The Blue Devils aren’t the only ones that need to be congratulated today, however; how about a hand for the winners of Frumpzilla’s 1st Annual NCAA Tournament Bracket Contest!  Sarah Otvos, Cameron Frye, Nikki Jarman…some great Canes tickets, Target gift cards and, of course, some Always Sunny in Philadelphia Dick Towel merchandise await you all!

Here’s how the Final Top 10 shook out.  Full standings after the jump, and many thanks to everyone for participating.  We’ll hopefully see you all (and more) next year.  Until then, keep reading, keep spreading the Frumpzilla love, and please be on the look out for a World Cup pool that may or may not materialize here on the site within the next few weeks!

1. Sarah Otvos # (Duke): 150
2. Cameron Frye # (Duke): 137
3. Nikki Jarman # (Duke): 136
4. Jared Johnson: 130
5. Justin Smith: 119
6. Amelia Hayes # (WVU): 117
7. Nina and Scout: 117
8. Carman Smith # (Duke): 117
9. Amanda Brown: 115
10. Justin Anderson: 113

Only one person is guaranteed a win, place or show, and that’s one Ms. Sarah Otvos, so congratulations, Sarah!  You’ve got yourself some Canes tickets (assuming you can use them), at least a $50 worth of a Target gift card and, of course, some Always Sunny in Philadelphia Dick Towel gear to proudly wear around family and friends.

The other two prize slots are totally dependent on the outcome of tonight’s game, but before we get to that, here’s the Top 10:

1. Jared Johnson, 130
2. Sarah Otvos # (Duke), 129
3. Justin Smith, 119
4. Amelia Hayes # (WVU), 117
5. Nina and Scout, 117
6. Cameron Frye # (Duke), 116
7. Amanda Brown, 115
8. Nikki Jarman # (Duke), 115
9. Justin Anderson, 113
10. Travas Hunter, 112

Now, assuming you’ve diligently read the contest resource page, you’ll know that tonight’s championship game is worth 21 points.  Moreover, you’ll know that, if Butler continues to be the bull(dog) of the ball, and beats Duke, nothing changes as far as our standings are concerned.  See, for some odd reason, no one picked Butler to win it all this year, so I imagine Jared Johnson and Justin Smith will be big Bulldog fans tonight.

If, on the other hand, the Dukies win their fourth National Championship, then the Top 3 will be Sarah Otvos, Cameron Frye and Nikki Jarman, respectively.  The only way we’ll have to resort to any tiebreakers is if some of the aforementioned entrants wouldn’t be able to use the Canes tickets, but hopefully it won’t come to that.

Anyway, for those of you that were at least partially in this one for pride, here’s the full standings going into the Final:

Nevertheless, I’m not here to judge. I’m just here to use this opportunity to provide you with some more fantastic screens of Coach K’s magnificent app (pandas and dragons included)! That’s right, Frumpsters, just for you, I actually managed to find my way out of New York, hopped a plane to China and then went for a lovely jog on Duke’s gloriously Gothic campus. It just keeps getting better and better…and by “better” I mean absolutely insane…

Before Coach K would officially let me escape from New York, I had to answer this trivia question correctly.

Here I am on the Great Wall of China. Tourists and dragons and bears (pandas), oh my!

My reenactment of the 1968 Summer Olympics 200 meter medal ceremony

At the Chapel on Duke's campus. Beautiful.

Shooting a nature documentary on Duke's campus. Seriously, WTF?

Blending in with the Cameron Crazies.

And just when I thought after completing three bat shit crazy levels of "racing" I was going to be rewarded with something actually related to Coach K (basketball), I'm informed that I'll need to find someone else on the face of the planet, in BlueTooth range, no less, that not only has the app, but has also actually gone through same gauntlet I have. Read: No human being in existence, now or ever, will ever play anything resembling basketball via Coach K's iPhone app.

]]> http://www.frumpzilla.com/frumpzilla_site/articles/coach-ks-iphone-app-is-part-of-the-pride-of-the-university-new-screens-too/feed/ 1 http://www.frumpzilla.com/frumpzilla_site/articles/hands-on-with-the-coach-k-iphone-app-with-screens/ http://www.frumpzilla.com/frumpzilla_site/articles/hands-on-with-the-coach-k-iphone-app-with-screens/#comments Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:43:04 +0000 Ciaran http://www.frumpzilla.com/?p=1953 When I first heard about Coach K’s new iPhone app, via our own Twitter page no less (thanks B-Diddy), I have to say that I fully expected the shortened url accompanying the tweet to take me to some parody site/article, one perhaps hosted/written by a Heels fan, or actually anyone unaffiliated with Duke University for that matter. It didn’t. Instead I was directed to Coach K’s official website, and an entry announcing the March 23rd release of Coach K’s first foray into the iPhone’s app store. Wow.

Needless to say, I still thought this was some sort of joke. April Fools’ come early? Had to be, but then I wanted to be certain. Next step, whip out the trusty iPhone, tap into the app store, and do a quick search for “Coach K.” Lo and behold, there she was. Simple icon, glossy blue. “Coach K” written in white. Calm, cool, somewhat collected. Somewhat like Coach K.

Was I satisfied? Absolutely not. Did I drop the $2.99 to download the app just to make sure? I did. Will I be writing this expenditure off as a necessary business expense come April 2011? Most likely. Make the jump with us for Frumpzilla’s hands on look at Coach K’s latest step towards global media domination in his post-basketball years.

To be clear, “global media domination” may or may not entail opening up a travel agency, because, in all honesty, that’s pretty much the only thing that could logically follow from the release of this app.  Seriously, it’s all quite bizarre.

You start out here, where, before Coach K allows you to visit any of his favorite destinations (New York, China and, of course, Durham), you have to create an avatar.  Not bad, really.  I mean, that’s a lovely pic of Coach K working his magic in front of some relevant landmarks.  The menu buttons actually worked, too, so that was nice.

The real highlight, though, is the music.  Man, I really wish I was a bit more tech savvy, Frumpsters, ’cause this is really something you’d need to hear to appreciate.  Doing my futile best to put it into words, it’s a polyrhythmic beat consisting of drums, congas and one of those triangle things from elementary school music class. 

Now, this would all be fairly standard if not for the  backing vocals; a sonic experience that almost defies any non-audial form of description.  Imagine Chewbacca hitting, like, a really big bubbler, or something…over and over again, in a loop.  Seriously, it’s something else.  After that track’s over you get a dish of some classic 80′s guitar rock that could very well be an outtake from the Top Gun soundtrack’s cutting room floor. Think “Danger Zone: Reprise.”

Naturally, I’m really, really confused at this point, so let’s just go ahead and make our avatar.  Starting off with a name and simple “male or female” options, you then get a screen where you can add some further details to your Coach K iPhone app persona.  In an effort to be as inclusive as possible, I guess, the developers included some rather interesting skin tone options. 

There’s what I’d describe as “white” and “dark white,” of course, but the inclusion of green, burnt orange, pink and, remarkably, Carolina Blue is something I’m still trying to wrap my mind around.  Curiously enough, there didn’t appear to be a “Black” or “African-American” equivalent option.  Quite strange given the inclusion of green, but I’m gonna give Coach K the benefit of the doubt on this one.  The next screen allows you to customize clothes, hairstyles, eye color, etc., but I kinda just breezed through it.  I mean, let’s face it:  Was I virtually salivating at the thought of checking out these “trend-setting graphics” I’d just paid three bucks for? Absolutely.

So, after a long pep talk from Coach K in which he seamlessly weaved highlights of his world travels into lessons on the importance of watching your step around dragons, pandas and Cameron Crazies (you can see the speech at the bottom of this post), here I am down on the streets of New York City. Why I’m standing next to a giant, tranny busker, I’m not sure.  Nevertheless, since the entire tutorial literally consisted of “Use the thumb pad on the left to control your runner.  Use the jump button on the right to jump over obstacles,” I figured I’d explore the space a bit.

Here I am waiting in line for one of those famous hot dogs from a heralded NYC street vendor

Moments later, chatting up the hooker I noticed standing on the corner while I was waiting for my hot dog. Wait, is that a cop car?

Well damn. Should have seen that coming, eh? Luckily, the cop let me off when I told him I'd just downloaded Coach K's iPhone app for $2.99. No need to rub salt in the wound, right?

Okay, I admit it.  I was lost.  Lost in New York, green as can be, and, worst of all, the controls were sluggish as hell. It basically felt like I was running around aimlessly in search of some random finish line to which there was no direction, no guide, no help menu.  Fortunately, I didn’t come across too many of what one would exactly call “obstacles.”  I did, however, fall into a couple of manholes.  This was exciting at first, because it triggered the following screen:

Alas, however, just as quickly as Coach K and his magic stardust had appeared to seemingly beckon me home, he was gone (and I was back with the the giant tranny busker, being solicited (for tips)).

In the end, I guess my overall impression of Coach K’s iPhone app can be summed up quite succinctly.  Won’t need three paragraphs, three sentences…even three words.  Three letters will more than suffice.  WTF?

To be completely fair, that damn Chewbacca track at the beginning, assuming it can be ripped/extracted, may be worth the $2.99 in and of itself

New screen shots can be found here. Just incredible…

Though I’ve yet to be convinced that paying someone for such services is warranted, losing 6 of 7 may very well be worth a trip to the massage therapist. I’ll take Roy’s word for it. However, comparing the Tar Heels’ recent run of form to the disaster down in Haiti, even anecdotally, makes me think Williams should probably hire that masseuse to do more than just rub him down…

You know, maybe, like, script his press conferences; a little PR work on the side, or something (perverts).

(The video takes a few seconds to load)

UPDATE: With the Heels losing, at home, to Duke last night, we’re now giving 3:1 odds that Roy will be Pat Robertson’s next guest on the 700 club.

The Red Blazer strikes again

Notes from the game:

• No question that this season has shown mass improvement from the previous two in terms of intensity, hustle and pride exhibited by the Pack, however that has seldom resulted in the full 40 minutes needed to beat a quality opponent….until last night.  The Pack was focused and aggressive from start to finish.  NC STATE played as if they believed they were the better team and it showed.
• Tracy Smith continues to put on an offensive clinic this season, going 10-12 from the floor while using an array of post moves and even a couple of face-up jumpers.  Duke rotated 4 different big men on him and none had the answer.
  

  Tracy Smith

• 

  Scott Wood

  A big reason that Smith, despite being NC STATE’s best player, has room to maneuver in the post is the presence of freshman wing-man Scott Wood.  Coach K, knowing a thing or two about shooters, had Duke focus their defense game plan on shutting down Wood.  Duke succeeded in the first half, holding Wood without a FG attempt.  Kyle Singler spent most of his time on Wood, clearly rattling him early.  That changed with the first offensive possession of the second half as NC STATE ran a screen specifically for the shooter that resulted in his first shot…he was fouled by Singler and made all three free throw attempts.  This provided the spark and got him going as he finished with 10 points in the half, including a pretty pull-up mid-range jumper and a deep 3, both in Singler’s face.  As he gains confidence, Wood has the look of being a dominant ACC player down the road.  His game has few holes.

• Richard Howell is another freshman playing very well and he seems to be coming into his own offensively.  He is deceptively athletic and plays very aggressively down low and on the perimeter.
• Dennis Horner started off shaky, missing an easy layup and turning the ball over within the first minute of the game, but settled in and took great advantage of some favorable match ups down low to turn in one of his best games as a Wolfpacker with 20 points and some timely three pointers.
• Far and away the most  important and telling statistic was NC STATE’s assist-to-turnover ratio, an outstanding 18:9.  Duke’s pressure D is renowned and NC STATE took care of the basketball, a truly wonderful thing to watch from the stands.
• CJ Leslie was spotted in the stands sitting with future Wolfpack bad ass Ryan Harrow…DO IT CJ.  DO IT.
• Lorenzo Brown was also in attendance.

• All and all, a great win for NC STATE.  A difficult road trip to Maryland looms, with the always dangerous and shimmy-shaking Greivis Vasquez at the ready.  The Pack will then return home for another emotional rivalry game vs. the hated heels of tar.  Can NC STATE maintain some momentum to close out the first half of ACC play strong?

God I hope so.

-Chese

More opinion after the jump.

Acting the way he does i.e. peacocking around, flapping gums, chest bumping, and flopping at the slightest hint of contact is NEVER acceptable.  And never unacceptable at Duke, but that’s irrelevant.  Compounding the matter is the fact that McFarland, frankly, isn’t very good.  So, consider it a personal favor to the Donk Spotter if you must, Chas, and SHUT IT!!

You’re making it very hard for me to pull for your team.  And I’m an interested party.

By the way, that fifth foul against VT via “getting your obnoxious ass T’d up” was well earned.  That’s what happens when you act like a turd.  The below also happens–also deserved, I’m sure.

The Heels left Durham with a W, which begs the question, does a win in the team’s only rivalry game make the season a success?  Short answer – no.  Longer answer after the jump.

Tar Heel nation can breathe a sigh of relief, as UNC beat hated rival Duke 28-20 in a nail biter on Saturday.  The more delusional segment of the Tar Heel fan base believes this lone victory makes the season a success, despite the 8-4 record they posted on the season.

Look, we know Duke sucks.  They have for a long, long time.  There’s nothing we can do about it – they are our lone and most bitter rival, and the hatred runs both ways.  Hopefully the signs of improvement Duke has shown this year will help football make it back near the top of this heated rivalry.  We know they have no chance in basketball, so this is as good as it gets.

T.J. Yates bounced back from the most atrocious game of his career, going 15-of-19 for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns.  “Nothing feels better than beating our rivals.  I’m glad we were able to rise to the occasion and show up for the most important game of the season.”  When asked why the team couldn’t display the same effort in its 4 prior losses this season, Yates attributed it to the “overall lack of a rivalry” with the other schools.  “Nothing raises your level of play like a true rivalry.  Those losses all sting, but none would have been worse than if we had lost to Duke.  It’s good to have a rival, because some of these other schools don’t even have one.”

Having choked away the season and a chance to play for an ACC championship, the Heels bounced back and were able to claim the Victory Bell for the fifth straight season. 

Shortly after the game, however, some were showing signs of concern.  Nicks was overheard saying “this is only one game… Since when is a season’s success measured by one single game?  That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

Coach Butch Davis wasn’t all smiles, either.  “We lost 4 games this season.  I know the fans may be happy we won 8 games, but we really let ourselves and the alumni down by not winning them all.  I do not want this program to be of the mindset that beating our rival makes the season a success.”

With this epic battle behind them, the Heels will prepare for a meaningless bowl game which signifies the overall bitchassness of NCAA football.  I hope the football team can tap into the intense emotion from Saturday’s game and channel it to the equally crappy opponent who looms in the bowl game.  The nation’s most popular university expects nothing less, although we’ll probably have forgotten about the football team in a few days time.

Now that college football is leaving everything to the computers, the civilized world can finally move on to manlier sports like the NFL and NCAA basketball, where the score is settled on gameday. 

EA Sports’ NCAA Football 2009 rankings.  I guess I should clarify this a bit.  You see, there are a lot of things that I think need to be changed about college football, and one of the first things I’d do as dictator is abolish all preseason polls; or at least their obvious, arguably inappropriate influence on the only rankings that really matter in the end: The final BCS standings. 

Ask yourself if LSU could still make the 2007 BCS Championship Game, after two losses over their last 6 regular season games, if they’d started the season ranked 8th or 13th, for example, as opposed to 2nd.  The big two preseason polls, as well as all the other media polls out there, pollute the college football landscape by gifting certain anointed teams an advantage based on what is essentially, somewhat arbitrary, conjecture.  I mean, let’s face it, these things come out well before any team has even sniffed a competitive playing field.  What legitimate basis do  the voters have to rank any team at that point?

Make the jump for more on this topic and NCAA Football 2009′s Top 25 courtesy of Operation Sports, who apparently received a beta copy of the game (lucky).

Now, I don’t disagree that a team’s performance from the previous season, combined with the amount of returning talent, provides some reasonable basis to speculate upon their quality and pending success or failure for the upcoming season.  If the AP and Coaches’ Polls were only there to stir up debate and captivate the college football audience, then there wouldn’t be any issue here.  Of course, while they do in fact foster debate and intrigue before, during and after the season, they also have a direct impact and effect on every team’s shot at the ultimate prize.  That’s a big problem in my opinion. 

Think about last season, and all the story lines that played out, and teams’ struggles to leapfrog the school occuyping the next rung up on the ladder from them; all of them jockeying for a shot at BCS glory.  Now look at the 2007 polls, particularly the preseaon polls, final polls, and the now infamous weeks 13-15.  Hopefully they’ll help illustrate the point.

So anyway, all that’s to say that when I claim EA’s NCAA Football 2009 preseason poll is the most “relevant”, my tongue is, of course, firmly planted in cheek.  I guess it would be better to say that, in a perfect college football world, NCAA 2009′s rankings might as well be just as relevant as the AP or Coaches’ polls.  It is a dream I have… 

Here’s the NCAA Football 2009 Top 25.  ***EDIT: Apparently several readers have been missing this, so be advised that the team names in the Top 25 link to screenshots of the team, their ratings and their ranking.  Don’t miss out***

1. Georgia
2. Oklahoma
3. Ohio State
4. USC
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Missouri
8. West Virginia
9. Wisconsin
10. Texas
11. Clemson
12. Texas Tech
13. Penn St.
14. Arizona St.
15. Kansas
16. Auburn
17. Virginia Tech
18. Illinois
19. Tennessee
20. BYU
21. South Carolina
22. Alabama
23. Oregon
24. Cincinnati
25. Wake Forest

Note that two teams have perfect 99′s across the board: Georgia and Ohio State.  Foreshadowing maybe?  EA has actually released every teams’ official ratings (Overall, Offense, Defense) in a spreadsheet found here.

Another interesting bit is Florida State, who almost certainly have become the greatest unranked team in the history of the NCAA Football series.  Here’s some other pics of teams of note based on Frumpzilla’s staff and locale: N.C. State, UNC, Duke, ECU, and UCLA.  July 15th can’t come soon enough…

(1) Memphis vs (2) Texas, 2:20 ET

Line:  Memphis -3.5

Augustin’s majestic free throw airball aside (in the closing seconds, no less, the other night), I like the Longhorns here.  Was that a beautiful example of pressure, or what?  Anyway, I like Texas for several reasons.  The game is in Houston, TEXAS!  No elaboration needed.  Winning Elite Eight games and beyond absolutely requires solid guard play, and UT has a serious dose of AA.  Abrams and Augustin.  They both can handle,  shoot it from range, and have tons of big game experience.  

Memphis, while completely embarrassing the Spartans, just hasn’t been tested.  They have incredible athletes but zero pure shooters.  When the nerves surface, the jumpers rim out.  Ask Duke. Anyway, I could be  dead wrong because  the Tigers are most  athletic  team I’ve seen  since the Runnin’ Rebs of the early 90′s.

(10) Stephen Cury vs (1) Kansas, 5:05 ET

Line: Kansas -9.5

At this point, if someone told me Stephen Curry could heal the terminally ill, I probably wouldn’t question it.  This kid is the balls.  He’s also the Truth, the Deal, the Question, and the Answer to said Question, period. Makes me feel like I’m the age that he looks, like I can’t wait to buy his rookie card or something.  Unfortunately for Davidson, it may actually take a miracle worker to get past Kansas today. 

Unlike Wisconsin, the Jayhawks have got athletes at every position, and enough shooters to weather the storm if Curry and the rest of the Wildcats drop a series of bombs to go up by double digits at some point in the game.  Chalmers is gonna get intimate with Curry today, so to speak, and, though I hate to say it, it’s possible Kansas could run away with this one.  It wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Of course, Davidson obviously has something magical going on right now, and has caputred the nation’s heart in the process.  The ever powerfull Mo is definitely on their side.  Notwithstanding that, we all know about Bill Self’s developing repuation as a choke artist, so we’re not saying to write Davidson off entirely.  Just don’t get your hopes up…

By the way, will Stephen Curry’s total points plus assits eclipse 29.5?  Hmmm…

Regards,

Cieron and the Donk Spotter

Notwithstanding the fact that Wayne “The Rain” Ellington averages almost 17 points a game as a sophmore admist an insurmountable amount of talent, I believe his true claim to fame is “The Hottest Player in the NCAA”.  I challenge anyone to show me someone who is more “fine” than “The Duke”, as I call him. He’s so hot, I’ve even forgiven him for being friends with the absolute ass that Gerald Henderson is, and believe you me, you have to be SMOKING to pull that off.

Given the sausagefest that Frumpzilla seems to be, I’ll go ahead and take the lack of posts to the contrary as evidence of all you submitting to Ellington’s hotness superiority!

Now, I’m not suggesting Dell and Steph didn’t play HORSE. I just think it’s clear that their games were, in terms of drama and duration, closer to “Hoop Dreams” than an episode of “Hang Time”.  Can’t you just see these guys not hitting “R” or something for at least 2 hours?  Sonya Curry, finest mom on the block, steps out the door: “Dinner’s ready!”. “Alright, hun.  We’ll be in in an hour or so.”  “Damn, Dell, y’all are only on ‘S’ ?”.  Let’s just say I’m confident Dell and Stephen ate a lot of cold and/or reheated meals.  It’s certainly paid off.

Stephen Curry is averaging 35 a game in the Tournament:  Dropped 40 on Gonzaga in the 1st round, going 8/10 from downtown, and 30 in yesterday’s 2nd round upset of Georgetown.  Apparently 55 of those 70 points have come in the 2nd half, so I guess Steph is a bit of a tease, but then better late than never I suppose.  His jump shot aside, he did some stuff in the 2nd half against Georgetown that were hard to believe considering most people could reasonably mistake Stephen Curry for an abnormally tall 9 year old boy.  Needless to say, I was impressed.

Steph didn’t get a full scholarship offer from an ACC school.  Even dad’s alma mater, Virginia Tech, suggested he walk on his first year, pick up the ‘ship his Sophomore season.  Well, that didn’t fly with Steph, and rightfully so, so off to Davidson he went. Against Tournament teams this season, including Gonzaga and the Hoyas, Curry is averaging 28.5 points per game.  Davidson had North Carolina, UCLA, Duke, and Winthrop on their regular season schedule.  With that in mind, I’d say Davidson got a gift, and there should be some positions opening up in ACC recruiting offices soon.

Davidson gets yet another “Goliath” next in Wisconsin.  I’m looking forward to that one as much as any Sweet 16 matchup.  Thanks, Steph.

***Potentially NSFW due to some foul language (assuming you have audio)***

Okay, I know Duke got knocked out today, and basically got manhandled by the Mountaineers in the 2nd half, so I guess this is piling on a bit.  I usually frown upon such behavior, but then I certainly don’t mind making an exception for Greg Paulus (who wouldn’t?).

I think I snapped when CBS showed, for the 4th or 5th time, the clip of Paulus’ smirk after he hit that deep three from the elbow early in the 1st half. It was either then or when I saw Greg chatting up one of the officials as if he’d asked Paulus for an autograph.  “Yeah, Ed, holla at me after the game.”  To be fair, I obviously have no idea what they were talking about.  I’m sure it was something legitimate, it’s just Paulus’ general demeanor, and apparent lack of genuine respect for anyone around him.  He’s easily the easiest Duke player to hate since Laettner stomped on that kid from Kentucky back in ’92 or whatever.

Which brings me to this:

It’s an inescapable comparison really.  They even look a bit alike.  Eerie.  The only question is who’s the bigger ass, and, to be perfectly honest, I’m torn.  I wouldn’t wager on that one, but I’d be comfortable putting a few down on Johnny in the Octagon.  Get him a body bag!

Seriously, what’s going on here?  Sure, they won, they advanced, and I guess that’s all that really matters, but it’s an understatement to say that Duke isn’t exactly striking fear into their Tournament opponents like they used to.  71-70?  Over Belmont?  And they had to do it like this?

First, let me just apologize in advance for the above picture.  It’s obviously not from last night’s Magic game against the Cavs.  You can find J.J. Redick filed, yet again, under the “DNP – Coaches Decision” in that box score.  It’s just hard to find pics of J.J. Redick actually playing basketball in an Orlando Magic uniform, so I hope you’ll understand.

But yeah, the Magic were bombing ‘em on Monday night: 14 of 32 from downtown for a 43.8% clip.   They only shot  39.5% from the field, to give that a bit of perspective, but of course our Halo pwning poet pal, J.J., could only watch from the bench.  I wish I could stop at the 32 to 27, three point attempts to games played ratio, but that wouldn’t serve this sweet, sweet irony justice.  Let’s dig deeper:

1.  The Magic attempted more 3 point shots last night than J.J. Redick has rebounds and assists on the season — combined;  2.  The Magic made more 3 point shots last night than J.J. Redick has rebounds (13) and assists on the season (10); and 3. The Magic, and this one hurts, attempted more 3 point shots last night than J.J. Redick has attempted free throws this season.  I mean, if that’s not a dagger in J.J.’s heart, then J.J. Redick simply has no heart.  To make matters worse, J.J. is only 22 of 28 from the stripe.  That’s roughly 78%, people.  Can you say “rock bottom”?

As a disclaimer, despite how all this looks, let me just say that I’m not a Redick hater.  I’m really not.  In fact, while some of my cohorts (one in particular) would probably have left Redick passed out, face down in a Durham ditch during a flash flood (he really would have too…), I rather enjoyed watching J.J.’s success at Duke.  That said, I’ll be the first to admit I was probably wrong about his NBA prospects.

Now I never said Reddick would be a perennial All-Star, or something bat-shit crazy like that, but I did maintain, vehemently, that he would be a solid contributor at the NBA level.  As of right now, even that prediction is looking like it may fall the way of Decca Records’ 1962 rejection of The Beatles:  “guitar groups are on the way out.”  Yeah, bat-shit crazy.

J.J.’s got time though I suppose.  Time to prove me right.  Even the coach that apparently can’t stand to look down his bench and not see Redick’s snow white face staring back at him agrees. “He’s a hell of a player. . .People say, ‘Well, this is a lottery pick.’ Well, there’s a lot of lottery picks sitting on the bench. Jermaine O’Neal sat for six years, you know? And then became an All-Star.” 

Well, Coach Van Gundy, Jermaine O’Neal didn’t spend 4 of those 6 years playing under Coach K at Duke now did he, which of course was probably a good thing for O’Neal’s pro prospects.  Nevertheless, assuming Van Gundy is the soothsayer he claims to be, I guess we should expect Redick to be at All-Star Weekend circa 2012.  I just hope he’s still in the league by then.

Apparently Coach K is taking time out of his advertising/recruiting (well, that’s the same thing…) schedule to host a mini-camp this summer.  What will be the subject of said camp?

Flopping.  Yes, you can learn one of the most important skills required for any dook basketball player (behind 3 point shooting and the rusty trombone)!

If you can’t wait to pull out your AMEX and pay for this thing, download the application and mail it in, post haste.

In all seriousness though, the dookies aren’t on our level.  You want a rematch?  See you on Sunday.  That would make 2 weeks in a row the Heels beat the Dook women in the ACC Championship.  I’m out for now - here’s another photo of the Paulus teabagging.  Well, when I say “the” teabagging, I guess I could be more specific – we all knows what goes on in the Dook locker room.  (Side note – Super Bowl MVP in the background!)

Compiled from Frumpzilla.com field reports — Danny Green led UNC with 18 points, 8 boards and 7 blocks while Player of the Year candidate Tyler “Have Ball Will Travel” Hansbrough added a double-double, 16 points and 15 rebounds, to push the #1 ranked Tar Heels past #6 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.  UNC point guard Ty Lawson, absent from the teams’ earlier meeting which saw Duke run out as winners in Chapel Hill, tallied 10 points, 3 assts, and 3 steals.

The Blue Devils put up a valiant effort, led by Greg Paulus’ 15 points, but, despite being a 4 point underdog, North Carolina appeared to be in control for nearly the entire game.   Even with less than 2 minutes to play, when Duke had managed to draw level, it was difficult to imagine the Heels being behind when the final buzzer sounded.  Notwithstanding the loss to Carolina, Duke senior Demarcus Nelson will be disappointed to close out his career at Cameron with only 6 points and 4 turnovers, but it seems likely Nelson and the Blue Devils will get at least one more shot at the Heels, the most probable setting being this Sunday’s ACC Tournament Final in Charlotte.

As expected, the rivalry provided for a spectacular atmosphere, and the competion always seems to carry on even after the final seconds.  “I can’t describe how great this win was,” said UNC student Michael Cunningham.  “Beating Duke is always the best obviously, especially considering how much they look down on us because we’re a publicly funded institution.  Avenging the loss at home makes this one extra sweet,” he added. “I’m just glad the refs didn’t screw us like they usually do.”

Kelly Simms, a junior Political Science major at Carolina, expressed similar sentiment. “Yeah, being ranked over 20 spots higher in U.S. News’ 2008 Best Colleges rankings didn’t mean much tonight did it, Dookies!”, she said.  “I can’t stand it when people look down their noses at other schools and fans the way Duke does, especially considering UNC is obviously a comparable  program and institution.”  “The only thing that could make this night better is if we’d also gotten the chance to beat those red necked cattle rapists over in Raleigh earlier in the evening,” Simms added.

Fans of the Blue Devils, though certainly disappointed, found ways to rationalize the bitter defeat at the hands of the Tar Heels.  Duke grad student, and Hartford, Connecticutt native, Herman Berkowitz’s despair was tapered by thoughts of the future.  “Losing to Carolina hurts, there’s no denying it, but there are more important things in this world.  I’ve got a friend graduating from Carolina this year, so I’m happy for him,” Berkowitz confessed.  “Yeah, he’s got a pretty decent job lined up at a mid-size accounting firm in Charlotte.  He’ll probably start out with a package of just under 6 figures.  Meanwhile, I’ll be working in Manhattan banking at least $225,000 in salary alone,” he added.  “Knowing that softens the blow of tonight’s loss.  I certainly won’t be losing any sleep over it.”

Duke freshman Sara Cinnelli-Dukakis was just happy to be part of the moment.  “When I packed up and left Parsippany, New Jersey this fall, I’d probably never seen a basketball game in my life.  Tonight every inch of my body, every inch, was covered in blue and white paint, and I was hoarse and hobbling on a sprained ankle by half-time,” she said.  “It’s like cramming every party I wasn’t invited to in high school into 40 minutes.”