The Blue Bloods followed their succession plans, but they must work. The similarities – and differences – between the Carolina-Duke rivalry have been stark for more than 75 years. Public versus private, large in-state versus small and elite, Southern versus Gothic, etc. And two great basketball programs that have become almost clones of one another […]

Carolina caught a break with Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement. When Duke announced that this will be Coach K’s last season as its Hall of Fame basketball coach, the timing was right for the Blue Devils to turn to Brad Stevens as his successor. Earlier in the day, the Boston Celtics announced its own shakeup when Danny […]

The changing of the guard in the NBA is upon us. Two playoff games Tuesday night represented how the league is making a seismic shift that represents the direction the two oldest dynasties in pro basketball are heading. Five years ago, the Brooklyn Nets were the worst team in the NBA with a 20-62 record […]

Carolina football has got to do it by committee this season. An interesting story was published recently about why Tennessee transfer Ty Chandler is the key to the Tar Heels 2021 hopes for an ACC and national championship. While Chandler will be a welcome addition to Mack Brown’s third UNC team of his second stint […]

Look around, racism has returned without shame. Bantering, even beyond good-natured, has always been part of fan interaction at live professional sporting events. But the line is being crossed too many times with racism back on the table by a part of the American public that has been led to believe that it’s okay. The […]

We’ll see how well Walker Kessler does under pressure. You know how close Kessler was to returning for his sophomore season at Carolina. Twice, not once, he told Hubert Davis he was coming back, only to turn around and commit to Auburn. Who knows what Bruce Pearl told Kessler or offered the family, but according […]

Suddenly, professional sports are greater than ever. Maybe it’s because the pandemic has taught us not to take anything for granted. Certainly, it feels that way with spectator activities like concerts and athletics. Once seemingly impossible, iconic performers will entertain again and some have already started. We all know 71-year-old Bruce Springsteen wants to tour […]

Okay, I was wrong about Coach K becoming interim AD, but… Duke had several smart reasons for naming long-time assistant Nina King as its new Vice President and Director of Athletics. First, while the school has been as backward in racial hiring as any other predominantly white major college, Duke always likes to claim it […]

Yet another reason the ACC might regret ever adding Louisville. I remember when the ACC was in emergency expansion mode after Maryland secretly bolted for the Big Ten in 2012. With the league having already stolen Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East, I figured UConn with its great basketball tradition and […]

Isn’t it time to pull the covers off of Zion Williamson? Can we please, to this point in his NBA career, call the former Duke phenom a disappointment? Two seasons for the No. 1 pick overall by the Pelicans, one interrupted by COVID and injuries, a second straight when they didn’t make the playoffs. Meanwhile, […]