Tom Talks

ACC tournament blog No. 1

   I keep waiting for Miami's Jack McClinton, perhaps the ACC's most underrated player, to take over the game. While I wait, Virginia Tech keeps going to the foul line. If the Hokies continue to shoot free throws, McClinton will have no chance to take over.

   The Hokies are playing with great intelligence, taking good shots, going to the basket and drawing fouls.

   The first game of the ACC tournament is always strange. It's like a warm-up band taking the stage before the big dogs play. Thursday is a warm-up day.

   The game I most want to see is Maryland and N.C. State at 7 p.m. The second game, Clemson and Georgia Tech, is interesting only because it will be played in Atlanta. Clemson is a tough team to figure. But I'm a fan of senior guard K.C. Rivers, so I'd like to see the Tigers make a nice little run. 

Panthers will miss Ken Lucas. Seriously.

   It's funny how it works. A cornerback gets burned a few times and fans decide independently and simultaneously that he is a liability and he must go. Carolina cornerback Ken Lucas went Wednesday. The Panthers cut him.

   They did not cut him because he can't play. They cut him to clear $2.375 million under the salary cap.

   At 30, Lucas is still a good football player. Early in the season, he and Chris Gamble were playing as well as any Carolina cornerback combination ever had. Lucas did slump late. So did the pass rush. Quarterbacks suddenly had time to throw, and they often threw Lucas' way.

   The slump will be temporary, as his next employer will soon attest.

    I'm biased. Lucas is a great guy, smart and unpretentious. He's a different guy, too. He doesn't let you know he's a football player. He isn't one of those guys who introduces himself by saying, "Yes, I do play in the NFL, thanks for asking" even when you didn't ask.

   Lucas loves attention but doesn't want attention. He drove a Rolls Royce Bentley and wondered why Charlotte's pedestrians and drivers would stare in the windows to see who was inside. Tired of the scrutiny, he dumped the Rolls and began driving more pedestrian vehicles -- a Maserati and an orange Range Rover. Hey, he practically disappeared.

   Now he will disappear, and I hate to see him go. He was popular with his teammates, he desperately wanted to win and he handled the Steve Smith debacle in camp last season with as much grace and class as humanly possible.

   In the aftermath, a Panther official told me, "If we do anything this season, it will be because of Ken Lucas."

   The Panthers went 12-4.

  

49ers get a second chance, and then ...

  I watched Charlotte practice Nov. 5 and was impressed. The 49ers were deep and athletic, and they had a player I thought could be special, sophomore forward An'Juan Wilderness. Along with having a great name, Wilderness had an interesting game. What the 49ers required, he had the ability and savvy to provide.

   I told a man who knows the program much better than I do, but does not work for the school, that I thought the 49ers would be good this season.

   "Not this season," he said. "Next season."

   Smart guy. Charlotte is 11-19, 5-11 in the Atlantic 10 conference. The 49ers lost several players to injury, and I thought head coach Bobby Lutz made a mistake by frequently talking about the injuries. It was as if, because the 49ers were at less than full strength, they had a excuse to lose.

   In the Atlantic 10 this season, there were no excuses.

   But I love what Lutz told the Observer about the Atlantic 10 tournament.

    "Somewhere this week in the country somebody is going to make a magical run in a tournament, whether it be all the way to the finals or just deep," he said. "That's the beauty of college basketball."

   He's right. Charlotte's potential run begins today at 2:30 p.m. when the 12th-seeded 49ers play fifth-seeded St. Joseph's.

   The tournament will be played in Atlantic City, N.J. Atlantic City is a place where, even thought the odds are daunting, magical runs have been made. Underdog boxers have thrived in the casino rings, underdog gamblers at the blackjack tables.

   Perhaps Lutz and the 49ers will join them. Hope is the quality that every conference tournament provides.

  

Time's ticking on Seth Greenberg meltdown

   Men's ACC basketball is very good this season. Virginia Tech is not. The Hokies are 7-9 in the conference and 17-13 overall and have lost six of their last seven. Their victory during the streak was impressive; they beat Clemson at Clemson. Their losses were not. They lost to Virginia and Maryland. They will not win the ACC tournament this week in Atlanta.

   They won't get an NCAA tournament bid. And, if fans are lucky, they'll see footage of Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg imploding when his team is not selected. He was marvelously entertaining at Time Warner Cable Arena last March when the Hokies were turned down, livid and funny and terribly put upon. I doubt he can summon similar quality rage. But even if all he does is come close, he'll still be worth watching.

   Every year at this time a big-time coach or commentator will talk about how the teams from big conferences that fail to win half their games are entitled to go to the NCAA tournament. Let's get the best schools are in there!

   The charm of the tournament, however, is provided by the schools that operate outside the power structure, examples of which are Davidson, George Mason, Butler and Gonzaga. And while these teams never win the tournament, neither do the schools that fail to win half their conference games.

   The ACC is deep this season, and if you win seven conference games, you should be rewarded. Your reward is the NIT. 

So long, Davidson, and thanks

    Davidson's stunning seven-point Southern Conference tournament loss to the College of Charleston  Sunday lends perspective to its NCAA tournament run last season.

   From a restaurant in Washington D.C. last March I watched the Wildcats beat Gonzaga. I reached  Raleigh in time to catch their second-round upset of Georgetown. I was in Detroit for Davidson's victory against Wisconsin and its near victory against Kansas.

   The Wildcats never overpowered anybody. They were the smaller team, the skinnier team, the less famous team and, at least in appearance, the more fragile team. But the beauty of the NCAA tournament is that pedigree doesn't matter (except in terms of the seeding). Everybody gets the opportunity to prove what they can do.

   And Davidson proved it three straight times, and came within a basket of a fourth, an upset of eventual national champion Kansas and a trip to the Final Four.

   Davidson's run captivated the country, the little school with the free laundry for students becoming a rallying cry for underdogs everywhere. For the Wildcats to do what they did, everything had to come together, and for two glorious weeks, everything did.

   Alas, the loss Sunday almost certainly knocks the Wildcats out of the NCAA tournament. Some other team will be this season's Davidson. But those of us who watched last season, and that was almost all of us, will always remember the original.

   Thanks. 

Give the Devils their due

   I don't know how good Duke is. I don't know how far Duke will go in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. I don't know if Duke is the best team in the ACC or the fourth best team.

   But let's give the Blue Devils their due. Several times this season they looked vulnerable and fragile and ready to be taken. With so much balance in the ACC, and Wake Forest and Clemson and Florida State, Boston College, Virginia Tech and Maryland hovering not far behind leaders, you could envision the Blue Devils sliding toward .500.

   Instead, they figured it out, changed their lineup and their style and again became the team that every knows, loves or hates. After their three-point victory against the talented Seminoles Tuesday, they are 11-4 in the conference and only a half-game behind North Carolina, where they play Sunday.

   I expected Wake Forest to emerge as the the primary challenger to North Carolina (and I still think the Deacons are poised to go deep into the NCAA tournament).

   But, one more time, first place will come down to the Tar Heels and Blue Devils. The natural order has been restored. It's a tough tradition to break.

Excerpt from Tuesday's chat with Tom

Excerpts from Tuesday’s live chat with Observer sports columnist Tom Sorensen. Replay the full chat online at http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportstalk:

Pete W: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being most likely, what are the odds of the Bobcats making the playoffs?

Tom Sorensen: 3. The bobcats play 8 games in April; only 2 are at home. And their last four are on the road. But at least people are talking about them, and that’s new.

Chris Harmon: Prediction for UNC-Duke on Sunday?

TS: Tar Heels lead by 2 at the half, give up the lead when (Gerald) Henderson gets hot, and win by 7.

Kenny: Do you see the Panthers trading (Julius) Peppers to the Broncos for (quarterback Jay) Cutler now that Cutler wants out?

TS: The Panthers would not trade Peppers for Cutler even up. Remember, the Panthers love Peppers -- even if you don’t.

Dale: Most overrated in local sports: Julius Peppers, Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. or Emeka Okafor?

TS: As much as I respect Dale Jr., I’ll say Dale Jr.

Chris: I feel like the Bobcats have are just missing that all-star caliber scorer. Would it be better for them to acquire someone via a trade or free agency, or should I hope they miss the playoffs and get a shot in the lottery for a player like Blake Griffin?

TS: Griffin is a great college player but I’d be shocked if he’s a great pro. He’s not big enough. If the Bobcats can acquire the player who lifts them to the upper echelon, doesn’t matter how they get him, only that they get him.

Jason: What do think is the percentage that Jake (Delhomme) is (the Panthers’) starter next season?

TS: If he’s healthy, 100 percent.

Crazies all right with me

    Ken Tysiac had an interesting piece in the Observer today about the Cameron Crazies, and how critics say they aren't what they used to be.

   Incredibly, I've heard the same thing said about me.

   I love going to games at Cameron Indoor Arena. The old gym is intimate and loud, and fans are accustomed to good basketball and they know good basketball. They know when to cheer. Creating a wall of noise does not mean you know the game.

   What I like most are the students. Are they as clever as they once were? Maybe not. But if they come up with a great line or chant in their final home game tonight against talented Florida State, that's what we'll remember.

   Here's what I'll remember about basketball games at Duke.

   The students are uniformly courteous. Reporters have to walk on the court to get to their chairs and the front-row students invariably create space, even holding the chairs so we can sit down after climbing over the press table. They don't resent us for sitting so close to them anymore than we resent them for standing so close to us. At a young age, they've figured out spacing, and how spacing works. Anybody that has ever stood in line at Starbucks realizes most adults do not.

   Also, the students aren't profane. I use profanity, although not as much as I once did. With age comes reason, or at least a hint of it. I almost always regret swearing. I want to save it for when I need it.

   The problem with swearing is that anybody can do it. You don't have to be smart or clever or have an original thought. The student sections that collectively scream profanities at visiting players simply don't understand. Because if anybody can do a thing, how effective can it be?

   Criticize the Duke students if you choose for not being what they once were. But give them this -- they never resort to the same cliched and profane cheers so many other student bodies do.

   They don't have to.

Fred Lane, rest in peace

   Fred Lane was one of the most child-like players the Carolina Panthers have ever had, and I mean that in a good way.

   When he had a thought, he shared it. He didn't check first with a committee to find out what the impact would be.

   After the Panthers opened the 1998 season with a 19-14 home loss to Atlanta, Lane told me Carolina should never lose to a team like the Falcons. He meant it. I can still see his face when he said it. He was hurt. He couldn't believe his team lost.

   The teams played again in October, and Atlanta won 51-23. I winced when some of the Falcons brought up Lane's quote after the game.

   Lane also celebrated a late touchdown that season against the New York Jets in a game in which the Panthers were hopelessly behind and would lose by 27. He scored so he celebrated. He didn't think about the broader implications.

   Lane's lack of guile and his willingness to run hard all the time helped explain why he was so popular with management, players and fans. Lane came to the Panthers from Lane College, in Franklin, Tenn. He wasn't a big guy and he didn't have a big name. He wasn't even selected in the 1997 draft. But as a rookie  he ran for 809 yards. He ran with the same enthusiasm the people around him experienced. He just ran, and ran hard, all the time.

   I hadn't thought about Lane for years. Then I heard that Lane's wife, Deidra Lane,  would be released today from the Raleigh Correctional Center for Women. She shot and killed him nine years ago with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. She did eight years after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. 

   Fred Lane was only 24. He had had some off-field issues at a time when many of his teammates also did. The Panthers felt as if they had to trade him. So they did, reluctantly, to Indianapolis. 

   But they never lost their affection for him. Lane stood out because of his simplicity and lack of guile. He said what he meant, laughed a lot and loved football. 

   One reason we take to certain athletes is because there is a joy to the way they play their game. We think that if we had the opportunity to do what they do, we'd be joyful, too. We think that if we had the opportunity to run with the ball, we'd run like Fred Lane.

Basketball's great; playing in snow is better

   I was going to write a blog about basketball, and what a great week this was to be a fan, with Davidson going to the Southern Conference tournament and the Charlotte 49ers playing their final regular season game at home and the Charlotte Bobcats playing a game at home that could have playoff implications, which is a strange thing to say, and Clemson playing at Wake Forest and, of course, Duke playing at North Carolina.

   But I'd rather do something than write about others doing something.

   I was driving home through the snow Sunday and realized that it was quality snow, not that worthless wintry mix pseudo off-white stuff.

   It's still there. So I'm going to step away from the keyboard, put on the running shoes or, if I can work up the courage, get out the mountain bike. I'm not sure why I was put on the planet. But it wasn't to be spectator.

   Enjoy this while you can. And take your kids with you.