Happy 4th of July!! I hope everyone is enjoying our country's birthday the American way-- with BBQ!

This is the LAST U.S. Holiday before FOOTBALL comes back, y'all! By Labor Day we'll know who won the contest between the Trojans of Southern California and the Cavaliers of Virginia.

AND...in GridironGoddess.net news:

• BCS Previews kick off Sunday with the Pac-10
• Wednesday, July 9th the SEC Preview goes up
• Thursday, July 10th, Your Fantasy Football Reality Check with Stephen Lamare debuts
• Sunday, July 13th the ACC Preview goes up

And more good things to come later!

Have a fun and safe weekend!

-Your Gridiron Goddess

We profiled the males in the running for ACC athlete of the year yesterday and asked for your input. Now it's time for the females.

I briefly considered Amanda McDowell and Rachel Dawson, but in the end I don't think I can go against Virginia Tech's Angela Tincher. She finished the year with a 0.63 ERA and 669 strikeouts, both tops in the nation.

She also went 38-10 this year. Nothing against the rest of the Hokies, but without Tincher, Virginia Tech wouldn't have been in the NCAA Tournament, much less the Women's College World Series. She was the single most dominant player on a team sport this season, men's or women's, and for that reason alone she gets my vote.

What do you think?

The nominees:

KASEY HILL, Boston College, senior, track and field

Placed seventh in the heptathlon with a new personal best and Boston College record of 5,666 points; earned her second All-America nomination with her NCAA performance; qualified for the Olympic Trials in and is ranked 13th nationally in the heptathlon; in the ACC Tournament, Hill won the heptathlon with 5,521 points, which was her second ACC individual championship.

ANI MIJACIKA, Clemson, sophomore, tennis

Earned All-America honors in singles and doubles; helped lead Clemson to the 2008 ACC Championship; was a finalist for the Honda Sports Award for tennis; named to the 2008 All-ACC team; rose to the No. 1 singles ranking in the Feb. 20 poll, the first Clemson tennis player, man or woman, to earn the top ranking …spent every poll of the spring season in the top five.

AMANDA BLUMENHURST, Duke, junior, golf

2007-08 Golfweek and PING National Player of the Year; won the Golfstat Cup and the Dinah Shore Trophy; tied her own school record with a 71.00 stroke average; ACC Player of the Year; finished the season ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index for a third straight year.

MAMI YAMAGUCHI, Florida State, junior, soccer

Recipient of the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, presented to the top female player in NCAA Division I soccer; guided the Seminoles to their third straight College Cup appearance; led the country in points (66), while finishing second in both goals (24) and assists (18).

AMANDA MCDOWELL, Georgia Tech, sophomore, tennis

2008 NCAA Singles Champion; 2008 ITA National Player of the Year; All-ACC selection; led the Yellow Jackets to their second straight ITA National Team Indoor Title; set a new school record with 45 singles wins in 2008.

CRYSTAL LANGHORNE, Maryland, senior, basketball

Associated Press and USBWA All-American for the third-straight year, and WBCA All-American for the second-straight year; ACC Player of the Year; Maryland’s leading scorer (17.1 ppg) and rebounder (9.4 rpg), leading the Terps to a 33-4 record and a second NCAA Elite Eight appearance in three years.

KHADIJA TALLEY, Miami, senior, track and field

Named the NCAA Southeast Region Field Performer of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association; qualified for the NCAA National Championships in both the discus and the shot put; finished second at the NCAA East Regionals in the shot put with a career-best mark of 17.02 (55-10.25).

RACHEL DAWSON, North Carolina, senior, field hockey

2007 National Player of the Year and recipient of the Honda Award as the nation's top field hockey player; first-team All-America; helped lead UNC to a 24-0 season and NCAA and ACC titles, voted ACC Defensive Player of the Year; while being recognized as the top player on the nation's best defense, also led the country's top offense in goals.

KHADIJAH WHITTINGTON, NC State, senior, basketball

Averaged a team-best 16.8 points per game and led the conference with 11.7 rebounds per contest; named first-team All-ACC and to the All-ACC Defensive Team; helped lead the Wolfpack to a 21-13 record.; she played in 129 games, never missing a contest in her four years.

BECKY SAUERBRUNN, Virginia, senior, soccer

2007 NSCAA First Team All-American, ACC Defensive Player of the Year; anchored a defense that led the nation with a 0.40 goals against average and posted a school-record 15 shutouts; helped lead Virginia to a 13-4-6 record and the NCAA Round of 16.

ANGELA TINCHER, Virginia Tech, senior, softball

USA Softball National Player of the Year; Honda Award National Softball Player of the Year; helped lead her team to its first-ever NCAA Women's College World Series; led the nation in ERA and strikeouts; went 38-10 with a 0.63 ERA; helped lead the Hokies to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title and was named MVP of the tournament.

MICHELLE LOYD, Wake Forest, senior, track and tield

Loyd was Wake Forest's only representative at the 2008 NCAA Track and Field championships after qualifying with a school record 58.06 performance at the Regionals in Tallahassee, Fla.; 2008 Outdoor All-Region selection; placed first among female collegiate competitors in the 400m hurdles at the Penn Relays with a 58.95 finish.

What he said:

In the face of damaging leaks from the insurance industry, National has finally come clean and admitted it: if elected, they will privatise ACC again.

I pointed out yesterday the stupidity of claiming that a 10 year old policy was a secret, but as facts have come out, there is another problem with that statement.

It's a blatant lie.

The insurance industry is claiming that ACC the corporation will be privitised. National's policy is that ACC the insurance will allow competition from the private sector. Two quite different things.

Now, the two terms are confusing. I was confused. But one thing is not confusing.

National didn't do previously what the insurance industry was claiming. Under the previous privatisation, ACC still existed and covered workers outside of the workplace. So it's very wrong to claim that they will do something "again", or that they have "come clean" on a policy that has been public since it was last implemented in the 90's. Now, I don't really know which of those Idiot is claiming, but one is a lie, and the other is as good as.

The industry is made a claim based on "insider" information. Clearly, someone got their wires crossed on this one, and someone got the idea that a public policy was a private policy and meant something quite different. I guess the person who published that information will should have a rather red face about now.

I'm not just saying this - it is held up internationally as a model of best practice, for coverage and efficiency of delivery. It is no-fault, comprehensive, preventative, and provides a high level of income cover.

In other words, if you have an accident in NZ; whether your fault or not, whether sports, work, traffic or otherwise, whether you're working or not, citizen, resident or tourist, you will be covered, and receive treatment promptly and free. You'll receive compensation for 80% of your income while you're out of work (up to around 100k), until you can return or start another job. It runs a comprehensive accident prevention and safety scheme (on the basis that prevention is cheaper in the long run than cure). It is also worlds best practice for processing claims.

And it delivers all of this at a similar or less cost to the public than less comprehensive systems. Because there is no profit motive, the premiums are lower, and everyone is are covered - meaning more people able to live productive lives rather than being out of work and suffering due to treatable injuries.

People from all over the world look at it and marvel.

If I was to suggest anything, it would be to gradually pull non-accident related illness into the system, perhaps starting first with cancer and arthritis. This was suggested in 1990, but rejected by the Government of the time. Most illnesses are in part environmentally caused anyway.

Yes, there are issues with some people having long term work or exposure related injuries and having to fight to get compensation, and often losing. These issues arise when ACC feels it should reduce the amount paid out by denying claims. This pressure has not surprisingly been greatest when right wing Governments have been in power, but continues under the present Government despite widening many criteria. Moving it to cover everything would solve this.

But those who think private insurers are more generous are living in cloud cuckoo land. "Whoops, you didn't read the small print when you signed the policy - poor you!" "Can you prove you were not at fault?"

Yes, the self employed have to wear the premiums, but they're only charged for the risk their business puts them at. The premiums in a sector decrease as injury rates decrease.

The public don't know how good ACC is though. All that gets reported are the sad stories. There is extremely little awareness of just how unique the situation of the average NZer is in accident injury. I forgot about it myself until I came over to Australia and was shocked at the advertising for injury lawyers, and the tragic tales of those who've fought for compensation and lost, spent huge amounts on lawyers, or those who've been bankrupted through causing an accident.

And National is planning on destroying it - not in one foul swoop, but by siphoning off those who can afford to pay more for marginally better individual outcomes. Yes, the richest in New Zealand get less cover than they would under private insurance. But almost everybody in the country gets better outcomes than in comparable private or partially private accident healthcare models. This is a move that will leave most people worse off. Either National know this and don't care, or they're so ideologically blinded that they can't see how it compares to other systems.

And this is why it is essential that National releases policy now, rather than later. The above took some explaining - but in the midst of an election campaign, where focus is distracted by things like Bill English kissing baby animals, there simply isn't the time or space for issues to be explained and debated by all sides.

Update - the Standard weigh in as well.

(disclosure - I worked for the ACC for several months as a temp in 2004. These opinions are my own however; I didn't have anyone telling me what a marvelous system it was - I discovered that when reading academic public policy journals, which compared it to other systems)

ESPN's ESPY awards are July 20, and with the nominations recently revealed, the ACC is represented in two categories, with a total of three players getting nominated. While the competition is stiff, there is a chance of victory in both categories.

There is no question that those nominated were the elite of their craft, and deserve the accolades bestowed upon them. They rose to the top and led their teams to glory. Okay, so I'm not Bob Costas or Jim Nantz, but that's the best I way I could describe these athletes. Anyways, here's the list of those nominated.

North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough is among three nominees for Best Male Collegiate Athlete. Hansbrough was named 2007-08 Collegiate Player of the Year by the Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and the United States Basketball Writers Association. Hansbrough also won the Wooden Award and Naismith Award as most outstanding player. Hansbrough is up against Tim Tebow of Florida and Michael Beasley of Kansas State.

For Best Female Collegiate Athlete, the ACC has two of the three nominations. Virginia Tech softball's Angela Tincher is one nominee. She led the Hokies to a 38-10 record their first ever College World Series appearance on the strength of a 0.96 ERA. Tincher wrapped up her career third in NCAA history in strikeouts, and also broke the ACC record in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched.

Also represented for the ACC is North Carolina Field Hockey's Rachel Dawson. Dawson led the Heels to a 24-0 record, a national title (a rare instance where the Heels didn't blow it), and the National Player of the Year award for field hockey, along with the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, which she won for a second time.

Tincher and Dawson will be up against Candace Parker of Tennessee, and given the ACC's luck, Parker will be the winner.

As you can see, these athletes are some of the finest the ACC has had in quite some time. Best of luck goes out to all three of them. Let's not have the ACC go home empty handed again. I already feel bad enough for putting you into a depression with last week's column, and unless you support your favorite conference, the depression will grow even more. Support the ACC….please.

Packer said his departure stems from the liberal leanings of his former bishop, Michael Ingham. “He doesn’t believe the things God tells us in the Bible,” Packer told Charisma. “He believes homosexual unions can be a form of holiness. I believe homosexual unions are not part of God’s way. They are barren and mess up human nature.”

With the recent sanctioning of same-sex blessings in the ACC, 15 large Anglican churches in Canada, including St. John’s Shaughnessy, have left the church and joined forces with the conservative Anglican Network based in Canada. Lesley Bentley, spokeswoman for St. John’s Shaughnessy, said the 15 churches that left the ACC represent the number of people in 13 of the 29 dioceses in Canada. “Our church alone has 800 attending Sunday morning services,” she said. “We’re the churches who are growing and planting other churches.”

Ingham, bishop of the diocese of New Westminster, where St. John’s Shaughnessy is located, threatened court action in February when church members voted to come under Venables’ authority. “Basically, the ACC wants the church building,” Bentley said. “The court action threatened was abandonment of ministry because the priests here aren’t under the authority of Michael Ingham anymore.”

The shadows of persecution over issues of homosexuality continue to grow longer and stronger. As liberals take control of denominations, punitive actions against those who refuse to accept the new milennium golden cow are sure to follow.

Are you still in a church where homosexual affirming theology is being pushed? If so what are you doing about it and when are you going to speak up?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4605373a10.html

It seems the only plan Labour has for the looming election is to constantly bag John Key. I thought perhaps they would tire of this and actually pull out some policy or something to try and improve the level of debate up. Clearly that was a bit silly of me, because so far all we get is the usual childish name calling and school yard accusations directed at the leader of National.

If this is all Labour's got they really ARE in deep shit. I have news for Clark and Cullen - this is not going to impress anyone (apart from you sycophantic mates) especially not potential voters. We're not really interested in John Key's financial affairs, in fact, by continuing to focus on him you're drawing attention to him, and maybe pointing out that he is capable of making money might be seen my many as a strength rather than a weakness. That Cullen and Clark see this quality as a weakness speaks more about their own values than Keys.

I guess as long a National is drip feeding us policy, the coming months won't be too mind numbing! 

The Nat's ACC policy (introducing some competition) looks promising, although it is not entirely new. I recall that this actually saved businesses money, and it was the first thing Cullen trashed - I will never forget him telling business that Labour won, and they were changing things, so we all had to "get over it", and it was a figment of our imagination that the new ACC flexibility was saving us money.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4605350a10.html

"Last month we issued a 'please explain' to National, after reported comments from their spokesperson and deputy leader that they were committed to 'choice' in accident compensation," CTU vice president Richard Wagstaff said.

"Today it was revealed that Australian insurers were being advised by brokers to get ready for a multi-billion dollar windfall when National privatises ACC. The report's authors said that National was keeping quiet on their plans publically, but privately they understand National will privatise the scheme."

Read more

Wednesday, 2 July 2008, 1:57 pm
Press Release: Public Service Association

PSA MEDIA RELEASE
July 2, 2008
For Immediate Use

PSA Concerned About Job Losses And Increased Costs If ACC Privatised

“Privatising ACC will push up the cost of accident compensation for workers and employers and could result in ACC staff losing their jobs,” says Public Service Association National Secretary, Brenda Pilott.

The PSA has 670 members working for the Accident Compensation Corporation.

“We’re alarmed to see that Australian investment bank, Merrill Lynch, has issued a report stating that it has a clear understanding that National will privatise ACC if it comes to power after the election,” says Brenda Pilott.

Read more

As a member of the ACSMA, I get to vote on the ACC athletes of the year. I'd like to get some feedback from you, the readers, on who should receive the award.

I'll list the candidates for the men's award (the Anthony J. McKevlin Award) today and the women's award (the Mary Garber Award) tomorrow.

For the men, I'll tell you that I'm leaning toward Virginia's Somdev Devvarman. He won the NCAA singles title for the second season in a row and was in the finals for the third straight year. While the rest of the nominees had great years and put up fantastic numbers, Devvarman actually won a title, doing it all on his own without the help of teammates.

But maybe I should consider someone else. Let us know in the comments section who you would select and why. Keep in mind that the deadline to turn in my ballot is July 15.

The nominees:

MATT RYAN, Boston College, senior, football

2007 ACC player of the year; 207 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner; led to team to 11-3 record and a berth in the ACC championship game; completed 388-of-654 passes for 4,507 yards and 31 touchdowns.

CLIFF HAMMONDS, Clemson, senior, basketball

Third-team All-ACC; ranked in top 10 in ACC in assists, assist-to-turnover ratio, & steals per game; led Clemson to first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998 and first ACC Tournament championship game appearance since 1962.

ZACK GREER, Duke, senior, lacrosse

2008 Lt. Col. J. I. (Jack) Turnbull Award honoree as the nation’s top attackman; USILA First Team All-America selection; All-ACC and ACC All-Tournament honoree; led the nation in goals scored (65) for the third time in his career, while ranking second in total points (95)

BUSTER POSEY, Florida State, junior, baseball

2008 Dick Howser Trophy winner; guided the Seminoles to the Tallahassee Regional and Super Regional championships and a berth in the College World Series for the first time since 2000; finished the year leading the country in batting average (.463), hits (119), RBI (93), slugging percentage (.879), on-base percentage (.566) and total bases (226); named Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and Rivals.com Player of the Year.

JAMES LEMONS, Georgia Tech, senior, track and field

Earned All-American honors in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships; garnered All-American honors in the triple jump and long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships; 2008 ACC Outdoor Field MVP; earned second-straight ACC Outdoor triple jump championship with a best mark of 53 feet, 6 inches.

HUDSON TAYLOR, Maryland, sophomore, wrestling

2008 ACC Wrestler of the Year; 2008 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year; All-American; ACC Champion; finished third at NCAA Championships; fifth wrestler at Maryland to finish in the top five all-time; 37-3 record.

JACK MCCLINTON, Miami, junior, basketball

Became the first Miami Hurricane in school history named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team; led the ACC this season in three-point field goal percentage (.442), three-point field goals per game (3.00), and free throw percentage (.900), while ranking fifth in scoring with 17.4 points per game.

TYLER HANSBROUGH, North Carolina, junior, basketball

Named National Player of the Year by The Associated Press, USBWA, NABC, The Sporting News, Los Angeles Athletic Club (Wooden Award), Atlanta Tipoff Club (Naismith Award), Sports Illustrated, ESPN.com, CBS/Chevrolet, Commonwealth Club of Kentucky (Rupp Award) and Basketball Times; scored 882 points and grabbed 399 rebounds; led the ACC in scoring and rebounding.

DEXTER ADAMS, NC State, senior, track and field

Won the ACC indoor long jump title and finished sixth nationally with a jump of 25 feet, 10 3/4 inches at the NCAA Indoor Championships; earned NCAA Indoor All-America honors; one of just three long jumpers in school history to clear 26 feet; ran a 6.75 in the 60m dash, the second fastest time in school history for the event.

SOMDEV DEVVARMAN, Virginia, senior, tennis

2008 NCAA Singles Champion, becoming the 13th player in the 124-year history of the tournament to win consecutive titles and just the fourth in the past 50 years (the only ACC player ever to win an NCAA Championship); 2008 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Player of the Year; ended his career with a record 18 career NCAA Singles Championship wins.

PATRICK NYARKO, Virginia Tech, senior, soccer

2007 MAC Hermann Trophy runner-up; was one of four Atlantic Coast Conference players selected to  the 2007 NSCAA/adidas All-America First Team; led the way for Tech in its most successful postseason run in school history and scored the only goal of the game to lead the Hokies to a 1-0 NCAA quarterfinal win at No. 1 UConn en route to their first-ever College Cup appearance.

WEBB SIMPSON, Wake Forest, senior, golf

2008 ACC Player of the Year; finished third in the conference in stroke average at 71.44; won the ACC Championship in April with a five-stroke win over North Carolina’s Chase MacFarland; earned first team All-America honors on the PING squad; named second team All-America by GolfWeek.

Rambin' Wreck cornerback Jerrard Tarrant did us all a service in April by reminding us that sodomy is still illegal. That is, forcible sodomy. According to charges filed against Tarrant, he sexually assaulted someone in DeKalb County on April 25, and the subsequent investigation landed him rape and sodomy charges.

Now, it's all fine and good to make light of different ways of copulation, but if you've ever been in a courtroom and watched one of these trials, it's pretty awful. One can't sit and hear "non-consensual anal penetration with an inanimate object" without their stomach turning. Maybe that's why the Fulmer Cup points for each charge is only one point lower than murder.

You have to give the AJC writers some credit for trying to pull a laugh in a bad situation, though. You know there had to be a few smiles around the newsroom when this piece of information came in:

Tarrant's facebook.com page was updated on Monday to say "Jerrard Tarrant is truly MISUNDERSTOOD, when will they see the real me????"

Georgia Tech player charged with campus rape [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

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It's never too early to talk ACC hoops and Bob Rathbun stops by to chat about basketball. Rathbun, who calls ACC games for Raycom and is the Voice of the Atlanta Hawks, discusses the U.S. Olympic basketball team, a couple of ACC players taken in the NBA Draft and the outlook for ACC hoops in 2008-09.

We also discover that, in spite of his lofty credentials that include being a multiple Emmy Award winner and a member of the 2008 class of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, Rathbun -- much like Paul Johnson last week -- can't keep his dog quite.

Also this week:

-- ACCNation.com columnist Will Ojanen makes his debut on the podcast;

-- Q receives many e-mails telling him why he's wrong about Duke football and its lawyers;

-- Is Patrick and easy date?;

-- Patrick defends Paul Johnson against those who weren't happy with his appearance on the podcast last week;

And more.

"If we compare the first quarter of this calender year with the same period of last year, our profitability has come down by 5-7 percent," Paul Hugentobler, a member of Holcim's executive committee, was quoted as saying. "If input costs continue to rise like this, we will not have any other option but to raise prices."

Cement prices across the world had to rise by $20 to $30 a tonne so companies can maintain profits, he told the paper.

But higher prices could lead to a slowdown in demand, he said.

Booming emerging markets helped Holcim post an 84 percent increase in 2007 net profit, but in India government measures to contain inflation were putting pressure on cement firms to hold down prices.

If that were to continue, Hugentobler said, cement companies may have to shut shop in the fast-growing market.

Source Reuters

Dawkins has been a lifelong follower of the Duke Blue Devils and said he felt comfortable with them. Not surprisingly for Duke signee, Dawkins can shoot from deep.

Unfounded Rumors of a Kidney Problem Sunk Arthur's Stock (photo credit: AP)

Darrell Arthur's Kidney.  The story of last night's draft, of course, was the unsubstantiated rumor of a serious undisclosed kidney problem that arose during Darrell Arthur's medical tests.  Luke Winn details the report much better than we can here, but suffice it to say that it now appears that this kidney issue was a complete red herring, and the Memphis Grizzlies (through two subsequent trades) got an absolute steal at the #27 slot.  Winn suggests that the whispers about Arthur's health could have cost him in the neighborhood of $1.3M over the course of his rookie contract.  Shouldn't we just go ahead and put Slim Shady at the top of next year's ROY contenders (Paul Pierce-style) based upon this slight alone?  He'll have gobs of additional motivation, that's for sure. 

One-and-Done Redux.  We've written about 1-and-dones until we're blue in the face, but let's face it, the Class of 2007 is arguably one of the greatest HS classes of all-time.  Four of the top five picks, seven of the top fourteen, and a record ten of the thirty first-rounders were freshmen.  Throw in the eight sophomores chosen in the first round, and that means 72% of the guaranteed contracts that went to American players were to players with 2 years or less of college experience.  Only five seniors were chosen in the first round, and the first at #12 overall, Jason Thompson from Rider, resulted in a perplexed "who?" from much of the crowd and viewing audience.  Again, there is no question that the NBA rule helped in terms of marketing these players.  Thanks to the Season of the Freshman, every basketball fan in America is now intimately familiar with the games of Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, OJ Mayo, Kevin Love, and so on.  If they'd all gone pro after high school, we'd have little to no clue what those teams were getting.

Mayo Posing as Stringer Bell (photo credit: SI.com) 

Beautiful Disasters.  Two of the one-and-dones who were bound and determined to stay in the draft no matter what anyone told them were DeAndre Jordan and Bill Walker.  (note: we were happy to see that our feelings of overratedness (see: HoopsAddict podcast at 34:30) with Jordan and Anthony Randolph were corroborated on draft night, although not so much with Russell Westbrook, chosen fourth!)  Both got drafted in the second round (#35 and #47 respectively) but last night had to be severely disappointing to both players, as Jordan was being talked about as a lottery pick earlier this draft season, and Walker last year (before blowing out his knee again).  Does Walker with his former #1 player in his class pedigree and seemingly constant knee injuries remind anyone else of Randy Livingston?  But the prize for biggest clowns of the draft go to USC's Davon Jefferson and Mississippi State's Jamont Gordon, both of whom were undrafted last night.  As for Jefferson, this one-and-done prospect declared early, signed with an agent (assuring he couldn't return to USC), and then proceeded to float his way through the pre-draft camp.  He was a possible second-rounder at that point, but his uninspired effort in Orlando ensured that he would be left on the outside looking in.  Gordon's situation was even worse, as he completely skipped the pre-draft camp (incredulously assuming he was a first-rounder), also signed with an agent, and otherwise did nothing to show that he was a serious candidate for the draft.  Ok, we get it, you reallyreallyreallyreally want to play in the NBA, and you reallyreallyreallyreally think you're good enough... but you guys really need to start doing some listening when people who make these decisions (scouts, GMs, draftniks) are telling you otherwise.  Good luck in the D-League, guys.   

Katz discusses some of the other early entry disappointments in last night's draft. 

Sideshow Bob Was Drafted by the Suns Last Night (photo credit: SI.com)

Conference Call.  A year ago Pac-10 coaches were telling us that they had far and away the most talent in the nation, suggesting that there are as many as a dozen first-round picks on their squads in 2007-08.  Well, it turns out they weren't that far off, as there were seven first rounders last night, including three of the top five (#3 Mayo, #4 Westbrook, #5 Love, #10 Brook Lopez, #11 Jerryd Bayless, #15 Robin Lopez, #21 Ryan Anderson), and twelve players chosen overall.  Also keep in mind that several other probable first rounders from the Pac-10, such as Darren Collison (UCLA), Chase Budinger (Arizona) and Jeff Pendergraph (Arizona St.) elected to stay in college another year.  The Big 12 was next with nine players chosen, including four first rounders and five (!!) players - tying the 2006 UConn Huskies and 2007 Florida Gators - from the National Champs (#13 Brandon Rush, #27 Darrell Arthur, #34 Mario Chalmers, #52 Darnell Jackson, #56 Sasha Kaun).  Throw in former Jayhawk JR Giddens (#30) and an astonishing six players passed through the KU program en route to this draft.  The SEC had six draft picks, and the Big East and ACC had four each.  The usually-pathetic Big 10 once again finished last among the BCS conferences with only three picks.  See table below.

Not NBA Material.  We reserve this spot to formally bid adieu to some of the notable collegians who have entertained us for the last four years, but whom the NBA has decided are not worthy to play in their league.  Drew Neitzel (Michigan St.), Demarcus Nelson (Duke), David Padgett (Louisville), Josh Duncan (Xavier), and Pat Calathes (St. Joseph's) are but a few of the names we'll probably never see again unless they become coaches someday.  The honor of the biggest undrafted name, though, goes to Tennessee star and cancer survivor Chris Lofton, who holds the all-time mark in the SEC for three-pointers, and ranks third in NCAA history on that measure.  If there's one guy we'd bank on finding his way to an NBA court near you in the next couple of years (even for a cup of coffee), it would probably be this kid.  He stares toughness and grit directly in the eyes before they walk away in shame. 

J.J. Hickson , NC State, 6-9, 235-pound Forward – First Round (19th overall) by the Cleveland Cavaliers

Hickson is the third NC State player in the last four years, and 14th overall, to be selected in the first round … a unanimous first All-ACC Freshman team selection … led all ACC freshmen in scoring (14.8) a year ago … also led the ACC and was 18th nationally in field goal percentage (.591) … finished second in the ACC and was 50th nationally averaging 8.5 rebounds per game … the 8.5 rebounds per game average ranked 11th all-time among ACC freshmen … set an ACC freshman record scoring 31 points in his first collegiate game ... made all 12 of his field goal attempts and pulled down seven rebounds in State’s 66-47 win over William & Mary on Nov. 15, 2007 … set a second ACC freshman single-game record with 23 rebounds in a 71-64 loss to Clemson on Feb. 16 … is the 16th ACC player selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers, including five first-round selections.

Sean Singletary, Virginia, 6-0, 185-pound Guard – Second Round (42nd overall) by the Sacramento Kings

Singletary is the first Virginia player selected in the NBA draft since Roger Mason was chosen by the Chicago Bulls in 2002 … the Cavaliers first three-time All-ACC selection since Bryant Stith (1990-92), Singletary was third in the ACC in scoring (19.8) and second in assists (6.1) in 2008 … scored 20 or more points 43 times in his career ... finished his career scoring 10 or more points in 55 straight games and in 92 of his last 98 ... finished fifth on the Cavaliers’ all-time scoring list with 2,079 points and started all 123 games he has played in at Virginia … Singletary is the only player in ACC history to have 2,000 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals in his career … is the 33rd player from Virginia to be selected in the NBA draft.

James Gist, Maryland, 6-8, 233-pound Forward – Second Round (57th Overall) by the San Antonio Spurs

Gist is the third ACC player selected in the 2008 draft … marks the second-straight year that a Maryland player has been drafted … D.J. Strawberry was drafted by Phoenix in the second round a year ago … was a second-team All-ACC selection as a senior in 2008 after earning honorable mention honors as a junior in 2007 … was eighth in the ACC in scoring (15.9), fourth in rebounding (7.9), second in blocked shots (2.3) and third in field goal percentage (.496) … finished 17th on Maryland’s career scoring list with 1,414 points, 11th in rebounds (783) and fourth in blocked shots (231) … Gist is the 56th player from Maryland to be selected in the NBA draft.

Deron Washington, 6-6, 199-pound Forward – Second Round (59th overall) by the Detroit Pistons

The first Virginia Tech player to be drafted since the Utah Jazz selected Eddie Lucas in the second round in 1999 … Washington is the 25th Virginia Tech player selected in the NBA draft and the 18th ACC player drafted by the Detroit Pistons … averaged 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as a senior in 2008 and earned honorable mention All-ACC … a four-year starter at Virginia Tech, Washington finished his career with 124 starts, 1,408 points, 689 rebounds and 115 blocked shots.

ACC NOTES

With Hickson’s selection by the Cavaliers, the ACC has had at least one first round draft pick in each of the last 20 NBA drafts … the last time that the ACC did not have a player selected in the first round of the NBA draft was 20 years ago (1988) … Hickson is the 420th ACC player to be selected in the NBA draft, including 149 first round draft pick.

Abra o link http://www.maquinasvoadoras.com.br/links.php e escolha uma das opções na parte de baixo da página. A mais interessante é a de Guarulhos, que fornece também a imagem do radar local, com as informações dos transponders. Cada imagem de avião vem acompanhada das informações de vôo fornecidas por este aparelho, como o prefixo, o modelo, a velocidade e altitude.

Exemplo: se aparecer na tela TAM3818 PR-MBH A320 FL065 163KT SBGR - SBBR trata-se de um avião da TAM, modelo Airbus A320, de prefixo PR-MBH. A aeronave voa, naquele instante, a 6.500 pés de altitude (1.981 metros), numa velocidade de 163 nós (pouco mais de 300 km/h). O vôo, de número 3818, saiu de Guarulhos (SBGR) com destino ao Aerporto Internacional de Brasília (SBBR). As siglas de cada aeroporto são definidas pela Organização da Aviação Civil Internacional (ICAO).

With the recent elimination of North Carolina from the College World Series, the 2007-08 ACC athletics season has come to an end. And as much as I would like to sugar coat the success of the conference as a whole, I just can't. There were plenty of opportunities for the conference to represent itself in the big time sports, and, like seemingly every team I root for, they choke it away.

Let's start with baseball. The ACC sent three teams (North Carolina, Florida State, and Miami) to the College World Series in Omaha. Miami and Florida State both lost their first games in their half of the bracket, and they were forced to play each other. Miami won, but was eliminated in the next game by Stanford. North Carolina, on the other hand, beat LSU in the first game, lost to Cinderella Fresno State in the next game, beat LSU again, beat Fresno State to force a third game with the Bulldogs, which Carolina lost. That eliminated the Tar Heels.

Now we move on to football. Eight teams were selected to bowl games last season. And once again, the results weren't pretty. Only two teams won bowl games. Boston College and Wake Forest won their respective bowl games, while Maryland, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia, and Virginia Tech were all losers. The Hokies loss might have been more disturbing given the fact that it was a BCS game (Orange Bowl) that they were widely regarded as the expected winner of the game. However, they lost to Kansas, and in an opportunity on national TV, with the world watching, the ACC once again falls short.

Next up is men's basketball. It was sort of a down year conference-wise in terms of bids. The conference only sent four teams to the tournament. North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, and Miami were the chosen four. Clemson was upset in the first round, and Duke and Miami were eliminated in the second round. North Carolina, on the other hand, was basically unchallenged through the first three rounds, winning by 39, 31, and 21 points respectively. UNC then beat Louisville by 10 and advanced to the Final Four. The vast majority of people picked UNC to win it all leading up to their Final Four match up with Kansas. And for some reason, UNC failed to show up, losing by 18, and ending the season for the Tar Heels.

Even women's basketball failed to represent. Six teams were chosen to the NCAA tournament, third most of all of the conferences in the women's tournament. Of the six teams, Georgia Tech was the only team to lose in the first round. Virginia and Florida State were taken out in the second round, leaving three ACC teams heading to the Sweet Sixteen. Duke was defeated in the third round, leaving Maryland and North Carolina left in the Elite Eight. Twent-five percent of the teams left in the tournament were from the ACC. Unfortunately, after that round, zero percent of the ACC was left, as both Maryland and UNC were defeated. By the way, is anyone noticing a trend with North Carolina here?

And let's not forget men's lacrosse. The ACC had half of the Final Four left in Duke and Virginia. In fact, a certain someone went on national TV and pretty much guaranteed victory for one team. Thus was born the Curse of Patrick Hite. Both Duke and Virginia fell victim in their matchups, leaving another sport for the ACC without a championship.

You want more negativity? You got it. There were a couple of other teams on the cusp of the national title before falling short. Florida State lost the national championship in women's soccer, and Virginia Tech made the College World Series in softball before getting beat.

But there is some positivity after all. There were some national championships won by the ACC. Wake Forest won the title in men's soccer, North Carolina won the national championship in field hockey, and the ACC dominated in tennis, as Somdev Devvarman of Virginia and Amanda McDowell of Georgia Tech (a recent guest on the ACC Nation podcast) won the national title in men's and women's singles respectively. Florida State captured the men's track and field title for the third consecutive season, and Walter Dix destroyed the field in the 200m, helping the Noles to the three peat. And even though there is no ACC hockey, the Boston College men's team won the national title in men's hockey.

Now that I have put you all in a depressed mood, there is some light ahead. The 2008-09 season looks promising for the ACC. In football, Clemson is ranked very high in a lot of national publications heading into the season (in the top 10 in some), and Wake Forest is also ranked highly in the national publications.

Men's basketball looks very promising as well. With almost everyone returning, North Carolina will probably be the consensus number one ranked team heading into the season, and Duke and Miami are also ranked in the top 15 according to ESPN. And you know there's always going to be someone that doesn't get a good look that will be a very good team. I would look at Virginia Tech. I said it before in my season recap column, but I really like this team heading into the upcoming basketball season.

It wasn't a good year overall for the conference in the big time sports, but the "non-revenue" sports picked up the slack and made this a somewhat successful athletic season for the ACC. Now all we need is for a team in a big time sport to step up and make noise on the national scene so the ACC can get the praise it deserves.

Having owned businesses of various kinds for over 30 years, this is the most mentally difficult business I have ever owned.  The responsibility for a clients "dream" vacation or trip rests totally on my shoulders.  Even though there are a multitude of pieces in this puzzle, in my client's eyes I am the airline, the cruise line, the hotel, the car rental and on and on.  24/7/365 is the length of responsibility.  You don't clock out at 5 PM. 

In addition, you are holding control of thousands of dollars of someone else's money.  Remembering the deadlines, keeping watch on all the supplier's documents to be sure all the names, dates, dollars, destinations, etc. are correct.  Some of those supplier's are minimum wage people who just don't care!!  Let me break it down:

• Airlines.  Oh my, what can I say?  Getting harder all the time to work with them.  Every day we get "misconnects" and have to straighten those out.  They change people's flight times, connections, even days of flying.  And they just aren't nice.  Not to mention all the luggage regulations and new charges popping up daily.  Next you will need coins for the former attendants who have nothing to do now but sit at the bathroom doors and hand out tissue squares.
• Hotels.  Management changes, renovations, closures and on and on.  It can be a beautiful property one day and new management trashes it the next.  The biggest thing is location, location, location.  I have to know every little town in the whole world and where the good areas and bad areas are. 
• Car Rentals.  Not so much a challenge.  Just making sure the size holds all the luggage and size of passengers.  Automatic or stick?  Airconditioning?  And taxes...oh my word!!!  Almost more than the car rental.  And don't forget total insurance coverage.  You can be stuck in a city or country for days if you try to use your own. 
• Cruise Lines.  Knowing all the lines and all the ships in each line.  What are the conditions of each ship?  Are they being maintained?  What are the new ships coming out?  Destinations...what are the ports all over the world?  What is the best and worst time of year to go somewhere?  And cabins...good locations vs. bad locations.  Cabin categories, what are they?  What sizes are the cabins?  Booking a cruise is like buying a pair of shoes..if it doesn't fit you, you won't ever cruise again. 
• Tours.  Escorted, guided, independent, and a mix.  The best and worst.  There are scores of tour companies.  Knowing them all takes a long time.  Getting passengers on a wrong one is disaster. 
• Destinations.  I am required to know the whole world, and to have traveled to all or most all of it.  That costs a lot of money and travel agents DO NOT travel free.  What is there to see in every area?  People often take too big a bite and have no idea how far distances are.  What are seasons for pricing? 
• Type of Travel.  There was a study some years back defining kinds of travelers.  Those who want total comfort to those who want a hammock in a hut.  Where do clients fit on that graph?  Now I have to find the right mix so they will come back happy.  And better still, tell all their friends and family.  Selling travel is about repeat business.

Now that your eyes are open, I will add a few more details.  You need education so you can educate your clients. 

• The Travel Institute has a 2 step process that takes about 6 years to complete.  It starts with CTA after you have been an agent for 5 years and then CTC, taking as long as you need.  A very difficult course.  I have my CTC.
• Cruise Lines International has a 3 step certification process starting with ACC - Accredited Cruise Counselor to MCC- Master Cruise Counselor to ECC-Elite Cruise Counselor.  This is an ongoing training until you reach ECC.  I was #43 to get my ECC out of 250,000 or so travel agents.  It took me 13 years to reach that point.  Very few home-based travel agents can achieve ECC because of the number of cruises we have to sell to reach that certification.
• Destination Specialist courses offered by The Travel Institute as well as Tourist Boards of various countries and cities.  These are ongoing.  I have several of these.
• Seminars, Conventions and Trade Shows are being held constantly.  In our local area there are scores of agents who never attend any.  There is no way to keep up on all the changes if you are not constantly being trained.  In larger agencies, representatives do onsite training and many will come to home-based offices. 

That's a good start.  Now what do you think?  But most of all, what does the public think about someone who just hung out a shingle or someone who has been around the "block" and can give you the best service and advise?

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Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson joins the guys this week to talk about installing a new offense in Atlanta, why that offense will work despite what critics say, the rivalry with Georgia and more.

Also,

-- Which ACC football coaches are on the hot seat?;

-- Duke football admits it stinks;

-- Patrick needs vacation advice;

-- Is Carolina baseball a failure?;

-- Thanks to Doug Adams for his ACC football Q & A with Patrick;

-- Rank your school's sports in order of importance;

-- Three former ACC players are on the U.S. Olympic team;

And more on this week's podcast.

Few months ago, Canada's high priest of the 'Church of Global Warming' himself, Dr. David Suzuki, had delivered a series of speeches in which he openly called for the jailing of those who disagree with his views on Global Warming.  Dr. Suzuki is a geneticist, and apparently, these credentials qualify him as the leading authority on Climate Change.

Applying this logic, an ornithologist would be qualified to assess building codes for earthquake-prone areas and a meteorologist is qualified to work as an obstetrician.  After all, they are all 'scientists'!!! 

Just imagine...

But, I digress...

Is it surprising, then, that one of the founders of the 'Church of Global Warming', James Hansen, is doing much the same?  Lubos Motl, from The Reference Frame, has analyzed this and makes some very insightful points:

"...when it is already clear that his predictions have been bunk since the very beginning, James Hansen wants trials against oil firm chiefs who help to allow the people to understand that the predictions have been incorrect."

 ...

"...when you start to see fringe pseudoscientists who not only want to use their subjective, sensationalist, and mad visions and personal interests to unseat all inconvenient CEOs and Congressmen - another explicitly formulated desire of Mr Hansen - but you also see that they seem to have a clique of misinformed or equally evil collaborators who have been partially successful, I am telling you: This is a damn serious situation that should be solved unless you want to repeat some truly black pages from the history."

It is not the beliefs or opinions themselves which identify someone as a 'radical religionist', it is the fanticism of their belief that it is their duty to remove all obstacles to re-shaping society according to their own visions. 

Wikipedia (a great place to start info searches) says, under 'political radicalism', that:

'The 19th century American Cyclopaedia of Political Science asserts that "radicalism is characterized less by its principles than by the manner of their application".'

And that certainly includes the politico-religious extremists spreading the AGW creed.

Remember when an ACL tear was a devastating blow to an athlete’s career? Think Tiger Woods and Philip Rivers believe otherwise?

I was amazed when I found out Rivers played the AFC Championship with a torn ACL. But that was one game. Woods has been walking miles and miles — and winning and winning — for 10 months.

Carlos Zambrano’s minor shoulder strain isn’t foreshadowing another demoralizing Cubs’ collapse, right? Right? RIGHT?

I can’t talk about this right now. Next.

If the Kansas City Royals can sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium, why can’t the Boston Red Sox beat the Cards in Fenway?

The NL Central will be a three-team race (Milwaukee’s a-comin’) in September. I’ve ordered a lifetime supply of Maalox.

If Kobe Bryant is the second coming of Michael Jordan, then how come his team blew a 24-point lead in an NBA Finals game?

Because he ain’t Jordan. Never was, never will be. End of discussion.

Why would Penguins star Evgeni Malkin turn the Russian league down?

$12.5 million tax-free. That’s the offer.

Does the PGA Tour matter now?

At the British and PGA, yes, kinda. Everywhere else? No.

Why doesn’t ESPN give Erin Andrews her own private jet and fly her to be the sideline reporter at every ESPN broadcoast?

No male has an answer for this one, nor does want to give one. Just make it happen.

Why is Roger Federer’s career considered in a nosedive when he gets blasted in the finals on his worst surface by perhaps the greatest clay court player tennis has ever seen?

This won’t even be on the radar in a fortnight.

Did anybody else hear Kevin Garnett, in the middle of his post-Finals interview with ABC’s Michelle Tofoya, say, “Michelle, you look good tonight”? And did anybody else hear Garnett’s analogy of getting the “never-won-a-championship” monkey off his back to confronting the school bully? How can anyone not like Garnett, but love Kobe?

Good question. (Careful on the "bully" link, which features some strong language.)

If a columnist like espn.com’s Jemele Hill gets suspended for a politically incorrect line in her column, does her editor get suspended, too?

I want to know the answer to this one.

Why won’t they bring Vanilla Coke Zero back?

Because I like it.

Why was the amateur baseball draft televised?

Because Peter Gammons said so?

How much pressure does NASCAR, with its fat TV contract, put on several Sprint Cup drivers to appear in Nationwide Series races? There’s got to a be a reason why these guys keep criss-crossing the country at small-time tracks, right? It can’t all be about the money drivers are making, right? 

Seriously, the only reason anybody watches these races is because half the field is well-known. And NASCAR has to keep that happening.

Remember when the Carolina Panthers thought signing David Carr to a two-year deal was a good idea?

Don’t remind me.

How soon will the NBA team that drafts Roy Hibbert next week regret its decision? By the weekend? Next month? 

Not soon enough.

The fact that a guy like Jim Thome can’t do anything but pinch-hit in games played at Wrigley Field suggests how one-dimensional a DH is, doesn’t it? So if you wouldn’t be good enough to play on at least half of the teams in the league, why wouldn’t there be questions regarding the Hall of Fame credentials of a career DH?

I’m not saying the DH needs to go away or that somebody like Edgar Martinez shouldn’t be considered for the Hall. But there are justifiable concerns.

Did you know that Michelle Wie is ranked 200th in the world — in women’s golf? And did you know she made the cut this week in the LPGA Tour event?

Let’s all hope she can make a Jennifer Capriati-like comeback and win someday.

Would anybody in their right mind bet that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will stay retired?

Um, he’s a boxer. See Foreman, George.

Who lives a better life? Top-flight race horses or homeless people?

Can we get our priorites straight, please?

Why would a baseball general manager have a radio show?

Only bad things could happen.

Remember when senior tour golf was televised live?

...and the NBA finals were not?

Has it ever rained this much in Omaha?

Probably, but never with the Tar Heels in town.

So Chipper Jones is actually human?

Yes. Nobody’s ever hitting .400 again.

When will Dale Earnhardt Jr. win again?

Probably soon, but what else is everybody gonna talk about?

When will I get some answers?

Dunno. 

It was a concert that promotes that Toronto once again was a safe city after the massive SARS outbreak that claimed 43 lives in the city. Many conventions and conferences were cancelled. Movie production was turned away. Hotel occupancy rates were down and the fact that many tour operators were reporting a sudden sharp in decline for bookings and such. The World Health Organization (WHO) has placed the city under the list of transmissions where the SARS outbreak is most active. The quarantine lasted for at least a month or so.

I was in Grade 11 at the time of the outbreak and both my mom and my dad worked as registered nurses and they too were coping with the incidental precautions being implemented. Anyways, back to my story…there were at least two SARS-benefit concerts that took place in the Downtown core and at Downsview Park (401 and Allen Rd.). The concert that I had attended was performed by Canadian artists and the concert was dubbed the “Concert for Toronto”. On that day on June 21st, 2003 – it marked my first step on having my good dose of punk rock music. The CanCon concert was completely sold out at that time, but subsequently announced that another block of tickets were held.

The Concert:

They were taking place down at the Air Canada Centre and Skydome (now known as the Rogers Centre). At the Skydome, there were mostly some rock performers that appeal to a younger crowd: Swollen Members, Our Lady Peace, Avril Lavigne, Sum 41, Barenaked Ladies and The Tragically Hip. At least 50,000 people were in attendance at the time. Meanwhile, not far away at the Air Canada Centre, the attendance was in somewhat of a small scale – 20,000 people. The performers who were there at the ACC include: Jann Arden, Diana Krall, Sarah McLachlan, Glenn Lewis and Remy Shand. All together these performances combined well over 70,000 people in attendance. A video link was provided between the two venues so people at the Air Canada Centre can watch the performance down at the Skydome (and vice versa). I and my sister went to the Skydome to see my favourite bands Sum 41 and Avril Lavigne, but I didn’t have a chance to see BNL perform. I was however, can see Jann Arden and Sarah McLachlan perform at the ACC through a video link. From my experience, it was such a hardcore concert.

Hot enough for you?:

Before we went to the Skydome, me and my sister went to a restaurant called the Richtree Market (iirc, it was named the Marché Movenpick) down on Front and Yonge Street (iirc). The restaurant looks like a cafeteria to some and the food is very good and a bit expensive to my humble opinion (about $10 to $15CDN whichever is more). The waiter entertains us very well. We discussed to him about the concert we are going and he was very generous to us, he gave me an ice tea because the weather was really hot at the time. Anyways, we went to the Skydome without incident and by the time we arrived, Swollen Members performed. Inside the venue, my friend Brittany was at the concert and she was able to provide us some good seats. The tickets that we bought were very crappy because sat almost as high up to the ceiling which really gives us some poor acoustics. After I meet up with her, we went downstairs to the respective level and finally we got the place that is almost (if not) closer to the stage, but that’s how far we went.

After we settled our seats, we watched the performances throughout the remainder of the night. We left home sometime after 7 or 8p.m. back to Union Station and took the GO Train home. We have to stop off at Pickering because (at that time), trains only terminate at Pickering with bus connections to Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Courtice, Bowmanville and Newcastle. We catched our GO bus back to Ajax and took the local bus home.

Epilogue (the conclusion):

Shortly after the concert, a number of promotions were being held in which tourist attractions offered special discounts for concert goers. The only thing they have to present was – their ticket stub. Roots, a Canadian clothing company was selling the “I Love Toronto” t-shirts (a play-on-words expression with the “I Love NY” campaign, but a Canadian Maple Leaf was placed instead of the heart) at their stores (which I was able to get a month later) and proceeds of those shirts were contributed to SARS research. It was an adventurous day that I will remember in my life. To view my flashback posting on this, click here. Coming up soon, the 2nd installment of the SARS benefit concerts: The Rolling Stones roll their way to Downsview Park with a SARS benefit concert of their own.

References:

“Star-studded lineup rocks T.O. at SARS concert.” CTV.ca. 22 June 2003. 18 May 2008. <http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1056234725679_143/>

“Canadian stars fight SARS fear with Toronto concert.” LiveDaily. 28 May 2003. 18 May 2008. <http://www.livedaily.com/news/5037.html>

“Toronto Concert to Fight Sars Fears.” Allbusiness.com. 28 May 2003. 18 May 2008. <http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4611820-1.html>

“Celebrate Toronto! Special discount following the Concert for Toronto.” Ontario Science Centre. 19 June 2003. 18 May 2008. <http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/media/default.asp?releaseid=759>

“SARSstock: Musicians rock to heal Toronto.” CNN.com. 29 September 2003. 18 May 2003. <http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/30/hln.connect.sars/index.html>

But, for those worried about basketball, here are some good stories on next season.

Our friend Ben Allaire is optimistic about Virginia's season. He writes,"This upcoming season is a preview of what Leitao’s Virginia program will look like for years to come…if Leitao is around long enough." Wow, OK, maybe he's not totally optimistic. But Allaire does believe that recruits John Brandenburg and Assane Sene will help Virginia's problems in the post. While Allaire doesn't think the Cavaliers can compete with Carolina, Duke or Wake for the top spot in the conference, he does believe a middle-of-the-pack finish is possible for the Wahoos.

ACC NOW, on the other hand, isn't nearly as optimistic about Virginia. The News and Observer's blog takes a look at next season with a four-part preview. Part IV previews NC State, Florida State and Virginia.  When it comes to Virginia, ACC NOW writes, "As bad as the football season promises to be for the Wahoos, the basketball season will be even worse." I'm not sure I'd go that far for either UVa. football or basketball, but J.P. Giglio always seems to have it out for the Cavaliers.

Other previews from ACC NOW include:

UNC, Duke and Wake

Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech

Georgia Tech, Boston College and Maryland

Finally, ESPN.com's Andy Katz has his very early preseason poll out with three ACC teams in the top 10 and one more rounding out the top 25. The surprise here may be his pick of Miami at No. 8. The Canes should be good, but I'm not sure they'll be that good.