The Confidential

The ACC Sports Blog

Archive for the category “Uncategorized”

27 Apr 2013
2 Comments

Saturday Morning Orange Juice – Ryan Nassib and Lax

The fall of Ryan Nassib is quite surprising based on all the post season hype and Doug Marrone’s departure to Buffalo.  I think most Orange followers, if asked where you think Nassib might go during the season, would have probably said somewhere in the middle rounds.  It wasn’t until afterwards that his stock shot up, mostly due to the intangibiles.  It seemed almost too obvious that Dougie would pick the QB that got him the Bills job.  This is just another reminder about things being strictly business.  Marrone showed business first acument when ditching his dream job at his alma mater.  Skipping the QB who helped him seems like a locial next step for Marrone.  I think Nassib will be better off somewhere where he is not directly linked to Marrone anyway and it will be better for him in the long run.  Here’s hoping he gets the call early this morning from KC, Philly, or Jax – all places he will have a chance to compete right away.

I will be at the Big City Classic at MetLife Stadium (Giants Stadium).  Cornell and Princeton face off first and then future ACC opponents #1 Notre Dame vs. #7 Syracuse at 6:30 p.m.  The Orange have had multiple close games all season and the outcome will have an impact on the Big East and NCAA Tournaments.  Obviously more at stake today for the Orange and the hope is the goaltending situation stabilizes as the postseason begins.  Should be a great evening of lacrosse capped by a great Big East/future ACC matchup.

Posted by tjcuseacc in Uncategorized
24 Apr 2013
18 Comments

How do you solve a problem like Maryland?

This week’s announcement that the ACC presidents have agreed to a Grant of Rights was truly monumental and provides the conference with much needed stability and significantly closes the gap between the power conferences. Moving forward the 14 schools, plus ND, have firmly established themselves as one of the “Have” Conferences and can enjoy the bright future of the ACC.

Everyone is excited about the future…except for Maryland.

Poor Maryland. They went chasing after B1G-time dollars and the Midwestern glitz & glamour, only to find their “former” conference mates have actually improved as a result. Read more…

Posted by Vinnie Saltine in Uncategorized
22 Apr 2013
5 Comments

Conference Expansion is Over? Post Grant-of-Rights Moves for the ACC

In case you haven’t heard the big news (see tjcuseacc’s post below), the presidents of the ACC unanimously agreed to sign their media rights away to the conference through the 2026-2027 season today. Yes, even Notre Dame (without football, of course). That’s huge. Now if anyone wants to leave, we can basically still own them even though they’ll be playing other teams. So go ahead, Virginia. If you want to travel and play Indiana instead of Duke you can. But it’ll cost you.

This is the “Grant of Rights” thing that had the entire Internet proclaiming the safety of the Texas (Big) 12, even though they’re about as stable as a broken chair. Despite our huge media markets, overall athletic quality and strong history, it’s the only thing that basically separated us from this level of security. But the gap has been closed.

So take a deep breath. Not only does this pretty much kill all of the WVU-blogger talk that our league is about to explode, but it gives us all hope for the future. How about that, Maryland? So what’s next? The league’s leaders have certainly come a long way in the last few months- inviting Louisville (which looks like the smartest move EVER now), pledging solidarity, announcing the creation of a network study….but there’s a lot more to do.

1) Create the ACC Network- We all knew that it was only a matter of time, and the grant-of-rights is exactly what ESPN has been waiting for. If the network didn’t think that the teams were committed to each other, why would they have wanted to throw a lot of money in our direction? They wouldn’t have…but now they can. What television network wouldn’t want a strong presence in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, DC, Richmond, Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, Louisville? Right. This is pretty much a no-brainer. Yes, the Worldwide Leader has pledged a lot of money to the SEC through its own network. But a lot of the markets overlap, and if bundled together, ESPN would have a hold of the preeminent football and basketball brands in all of college sports. We already knew that the league was studying this. We weren’t sure if ESPN is interested. But after today, they pretty much have to be.

2)  Divisional Realignment/Addition of More League Games in Football- It’s not a secret that most fans don’t like the Atlantic and Coastal divisions. It’s not really the names. They actually make sense, unlike the soon-to-be-defunct “Legends” and “Leaders” in the Confidential’s least-favorite conference. But what should the league do? North and South divisions aren’t really feasible, even if they seem obvious. Every team that would be in the “North” division wants to play a Florida team each year. Recruiting IS important, after all. And slotting Miami into the North, while sensible, due to their Big East roots, seems awkward. You can’t move Virginia Tech either. The Hokies LEFT left the Big East so they could play more Southern teams; they don’t want to be in the North. That and John Swofford doesn’t want to make his most consistent team unhappy. Especially when they have a spot waiting for them in the SEC, grant-of-rights notwithstanding. Let’s not even get started with Virginia.

So what CAN the league do? They HAVE to go to 9 conference games…at least. The Big 12 does it. The Big 10 is doing it. More league games just makes sense. It makes scheduling easier, and more predictable, which is actually what fans want- even if they’ll say they want variety. League games matter. Games against FCS teams don’t. That’s why fans don’t show up, FSU. That’s why the Big 10 has outlawed FCS games for their teams in the near future. UNC is in the same league as FSU to play them all the time…not once every 5-8 years. So let’s say 10 conference games; no FCS games; a permanent out-of-conference rival; plus Notre Dame every three years. With that, a new scheduling model would develop.

What if each team had TWO permanent partners on the other side. UNC’s would be NC State and Wake Forest. That’s sensible. Now what if the remaining 5 teams were grouped into two categories (this is for UNC)- longtime rivals (Clemson, FSU) and new faces (BC, Syracuse, Louisville). What if we had non-permanent partner games with our longtime rivals more frequently than with the new faces? Wouldn’t that make everyone happy and create exciting match-ups for fans and television? Check out some of UNC’s potential future schedules under this model-

2014

Georgia Tech                     Miami

Duke                                     Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech                      Virginia

NC State                              Wake Forest

Clemson                              Louisville

Tennessee                          Notre Dame

2015

Georgia Tech                     Miami

Duke                                     Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech                      Virginia

NC State                              Wake Forest

Florida State                       Boston College

Tennessee                          East Carolina

2016

Georgia Tech                     Miami

Duke                                     Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech                      Virginia

NC State                              Wake Forest

Clemson                              Syracuse

Tennessee                          Maryland

Those are great schedules. You’ll notice that that UNC will play Clemson and Florida State every other year. That’s a win-win situation for fans AND networks. It makes scheduling easy. And it actually feels like a conference again. The new yearly game against Tennessee? Why not? There have been rumors about an ACC-Big 12 scheduling alliance and that really makes sense. But almost half of the ACC teams already have a regular rival in the SEC and our leagues overlap geographically. So maybe we just have to suck it up and play #1.

As a fan, it’s hard to find anything wrong with those schedules. Yes, they would need to be worked out for every team. And it probably wouldn’t be this simple. But the reasons to change the current model are. The league has experience a lot of growth in the past few years. Let’s continue to adapt and change for the better.

What do you think? What do you feel that the ACC’s next move should be?

Posted by Mr. Tar Heel in Conference News, Conference Realignment, Football, Schedule, UNC Correspondent, Uncategorized
22 Apr 2013
7 Comments

ACC Grant of Rights Deal!

The much needed ACC Grant of Rights deal has happened according to ESPN http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9200081/acc-media-rights-deal-lock-schools-okd-presidents and CBS http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/jeremy-fowler/22116192/acc-approving-grant-of-rights-deal.  What great news for all of us who feared departures!  Maybe this leads to adding UConn and Cincinnati?

Posted by tjcuseacc in Uncategorized
20 Apr 2013
1 Comment

NC State Spring Football Game

Just finished watching the Kay Yow Spring Game on ESPN3. Not sure why Duke gets an HD broadcast on ESPNU and we Pack fans have to watch blocky streaming video, but we will have to wait for the ACC Network to correct that one.

This was definitely a game of two halves.  Both the Red (first string) and White (everybody else) looked sluggish through thirty minutes, with only Nick Sade scoring as the teams were tied 3-3 at the break.

In the second, though, the switch to a running clock brought out the no-huddle and this is definitely the way for the Pack to go.  Both squads had their moments on both sides of the ball with the Red ending up winning 20-10.

The QB battle wasn’t really very close.  Don’t have official stats, but Pete Thomas looked much more comfortable than Manny Stocker. Thomas reminded me of Erik Kramer; not fiery like Phillip Rivers, but cool and calm in the pocket.  Stocker, however, was handicapped as he is more of a mobile guy in a game of touch where quarterbacks are concerned, so it may yet turn out to be a horse race.

The best of the batch was Florida transfer Jacoby Brissett.  Even with the no-tackle restriction, his speed allowed him to get outside once and get a few yards, and he was the most accurate of the group.  Of course, he cannot play this season and will have to wait until 2014 to be a factor.

In this kind of game, you look for the unexpected player.  In this one, it was Jr running back Milton Hall.  The White squad went down the field in the second half largely on his shoulders. It was Hall up the middle and Hall up the middle again until they moved inside the Red five yard line.  There Stocker rushed a throw into the end zone and the drive ended in a pick.  One more handoff and the White team would likely have scored.

The coaches must have felt the same way.  When the Red team moved downfield deep into White territory on the ensuing drive, they were joined by Hall in a red mesh covering the white jersey and he got his TD after all.  He has a strong ability to find the holes combined with speed and should give Shadrach Thornton and Tony Creecy a run for their money once the season starts.

On defense Freshman CB Cole Burroughs was impressive.  Every time Thomas tried to throw the deep ball to Quintin Payton, Burroughs was there, as he was on several other occasions.  The defense as a whole looked good, but Burroughs was the bright spot.

Another thing that impressed me was the sideline interviews with several members of the new staff, particularly DCoordinator Dave Huxtable.  They were energetic and enthusiastic, and not in a Chuck Amato kind of way.  Of course we will need to see them in adverse situations before we can really judge, but frankly, first impressions were…wow.
So that’s it.  This correspondent has gone from cautious optimism about the 2013 season to the feeling that if this team does manage to claw their way up the Atlantic Division standings, they might not fall back down like other recent Pack teams.

Posted by mikemab2000 in ACC Network, ACC only, Football, Game Review, NC State Correspondent, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
19 Apr 2013
1 Comment

Back to Sports?

It is Friday.  This has been a horrible week, obviously.  The “news” stations have been taking over the “sports stations” in terms of interest.  It feels weird to even think about sports.  But somehow, someway, we will eventually get back to our “normal” lives.  Whatever that means.

Indeed, what is the point of being fortunate enough to avoid disaster, but then getting mired down in not living this short life to its fullest?  And, although sports may not be anywhere close to the importance that we sometimes think, sports is at least some part of us living our life to its fullest.

Major league baseball is on its slow march to Fall.  Colleges are either finishing up spring football scrimmages or they will be taking place soon.  The NFL Draft–now a multi-day affair–begins next week.  The Kentucky Derby is around the corner.  College lacrosse and baseball playoffs.  Major league baseball will continues its slow march to Fall.  The NBA and NHL are about to hit their playoff seasons.  The NBA draft will take place.  Grand slam events in tennis and golf.  And so on.   And that is just he stuff we watch.

The slow period in sports for the Confidential (i.e. between the end of basketball season and the beginning of football season), is not really all that slow.  There will be plenty to keep us busy.

But, for now, it feels a little weird to think about sports.  When that feeling changes, maybe we will know that we are a bit further along the road to recovery.

The Confidential’s thoughts and prayers are with all the people who suffered such substantial losses this week.  For those who will not find normal any time soon, we can only hope that you can find peace.

What about you?  Can you even think about sports right now?

Posted by acaffrey in Uncategorized
12 Apr 2013

SU Hoops ends as Lax heats up

Whenever Syracuse gets knocked out of the tournament I have trouble even watching the rest of the games and even wanting to talk about basketball so I’ve finally stopped feeling sorry for myself.  It was a great NCAA run and great regional, but as expected they fell a bit short against Michigan.  I thought Michigan was the better team going in but it was tough to watch with the opportunities they had to win.  I don’t like to blame officials but that was tough to see so many block/charge calls go against the Orange.  Can’t help but feel bad for Brandon Triche who had as solid of a four year career as anyone has had for the Orange.

As expected, Michael Carter-Williams quickly declared for the NBA Draft.  I can’t blame anyone for taking the millions.  He had a great season and should go, but still needs to significantly refine his game.  I hope he gets on the right team with some time to develop and no early pressure on him.  Syracuse has a great recruiting class coming in next year, and will have a new starting PG for the third season in a row as this was MCW’s first year starting.  Tyler Ennis from famed St Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey will most likely take over and have some big shoes to fill.

Although its tough to say that Syracuse lacrosse is doing better than expected, I think its safe to say that so far for this season.  A huge win over # 2 Cornell on Wednesday has the Orange feeling pretty good about themselves.  They have some big wins against top ranked teams (Hopkins, St, John’s, and Princeton) already as they move into the latter part of their scheduled.  A big game is coming up in the Big City Classic at MetLife (Giants) Stadium on April 27th against # 4 Notre Dame, which I expect to attend.  The Orange have overcome some struggles at the x faceoff spot and will have to resolve this to have a strong finish to the season.  Last year, their struggles at the faceoff spot cost them in the tournament.  Now that Orange basketball is officially over, I”m looking forward to an exciting remainder of the lacrosse season.

Posted by tjcuseacc in Uncategorized
12 Apr 2013
2 Comments

Drew Allen to transfer to Syracuse!

According to syracuse.com Oklahoma transfer Drew Allen will attend Syracuse with one year remaining of eligibility remaining.  Allen picked Syracuse over NC State.  The Syracuse QB competition is wide open after the graduation of Ryan Nassib.

Ironically, Nassib got his first experience sharing time with Duke transfer Greg Paulus.  Paulus essentially acted as the go-between from the Greg Robinson Error to keep things sane until the next QB (Nassib) was truly ready to take over.  The question this time will be who is Allen keeping the seat warm for? 

This is a real interesting transition year for Syracuse and not just because of the move to the ACC.  They have continued the Doug Marrone tradition of adding JUCO players.  Most of these players were originally recruitied by Doug Marrone but the new staff essentially closed the deal on them.  Now adding Allen, they may have lineups this yearthat are only in place as starters for a year or two.  In the long term they HAVE to get back to their recruiting base.  However, at least in the short term, adding Drew Allen is a great addition with no other QB standing out in spring ball.

Posted by tjcuseacc in Uncategorized
10 Apr 2013
2 Comments

Correspondent Openings…at the Confidential!

As the college basketball season closes, and with college football a few months off in the distance, this is the Confidential’s slow period.  But that will not stop us for looking for more correspondents.  If you are a fan of one of the schools for which we need a correspondent, please let us know if you are interested.  Right now, we have the following schools covered: North Carolina, North Carolina State, Clemson, and Syracuse.

That leaves openings for the majority of schools, in no particular order:

  • Boston College
  • Duke
  • Pitt
  • Wake Forest
  • Florida State
  • Georgia Tech
  • Louisville
  • Notre Dame
  • Virginia
  • Virginia Tech
  • Maryland
  • Miami

There is a lot going on at those schools, even in the offseason.  In a nutshell, we only ask that you contribute a weekly (or so) article letting fans and non-fans of a school know what is new.  When college football and basketball seasons roll around, it should be hard to limit yourself to just one.  But that’s all we ask.  You can do as many as you want.

Of course, it is a volunteer position, but it is great experience.   Writing seems easy, until you have to do it!  And it is a very useful skill to have.

We would also consider taking on someone as a correspondent for a non-revenue sport, such as lacrosse or baseball.

If you are interested, send an email to ezdozen@yahoo.com expressing that interest.

Posted by acaffrey in Uncategorized
06 Apr 2013

State of the Pack: QBs and more

There was an interesting email in my box yesterday from our own administrator Anthony Caffery (aka Commander Caffrey). It referenced the possibility of Drew Allen, Oklahoma backup, transferring to State. Unfortunately the article he directed me to seemed to indicate that Allen is leaning toward Syracuse.  Here’s the link:

Since as the article states he will be eligible immediately following any transfer that makes him a player in the mix for us if he decides to come to State.  Which begs the question: what does the QB situation look like for the Pack in 2013?
The two leading candidates to start are Colorado transfer Pete Thomas and soph Manny Stocker.  Thomas seems to have a slight edge right now and is getting more first-team snaps. Coach Doeren told the Charlotte Observer that he wanted to go with the guy who makes the fewest mistakes. Link is here:
Of course we will continue to look at the QB and other positions on the Wolfpack roster as the spring and summer progress.  New coaches and coordinators, new season coming…I am starting to yearn for fall.  At least the part after the less-than-ambitious non-conference schedule.
Here are a few items about other Pack teams:
Basketball:
The 2013-14 edition of the Wolfpack will not look much like this season’s, and perhaps that is a good thing.  But TJ Warren says he will stay, and he was one of the brighter spots on the Cardiac DOA Pack.
On the women’s side, former Pack assistant Wes Moore was hired as the new HC.  Moore comes from UT Chattanooga with an impressive career winning percentage of .767 and 16 trips to the Big Dance, so it seems the ladies are in good hands.
Baseball:  Finally, a quick baseball update. I admit to not really following college baseball until CWS time, but now that we are “in-between” the two attention-grabbing sports, why not take a peek?
Happy to report that the Pack is fine, ranked #25 and coming off a 14-inning win over #30 Virginia Tech.  As a matter of fact, the ACC is fine with the following Top 30 teams:  UNC #1, Virginia #6, Florida State #7, Georgia Tech #16, and as stated already, the Wolfpack at #25 and the Hokies at #30. As for the Futures, we have Louisville at #14 and Notre Dame at #24.
Posted by mikemab2000 in ACC only, Baseball, Basketball, Football, NC State Correspondent, Rankings, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →