finally win one for #11 Coach Mike Martin?

Football:

#1. The Seminoles are currently the reigning national champions and will be ranked #1 heading into next season. I’ve waited since 1999 to say that which feels like an eternity, so I’m going to say it every day I get a chance to. Admittedly this will probably be the team I cover the most, since I follow it the most passionately. The FSU Spring Game is actually happening this Saturday, and if you’re not in the Tallahassee I recommend kicking on ESPN3 to catch it.

The Noles have lost a lot to the draft once again this year, including some key departures who decided to forego their senior season. It will be interesting to see how FSU is able to replace these key players heading into 2014 and something I plan on covering. I will say though that I’m not going to doubt the man who replaced 11 NFL draftees last year and still led FSU to a perfect record and a championship. Then again, when you have a guy like Jameis Winston playing QB for you, it sure can make you look like you’re one hell of a coach. With that said I do love Coach Fisher and hope he’s at FSU for a long, long tenure. I love his approach to the game as a business and a process.

Well there you have it, sorry for the length but I wanted to at least provide a little bit of coverage on myself and those teams. For those looking to delve a little more in-depth with their FSU knowledge I highly recommend checking out Tomahawknation.com as it is free and jammed packed with information. If any of you are interested in having me write on a particular topic, have questions about FSU or myself in general don’t hesitate to ask! Also feel free to follow me on twitter @Shrimpton4 and reach me there. The more people engage, the better this is for me, especially since I’m new to this.

As always, Go Noles!

Posted by dshrimptoniv in ACC only, Baseball, Basketball, Football, FSU Correspondent and tagged , , , , , , ,
07 Apr 2014
3 Comments

Student-Athletes and Sub-Par Academics

As is often the case, the devil is in the details.  As a lawyer, it is notable that most commentary on legal issues in public is done by persons without the legal savvy to fully understand it.  Folks remember that woman who received the huge verdict from McDonald’s for burning herself with hot coffee.  Few realize the true facts of the case make even this grizzled civil defense attorney think that the case had some merit worthy of an atypical judgment/settlement.  The long and short of it is that people would be well advised to know the actual facts (to the extent possible) and read the actual rulings by judges with a legal eye before criticizing same.  Such may be the case with the recent Northwestern-union issue, where the idea of student-athletes as employees seems far-fetched… until you analyze the facts, the legal standard for what an “employee” is, and the ruling itself.

Indeed, it was disappointing to read that the academically-successful Northwestern student-athletes may have been discouraged from taking the courses that they wanted to take.  At the other extreme, however, are the discussions about how some student-athletes have academic skills that are so far below those of their college peers.  The purported North Carolina essay that is making the rounds on the Internet is one example of that story.  The Confidential believes that it may be appropriate to consider an alternative track for the at-risk student-athlete with subpar academic skills.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Opinion and tagged , , ,
03 Apr 2014

The ACC Basketball Coaching Tree: Two Polls!

The ACC basketball coaching community is growing in talent with the addition of Buzz Williams.  There are historical greats with national championships: Coach K, Boeheim, Pitino, and Roy Williams.  There is the next tier of Bennett, Larranaga, Brey, Buzz Williams, Hamilton, Gottfried, and Dixon, all of whom are awaiting their first national championship as a coach.  And all Mark Gottfried has done is go to three straight Big Dances at North Carolina State.

Georgia Tech’s Brian Gregory is from the Tom Izzo line, and had great success at Dayton, but has not done much yet for the Yellow Jackets.  Brad Brownell is also doing good things at Clemson.  Boston College and Wake Forest are set to announce new moves soon enough and, in the mean time, remain unknowns.  Still, that is a very proven set of 11 coaches.

You could have an interesting debate ranking the historical greats, 1-2-3-4, based on their all-time cumulative performance.  So let’s do a poll!  Look, Coach K is going to be most people’s #1 all-time, so half of the options have him at #1.  Try not to be a homer.

But here is another great question… you have an elimination game to win and get to pick one coach at his current level of performance–who would YOU take?   Again, try not to be a homer.  And let everyone know why you picked who you picked.

Comments encouraged!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Poll and tagged , , , , , , ,
25 Mar 2014
1 Comment

Season End Recap- Why North Carolina Deserved a Chance in UNC-Iowa State

Another North Carolina Basketball season has come and gone. 24 wins. A Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament Championship. And for the first time ever, a Roy Williams coached Carolina team is back at home after the Round of 32 for two years in a row. For many fans, it’s been an interesting, yet unsatisfying, season. Summer drama led to early season losses. Disappointing outcomes led to surprising upsets. Big victories led to an almost unprecedented poor start in conference play. A wake up call led to a huge win streak. And the season ended early, yet again, in the most bizarre of circumstances. As we reflect on the 2013-2014 North Carolina basketball team and look to the future, here are a few observations from this year’s season-

Read more…

Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in ACC only, Basketball, March Madness, Opinion, UNC Correspondent
18 Mar 2014
7 Comments

Louisville a #4 Seed? The Top 10 Reasons It Makes Sense

One would think that seeding Louisville a #4 was a crime against humanity.   But before digging out your copy of the Geneva Convention or looking up travel information to the Hague, consider that the NCAA committee has long used RPI as a guide.  This is not a secret.  Just like the committee stopped looking at recency, it is what the committee is supposed to do.  The RPI helps gauge schedule strength.  In any event, here are the top 10 reasons the Committee got it right in deeming the Cards a 4 seed:

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Opinion and tagged , , ,
18 Mar 2014

The Tigers Aren’t Finished Yet

Picked to finish 14th in the ACC, Coach Brad Brownell’s Clemson Tigers surprised everyone when they ended the regular season 6th in the conference. Not to mention a season long, star performance by junior forward, K.J. McDaniels who was voted an ACC first team All-American and defensive player of the year.

The Tigers take on Georgia State in Littlejohn Coliseum tonight at 9pm on ESPNU in the first round of the NIT, a postseason honor not all ACC schools can boast about. The ACC is one of the toughest basketball conferences in the nation and you must give credit where credit is due to Brad Brownell. He took the underdogs and made them into competitors that demanded to be taken seriously.

With a heartbreaking overtime loss to Pitt at the end of the regular season, Clemson started the ACC Tournament right with a thrilling overtime win against Georgia Tech, just to be fortunate enough to move on to play Duke in the quarterfinals. What at one point looked like it would be a Blue Devils blowout, the Tigers fought back to bring the game back to within a few points, only to lose by 1 on a controversial call that sent Duke to the next round.

While Clemson won’t be entering “The Big Dance” this March Madness season, they do have a lot to be proud of. Players like Landry Nnoko, Demarcus Harrison, and Jaron Blossomgame improved to become vital assets to the team. Consistent players like K.J. McDaniels and Rod Hall gave another tremendous effort to show that at least one school in South Carolina knows how to play basketball.

This young team should be coming back in full force next season, but might be one short. K.J. McDaniels, while only a junior, is likely to enter the NBA Draft after this season concludes. While I can’t say I blame him, I do hope he’ll consider finishing out his career as a Clemson Tiger and seeing how far he can lead this team next season.

If you haven’t had the chance to watch the Tigers play this season, catch them on ESPNU tonight at 9pm in the first round of the NIT!

clemson

Posted by marystewartb in ACC Network, ACC only, Basketball, Clemson correspondent, Conference News, Correspondents, ESPN, Game Review, March Madness, News, Opinion, Results, Schedule, Something Positive, This Day in ACC and tagged , , , , , ,
18 Mar 2014
5 Comments

Quick Thoughts on the Bracket

With 24-hours to digest it, and less than that until play-in games start, here are the Confidential’s quick thoughts on the bracket:

The NCAA did Wichita State a favor.  Suppose that the Midwest bracket was changed to make Louisville the 2-seed, and UCLA the 4-seed, with Kentucky swapping with UMass as the 6th/8th seeds.  With Louisville a 2-seed and Kentucky a 6-seed, everyone could step in off the ledge and stop looking for further signs of the apocalypse.  Not suppose Wichita State runs that table to get to the Final Four: (a) Game 1, a victory over a 16th seed; (b) Game 2… win over the winner of Kansas State/UMass…yawn; (c) Game 3… win over the winner of UCLA/St. Louis/Cinderella…still not impressing anyone; and (d) Game 4… win over Louisville or Duke.  With one win over an impressive, name opponent… Wichita State would still be somewhat of an question mark heading into the Final Four.  NOW, if Wichita State gets to the Final Four, it will have beaten good names AND good teams.  This is much better than if Louisville was a #2, Duke was a #3, and Creighton was a #4.  The casual fan will want to see Wichita State up against the best before deeming the season historical.  Mission accomplished.

As for Louisville, chillax.  The committee was instructed to look at the whole season.  If the committee was to look at just the last 6 weeks, it would be violating that directive.  In the not-so-distant past, momentum heading into the tournament was relevant.  Now, it is has been formally deemed a lesser variable.  Maybe it should be changed back.  Fair enough.  But to do so in this bracket would have been to violate the current rules.  Moreover, imagine if the bracket was this: 1. Michigan, 2. Wichita State, 3. Louisville, 4. Duke.  Would moving up one seed have mattered?  No!  Same basic opponents.  OK, just switch Louisville and Duke, without switching Wichita State and Michigan–still have to beat two of the three anyway.  The order is insignificant.  Just go win the darn games.

While the Midwest bracket is tough at the seeded level, are St. Louis, UMass, and Texas scaring anyone more than Kentucky?  No.  And is Kentucky really scaring anyone?  It is a perfect matchup for Wichita State–let the country root for the #1 seed against the collection of one-and-dones.  Great way to get fans rooting for a #1 seed for a change.

The East bracket is sneaky tough, with Virginia, Villanova, Iowa State, and Michigan State.  Villanova is a 28-4 team, but seems like the worst of these four teams right now.  Does that make sense?  Actually, it does.  The South is not horrible either.  If Syracuse gets is mojo back, that is three teams that might have been #1’s a month ago.  Throw in UCLA, VCU, Ohio State, and New Mexico… and that is a deep region.  The West.  Sigh.

What do you think?

P.S. Still time to get into the Confidential’s bracket contest @ https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/quickenloansbracket/group/9921/invitation?key=8777f32b05a883ef

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , ,
16 Mar 2014
5 Comments

FINAL CONFIDENTIAL BRACKETOLOGY

Here it is… our prediction of what happens in a few hours.  Don’t forget to join our bracket contest:

With Michigan State en route to upending Michigan (although there is still plenty of time), the Confidential is projecting the four No. 1 seeds as follows: Florida, Wichita State, Arizona, Virginia

The rest of our complete bracket:

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only and tagged , ,
16 Mar 2014

Dr. Syracuse and Mr. Orange

What is Syracuse?  Who knows anymore.  This is a team that was 25-0 and the #1 team in the country without much debate.  In February.  It had a senior in CJ Fair who was great against Duke in the Carrier Dome and against Pittsburgh down the stretch.  It had a sophomore duo in Jerami Grant and Trevor Cooney that were offensive threats.  It had a freshman in Tyler Ennis that seemed to be more Benjamin Button than a teenager.  Dr. Syracuse looked like a national championship contender capable of beating anyone and everyone.  And then it turned into Mr. Orange–a team capable of losing to anyone and then proving it by losing at home to Boston College and Georgia Tech.  These losses–rather than the other three–are what will keep Syracuse from being a #1 seed.  The bigger question for Syracuse fans is not #1 seed, but whether it will win one game in the Big Dance.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Opinion and tagged , , ,
12 Mar 2014

Syracuse Basketball: Grading the Orange

The Syracuse Orange closed out the regular season on Sunday with 74-58 win over the Florida State Seminoles.  The win earned the Orange a 27-4 mark for the regular season, a record that, any other year, would have SU fans jumping for joy.  This season, though, the fact that Jim Boeheim’s squad went only 2-4 over their last six has many of the Orange faithful’s panic-o-meter cranked up to 44.

Relax.

Yes, the Orange had their seasonal slide a bit later than usual.  True, that slide included a couple of really bad losses to Boston College and Georgia Tech.  And, of course, one fairly dominant win over the ‘Noles doesn’t erase the flaws shown by Syracuse late in the season.  So, let’s take a moment to take the long view and grade the Orange as they prepare for the post season.

Read more…

Posted by cuseorangeblood in ACC only, Basketball, Syracuse correspondent and tagged , , , , , , ,

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →