This was the first weekend without football since August and it just didn’t feel the same.  It was Valentine’s Day weekend, but that did not seem to have anything to do with it. Wonder what America would be like if the SuperBowl was played on Valentine's weekend? The Pebble Beach Pro-Am was this weekend and many did not know that event was even going on. America won the America’s Cup and the only reason this is known is because of the crawl on ESPN.

The Winter Olympics began in Vancouver over the weekend with the opening ceremonies Friday evening after one of the Luger’s from Georgia was killed in a trial run. Nothing seems to be going right so far at these games. Snow (or lack thereof), issues with the lighting of the Olympic flame, ice issues on the speed skating rink, and the tragedy on Friday have garnered more attention than the games themselves. Hopefully as things proceed, there will be some positive events and stories to discuss.        

The NBA All-Star game was this weekend in Dallas. Friday and Saturday’s festivities were almost unwatchable. The best part of both nights were listening to Charles, Kenny and the entire TNT crew’s opinions on the festivities. The general consensus is the Slam Dunk competition needs to be either completely overhauled or eliminated. Without the LeBron’s, Kobe’s, Wade’s, and Howard’s competing, the event has lost the entire buzz it used to have. Having Wilkins and Webb as judges brought back memories of what the event was, and then the participants quickly reminded us of what it has deteriorated into. Nate Robinson won for the 3^rd time against guys who really just seemed to be going thru the motions. The game Sunday night was fun to watch but not a lot of defense was played (is it ever in these games?) and it turned into a better slam dunk contest than Saturday’s event. As with most of these exhibitions, no one really played hard until about the three minute mark of the 4^th quarter. Some friends have said that is no different than a regular season NBA game. This was when defense and effort on both ends of the court was exerted. The East hung on the beat the West 141-139 as Carmelo Anthony’s three at the buzzer was off target.

Now onto the 24 Hours of Daytona. That was a couple weeks ago? The Daytona 500 this past weekend sure did feel like the marathon race to many at home and in the stands. The guys that really no one seemed to talk about were the pit crews. These guys are working under the microscope and one little slip during a stop can be the difference between coming out first or tenth. One cannot help but wonder what if on one of those last stops, after several long delays, had a crewman on a top team had an issue, how this matter would have been handled? Just a little something to ponder.

By now, everyone knows about the infamous pothole. Junior said two years ago the track needed repaving and made sure everyone knew that during the breaks. Many of the drivers (Tony Stewart & Greg Biffle to name two) are against a complete repaving. The thought is repaving takes away from the driving grooves and talent of the better drivers for at least three years. Handling is still important at Daytona, but not so much at Talladega now.  Bristol has not really been the same exciting track since resurfacing and the COT. The track has not been repaved since 1978 and is scheduled to be repaved in 2012, but after Sunday’s situation, that timeframe could change. Maybe before the July race, NASCAR, ISC and Daytona track officials can find a patching agent to fill in the 4 inch deep, 2 foot wide hole in the surface. The cost to repave the track is estimated to be around $20 Million. Resurfacing before the July return of NASCAR seems almost impossible for many reasons. The schedule of events all ready in place for Daytona would make resurfacing challenging. Add to that the banking presents many challenges for laying a new surface. Talladega was resurfaced in 2005 and special equipment had to be made to handle the banking, and an asphalt plant had to be constructed on site. Something obviously needs to be done and hopefully patching will be the answer that comes out of this matter. 

NASCAR cannot afford let this issue remain the focal point very long.   NASCAR spent a lot of time trying to correct many of the issues that they feel have led to lower television ratings, lower attendance and less sponsorship dollars for the sport in the offseason. This was not the way they needed the season to begin. Hopefully the racing at California will be the focal point, but this may not be the track to correct things. California is typically a fuel mileage race and not one that has great racing.

So much has been made of this pothole matter that many have not discussed the great racing and terrific finish. While the event was going on, it was a great race and very entertaining. Bump drafting was allowed and brought some excitement back to the superspeedway. Unfortunately by the end of the race, the hole grabbed all the attention and Jamie McMurray’s win in his return to Ganassi has been overshadowed. Congratulations to Jamie and everyone at Ganassi on the win. The last three winners of the 500 have not gone on to do much in the season after the win, but hopefully McMurray and his Bass Pro Shops team can change that in 2010.      

        

 

·         Duke-UNC Part 1 was last week and Chapel Hill and seemed to set basketball back fifty years. Duke is now 2-6 versus UNC in the last eight games against their rivals. Duke shot 25% from inside the 3pt line but hit 9 (of 18) from behind to lead them to the victory. UNC shot 35% from the field and was held to its lowest point total in the Roy Williams era. Having attended many Duke-UNC games over the years, this may have been the worst in memory. The game was 28-27 Duke at the half, and with 8:21 remaining in the game tied at 45. I looked at the gentleman sitting beside me and told him,”the first team to 60 will win.” Well unfortunately, the Heels never made it to 60. This is a rivalry game and teams get up for rivals, but Duke does not seem to have the “it” factor in regards to great teams. Maybe over the next month they will develop it, but no one in the ACC seems to be poised to go deep in the NCAA tournament. 

 

 

·         UNC had many legends in for the Celebration of the Century over the weekend. Friday evening was well worth the trip to Chapel Hill. Watching some of the legends from the 1940’s all the way up to some 2009 alums was just amazing. Many who are Heel Haters or ABC’ers (Anybody But Carolina) would not understand what it was like to be there. Watching some of these guys try to still play in the alumni game may have been a little tough, but seeing Phil Ford hold up the sign for four corners was just awesome. I am 33 years old and I did not get to see Phil do this in person, only on tape. At halftime of the game, a tribute to Coach Smith was played and there could not have been many dry eyes in the building. This was a chance to relive a little bit of my childhood. Growing up in Chapel Hill, basketball was it and Coach Smith was the unquestioned leader. Coach Smith was not only a great coach, but a great father figure to many of his athletes. People always talk about the Carolina family and this video and event proved so much of that. Where else could you get this many guys to come back twice in a year to honor a Coach and a program? The alumni game was pretty laid back until the last two minutes when guys started really getting after it and competing hard. Some of these guys may not be in the same shape they were while playing, but the competitive juices were definitely flowing.

 

 

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