Night Out on the Town - Guest Report

This week Christopher Luke, the Video Coordinator at North Carolina in Chapel Hill provides the weekly feature. Definitely worth the read as it goes beyond a restaurant review - it is about a night out on the town.

As an avid reader of your blog, I have often said, I should do this for my trips, too.  I thought this would be a great night to document.  One of the coolest things about living in the Research Triangle Park area (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) is the 3 BCS schools located about 20 minutes from each other.  NC State is in Raleigh, Duke is in Durham, and UNC is of course in Chapel Hill.  I know of no other BCS schools that are this close in proximity. It really is pretty cool to be around this great group of guys not only in RTP, but the ACC as a whole because every weekend someone is coming to visit.  Most teams stay in hotels in RTP when they come to play. This weekend was no different.  Maryland stayed next door to UNC as we both prepared for our games against NC State and Duke respectively.  There have been as many as 6 schools staying in RTP on a given weekend. Earlier this year, I hosted Miami and Florida State in the same weekend in October.  It really is a unique situation here in North Carolina.  Hooter’s is usually our place of choice simply because it is centrally located near the airport and all of the hotels.

 

Tom Long of Duke is a Maryland grad so this weekend was also a great time to catch up with the ACC’s newest Video Director, Will Brown of Maryland, where Tom once worked in the Video Office.    I have known Will for a number of years at his previous stops of UCONN and Middle Tennessee State.

Tom Long (left) and Will Brown

 

Hud Jordan, not pictured, is the assistant Video Director at NC State, but is essentially in charge of the day to day operations for the team in Raleigh.  Hud arrived late but he was able to enjoy our mini CSVA convention.  Since we are all DVSport users, we also got to talk about features of DVSport’s Gameday application, issues we have been dealing with that piece of software, conference and NFL video exchange, and future non-conference teams video we all needed to find this off season.  We also had a good discussion about our iPAD DVSport application called Shuttle, as Duke, Maryland, and UNC have used it this season.  All in all, it was a great night to catch up with friends in the video business.

Victory Bell fought between Duke and North Carolina Football

 

Duke’s Video Director Tom Long and I have become really good friends since we both took similar jobs in July of 2008 here in North Carolina.  Our wives are pretty good friends and we both have 2 boys (Megan Long is pregnant with their second and is due this spring) For the 3^rd and final time this fall I drove my opponent’s Video Director to work on game day.  I did this earlier in the year for Luke Goldstein at Virginia and Stewart Cramer at Miami as I live in the RTP near all the host hotels.  My wife Sabra and Megan Long brought our boys later and sat inside the 5^th floor of the Kenan Football Center where my office is located during the game.  UNC kept the Victory Bell, one of the few trophy games in the ACC, for an 8^th consecutive year by a score of 37-21. 

Kenan Football Complex, home to North Carolina Football

College Football Week 14

The season has come to a close and Iowa's destination and opponent have been decided. The Hawkeyes take on the Champion of the ACC and will play their first opponent from the conference since the 1992 Kick-off Classic where they met the Wolfpack of North Carolina State.

The BCS was set up to determine the top two teams to play for the National Championship. This year it pits the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide, champions of the SEC against the Champions of the Big 12, #2 Texas Longhorns. There are three additional undefeated teams that will have a chance to claim a stake for the national title. Boise State, Cincinnati, and TCU--all Champions of their repsective conferences.

I am one who is in favor of the bowl process, but not necessarily the BCS. Many advantages to both, but choosing a true national champion this way will have problems. As for one who is against a play-off my solution is hypocritical, but this is how I would do it.

The regular season is important and the fact that each game means something needs to be preserved. However an eight-team playoff is the way to go. The NCAA BB tournament has 65 teams and there is still debate as to who should be the 65th team. How often does an 13 seed win the national title. Never.

My playoff would start the week of Thanksgiving. On that weekend the conference championships would be played. The conferences are responsible for deciding who their champion is. Whether by a one-game championship or by criteria based on standings. For example Ohio State is the Champion of the Big Ten based on their record and victory over Iowa. They received the Rose Bowl birth. The Big 12 and SEC are among various conferences with one game to decide. Teams that are included in the playoff are champions of the BCS conferences (Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, SEC, Pac 10, Big East) as well as the highest rated teams from among of pool of Notre Dame and other independents, and champions of the WAC, MAC, Big West, C-USA, SunBelt, etc.

The following weekend would be the first week of the playoff with the semi-finals played the week after. Then the championhsip game would be played days after New Year's at a rotating spot, decided upon by the bowls.

Those teams who are "bowl-eligible" can then begin to plan on their destination as determined by the conference tie-ins. There should not have to be the wait to decide Northern Illinois playing South Florida in Tornoto. If this process were to occur this year, the bracket would be as follows.

#1 Alabama
#8 Georgia Tech

#4 TCU
#5 Boise State

#3 Cincinnati
#6 Oregon

#2 Texas
#7 Ohio State

Once teams are defeated, they can be placed into their bowl tie-ins. For example, Ohio State, with a loss to Texas, would then go on to play in the Rose Bowl against Oregon, who based on seeding, would lose to Cincinnati. The remaining top ten BCS teams could then be placed as at-large teams in the current BCS bowl system. You may find some of the same bowl pairings as are scheduled for January of 2010, but the decision on who should play for the title will be decided on the field.

All are conference champions, seeding is based on BCS and this would include many interesting match-ups. Iowa fans would be disappointed with me as the Hawkeyes perhaps would not be traveling to Miami, instead Orlando. And yes, this 10-2 team is more deserving of a bowl greater than the Capital One Bowl, but it places the importance on winning your conference.

College Football Week 3

After going a season without a win, it is only fair to show the Washington Huskies Cheerleading team some love after the football team upset USC in Seattle. As upset as Pete Carroll is at the loss imagine how Tyrone Willingham must feel.

Kansas State head coach, Bill Snyder signed his contract extension at the right time. After doing so his Wildcats went on the road and lost to Louisiana-Lafayette and UCLA. You could call him the Anti-Ferentz. Ferentz who hadn't finalized his contract until the second season of his Iowa head coaching career went on to win at Penn State and home against Big Ten leader Northwestern.

The ACC will take much heat this season as a conference that should be known more for basketball than football, but they will be better than public perception. Virginia Tech and Miami face off this weekend in the only battle between top 25 teams. North Carolina will contend for the title and Georgia Tech has a tough offense to prepare for in a week's time. The winner of the conference will definitely be BCS worthy and one that will be difficult to beat in a bowl game.

It is tough to put a "must-win" label on any game in week 4, but that is what Michigan State faces as they head to Madison in their conference opener. Very few expected them to be 1-2 and a road loss to an undefeated Badger team will place them in a corner they will fighting out of the next two months.

Don't Panic

I came upon this story on ESPN.com and thought the world was definitely coming to an end when the ACC is still selling individual tickets for their men's basketball tournament. This is the first time since 1966 when tickets have been made available.

The ACC is the standard for college basketball in this country. It demands a great fan following from teams of Duke, North Carolina, Boston College, Maryland, Virginia as well as those teams as far south at Miami. Tournaments have been held in Greensboro, Charlotte, Tampa, Washington D.C. to name a few. This year's event will be held in the 30,000+ Georgia Dome.

Officials of the conference blame the country's economoy for the late sale of tickets. That is the easiest place to lay blame, but let's not forget this tournament is set for a dome and over 30,000 people. Perhaps they realize that many of these seats will provide a less than sub-par view of the playing floor. They will be able to see it better on the jumbotron or at home. Why pay over $300 and need binolculars. Also, many of these teams' fans want to save their money since as many as four or five have very legitimate chances of making the final four in Detroit.

College Football Week 1

After the first week of college football, a couple of observations.

The ACC is a basketball conference. Clemson is pummeled by Alabama, East Carolina surprises Virginia Tech, North Carolina State is throttled by South Carolina and Southern California punishes Virginia. North Carolina narrowly beats McNeese State, Maryland is a touchdown better than Delaware and Boston College defeats Kent State 21-0. The most impressive victory is by conference doormat Duke. They beat James Madison 31-7.

Clemson...ENOUGH! We consistently are led to believe the Tigers will be battling for the national title. This year they enter the season ninth in the nation, on national television and get thoroughly beat. Nothing new. Remember, it is better to have your fifteen minutes of fame at the end of the season, not the beginning.

The Big Ten proved they can beat the wannabes of the college football world, but Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois did not make the conference proud. When was the last time Michigan lost back to back home season openers to non-BCS conference teams. I do believe Michigan State has a promising future. Playing on the west coast is tough duty.


Did anyone else notice that Texas A&M lost at home to Arkansas State? And Arkansas was behind by ten entering the fourth quarter against Western Illinois?

Pittsburgh, I'll hold off on my comments until September 21, the day after the Hawks travel east.