It’s Duke week and the Tar Heels are sitting pretty. Now that February is here, we can start the official jockeying for first-round byes in the ACC tournament at the empty Greensboro Coliseum. And with the balance that may be good or bad for NCAA bids, the ACC race is up for grabs. Virginia Tech […]

My friend Lou Goetz was far more than a coach. I met Lou when we were both in our 20s. He was an assistant for new Duke basketball coach Bill Foster. I was sports editor of the old Durham Morning Herald and was known as a Carolina guy. That could have been a problem from the get-go, but it wasn’t. […]

The football Tar Heels are set up for another New Year’s Six Bowl, maybe more. Just coming off a season when the original football schedule was torn up and rewritten due to the pandemic, the ACC sure got the 2021 slate out fast, released Thursday when it usually rolls out in February. Carolina fans should be very excited, […]

Hammerin’ Hank has a chance to be even bigger in death. Hank Aaron was truly one of the legends of the game, from his first season through his last. When he passed away this week at 86, the tributes poured in over Aaron’s mythical status off the field, too. As the hero of the Milwaukee […]

The Tar Heels posted an important win at Pitt that could result in another game this weekend. With Carolina moving to 6-3 in the ACC and 11-5 overall, the Heels might be tempted to make the schedule adjustment the ACC is considering. Apparently, there is talk of playing at Syracuse later this week on what is now an idle weekend, which would allow the March 1 […]

Coach K has gone from blatant bully to political apologist. In 40-plus years of coaching hoops at Duke, Mike Krzyzewski has taken us on quite a ride. Let us count the vehicles. His fans thought he was brave and his detractors crazy when after a narrow loss to No. 1 UNC at Cameron in 1984, […]

Carolina stays on the right trajectory . . . just in time. The Tar Heels’ 10-point win over N.C. State Saturday had more pluses than minuses. They avenged the earlier loss in Raleigh, which Roy Williams has called the worst defensive game he’s ever coached. They bumped their ACC record to 5-3 and 10-5 overall. […]

You can bet Bills fans are pulling for the Packers this weekend. I’ve always been amazed at how rabid the Buffalo fans are for their pro football team. Yes, their Bills lost four straight Super Bowls in the early 1990s, but they have stuck with a team that has been pretty terrible over the next […]

Does the second half versus Wake Forest signal a new start for UNC? Appropriate for inauguration day, the Tar Heels may have augured in the second half of the season with their best second half of the season. Carolina shook an ACC-winless Wake team (0-6), which led by two points at the half, by shooting […]

Hope it isn’t a good news-bad news future for Carolina. You know the old coaching answer to a trick question. What’s your team gonna look like next year? “The good news is we have everyone back,” the coach says, “bad news is we have everyone back.” It would be great if the Tar Heels’ improvement […]