I like the Dodgers but not enough to hand them Mookie Betts. Can someone please tell me why a baseball team with the highest payroll and steepest ticket prices cannot figure out a way to keep a franchise player, the 2018 MVP and someone who presumably wanted to finish his career where it started? I […]

Carolina is the biggest home underdog to Duke in 18 years. We have heard everyone from Jay Bilas to Mike Krzyzewski lamenting the state of college basketball this season. Bilas, the brilliant ESPN broadcaster and former Dukie, has been saying almost from opening week that it’s a down year. Coach K, disgusted by another half-hearted […]

The shooting numbers tell the clear story of Carolina’s demise. Roy Williams likes to talk about how much better his team looks if the ball goes in the basket. And despite typically good rebounding numbers and a decent, but not great, assist-to-turnover ratio, the Tar Heels’ current 10-12 record is clearly reflected in their shooting […]

You have to be good and lucky to be great. Most people are calling the Chiefs Super Bowl victory either a classic comeback or an epic collapse by the 49ers. Well, it’s a little bit of both, triggered by some luck. All such rallies have to be fueled by big plays from the offense and big blunders by the defense. And seasoned […]

Cole Anthony’s reentry wasn’t smooth, to say the least. When Carolina’s ballyhooed freshman took off his warm-up shirt and reported to the scorer’s table with 15:45 left in the first half against Boston College, the Smith Center crowd roared. The Tar Heels were ahead in a game they eventually lost 71-70 to a better-playing BC […]

Will this Super Bowl give us another game for the ages? My personal dilemma is that I like both teams in Super Bowl LIV, which rarely happens. Of course, that’s because my team – which is the team you love to hate – has been in nine of the last 19. Do I have to […]

Coach K was having a tough time, and deservedly so. I watched Mike Krzyzewski’s press conference after his team beat Pitt Tuesday night, when he said the Blue Devils played tired for much of the game. But it was Coach K who looked like he hadn’t slept in two nights. He said his team was […]

How close was Kobe Bryant to playing ball in North Carolina? Some famous people turn out to be bigger in death than they even were in life. The former Lakers star is apparently one of them, judging from the world’s reaction to his tragic demise with his 13-year-old daughter Sunday in a helicopter crash. Bryant […]

All things considered, that may be the greatest win ever! Think about how they feel at N.C. State today. This was the game the Wolfpack was going to snap its 6-straight home losing streak to the hated Tar Holes! This was the evening they were going to be howlin’ past midnight. This was your chance, […]

From a reliable source: Roy heard from Dean Saturday night. When Roy Williams finally went to sleep after he passed his mentor for all-time wins, Dean Smith made contact with his protégé. Here is how that conversation went. “Roy, great that you got to 880, but you didn’t have to wait so long,” Dean said. […]