Coaching chases dominate weekend

As sports weekends go, this one's busier than the line of football coaches updating their resumes at Kinko's. Here are five things to keep our eyes on:

1. Who's next -- and where?

Now that Skip Holtz has left East Carolina for South Florida, the search is on for the Pirates' next football coach. Athletic director Terry Holland will hold a news conference at 4:30 this afternoon to talk about the process.

Among the names being thrown around between the barbecue and hush puppies in Greenville are Temple's Al Golden, former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, Virginia Tech defensive whiz Bud Foster and former Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski.

For what it's worth, here's a little Tommy Bowden (right) tidbit -- he ranks third on the ACC's all-time list of bowl wins by a coach.

2. And what about Duke?

Well, just when it seemed David Cutcliffe was going to leave Durham to become the the new Tennessee football coach, he announced this morning that he's staying.

Don't you know they're in minor panic mode in Knoxville about now.



3. The Big Fundamental

Tim Duncan, one of the all-time greats, is in town with his San Antonio Spurs teammates tonight to meet the Charlotte Bobcats.

No word on whether Tony Parker's wife, actress Eva Longoria made the trip.

It's the first of back-to-back home games for the Bobcats, who host Phoenix Saturday night.

4. A weekend Dick Vitale must love

The college hoops schedule is packed around these parts. The biggest ACC game may be Wake Forest at Duke Sunday but there are plenty of others. North Carolina hosts Georgia Tech in what feels like a must-win game for the Tar Heels. After thumping the Heels on Wednesday, Clemson tries not to backslide at N.C. State.

Charlotte hosts Saint Louis in an A-10 battle while Davidson hits the road for a game at Wofford.

5. A run on tee times

WIth temperatures expected to approach 60 today, look out for traffic tie-ups around local golf courses. It's one of the first decent golf days in weeks around here.

Of Clemson, and ugly orange doings

Taking stock of the sports day while wondering if the party has stopped in Clemson:

1. It wasn't a shock

OK, maybe the margin of Clemson's victory over North Carolina Wednesday night was surprising and the way the Tar Heels had that deer in the headlights look about them at time was surprising but the Tigers' victory was no fluke.

Despite that 12-point first half at Duke a while back, Clemson is expected to be among the ACC's better teams. Given there's a clear void behind Duke, the league's clear No. 1, it could be a spot the Tigers fill.

North Carolina, meanwhile, looked like a mess in Tigertown. What's more concerning to Tar Heel fans is it may not be a quick fix.

2. That's our Tony Bennett

You remember the former Charlotte Hornets' back-up guard, who spent a lot of time watching Muggsy Bogues play. Now he's in his first season as head coach at Virginia and he has the Cavaliers in an unlikely spot -- 2-0 and leading the ACC after wins over N.C. State and Georgia Tech.

Bennett, taking a page from his father's successful coaching career, has taken the Cavaliers back to their old style of tough, grinding defense and working the clock on offense. Next up for the Cavs: A home game Saturday against Miami.

3. Fashion Alert

John Daly -- generously called a "golf icon" in recent Golf Channel promos -- makes his PGA Tour debut today in the Sony Open at Hawaii, the first full-field event of the year. That means even in the land of colorful aloha shirts, Daly (right, in Wednesday's practice round) will be wearing something that will make your eyes water.

Charlotte's Johnson Wagner and Brendon de Jonge also start their 2010 tour seasons today in Hawaii. (Read a Q&A with them here.)

4. Looking forward

Charlotte's 86-74 loss at Xavier Wednesday night left the Niners 11-5 overall, 1-1 in the Atlantic 10 and square in the middle of the conference pack. Most teams lose at Xavier. The key will be beating Saint Louis Sunday at home.

5. "I know the orange is ugly but..."

Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton is scrambling to find a permanent replacement for Lane Kiffin, whose name may be considered offensive in the land of Rocky Top. With national signing day approaching, the race is on to get a coach in a hurry.

Two local names have been mentioned -- Duke's David Cutcliffe (right) and East Carolina's Skip Holtz, who's been rumored for every job opening but the CEO position at Bank of America. Both seem like long shots but funny things happen in the coaching business.
-- Ron Green Jr.

Wolfpack a surprise, Clemson should not be

Setting the table on another sports day while listening to the screaming coming from Tennessee football fans:

1. You Say Wolf …

Just when it seemed N.C. State might be down for the count in mid-January, the Wolfpack went to Florida State Tuesday night and beat the Seminoles. Maybe it doesn’t have the panache of beating Duke or North Carolina but winning is Tallahassee is tough for several reasons – the ‘Noles are pretty good and it’s a tough place to play. Nobody is putting the Pack in the NCAA tournament but freshman Scott Wood (left) turned some heads.



2. Orange alert

It won’t be a surprise if Clemson beats North Carolina tonight in Littlejohn Coliseum though many will still see it that way. The Tar Heels can be very inconsistent but have flashes when it all comes together. The same with Clemson, though the Tigers will have the advantage of a juiced up crowd. If you haven’t been to a big game at Clemson, your ears should thank you.

3. The X-factor

The Charlotte 49ers are in the other Queen City tonight and not just for some Cincinnati chili. The Niners face Xavier in an A-10 game that could be huge for them if they win. They had a chance to beat Georgia Tech at home and missed an opportunity at Tennessee (though the undermanned followed up beating Charlotte by bumping off No. 1 Kansas). If they can beat Xavier – no easy thing – it could be big in March.

4. Calling Kyle Singler

Duke hosts Boston College tonight and needs a bounce back game from Singler, who struggled in the Blue Devils’ loss at Georgia Tech on Saturday. Singler was 2-for-13 from the field against the Yellow Jackets. BC, on the other hand, has its own issues, getting off to a surprisingly slow 10-6 start.


5. Bobcats won’t win tonight

That’s because they have the next two days off before San Antonio and Phoenix roll into town for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader. It’s asking a lot but if the Bobcats win both of those games, they’d be back at .500 for the season. Impressive.

Terps, twerps highlight Tuesday in sports

Here's a five-part cheat sheet to help with your sports day while wondering what 'American Idol' life will be like without Paula Abdul:

1. It's the Greivis and Gary Show

The Maryland Terrapins visit Wake Forest at 8 tonight for what could be an interesting ACC basketball game. Just watching Gary Williams work the Maryland bench is entertainment enough but the Terps have an extra bit of sauce with Greivis Vasquez (above), who's not shy. This is a big one for the Deacons, who need to protect their homecourt if they're going to be an upper-division team in the ACC.

2. Hurricane warning

The Miami Hurricanes are 15-1 but how good are they? N.C. State finds out tonight. The way things look right now, the 'Canes are probably better than the Wolfpack, which seems destined for a double-digit finish (10th to 12th) in the ACC this season.

3. The Rockets' red glare

The Houston Rockets are in town to play the surging Bobcats tonight, missing the often-injured Yao Ming. It could have been a chance for a special NBA experience -- to see Houston's Tracy McGrady unhappy despite making $23 million this season -- but he's not with the team while it tries to trade him.





4. Mark McGwire is still sorry

Wait, that may not sound quite right. He admitted Monday to using steroids during his career -- now there's a surprise -- and we can expect to hear a chorus of voices chiming in about his admission today. Barry Bonds is not expected to do any chiming in, himself.

5. Simon Cowell is back

He's reason enough to watch 'American Idol,' which returns tonight. Cowell (left) would make a great umpire.

Five things to consider on this Monday

Five things to consider while wondering whatever happened to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots:

1. ACC lesson: What did we learn?

The first full weekend of conference hoops play didn't clarify much, if anything. We know that North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland have something in common -- they're the only ACC teams without a league loss on Jan. 11. But give each of them time.

Maryland faces a tough test at Wake Forest Tuesday night and the hot-and-cold running Tar Heels make a dangerous visit to Clemson on Wednesday night.

2. Get a room

If you're a Bobcats fan, you should ask if there are rooms to rent at Time Warner Cable Arena this week as the team plays three games there in five days. There's a Western Conference theme to the homestand. Houston comes in Tuesday, San Antonio and the great Tim Duncan (right) are here Friday and Phoenix comes in Saturday for a rare weekend home doubleheader for the suddenly surging Bobcats.

3. Moving day

Pete Carroll has resigned as the head ball coach at Southern Cal and the official announcement of his hiring as the Seattle Seahawks' potential saviour should come sometime today. He's 0-for-2 in the NFL so far but seemed a perfect fit for the Trojans. Maybe the third time is the charm.

4. 2013 is getting closer

Chancellor Philip Dubois (left) said he is encouraged by the support from the UNC Board of Trustees for Charlotte's proposed football program, making it even more likely the 49ers will be playing football in 2013. He would probably be more excited if sales of 49er Seat Licenses (FSLs) picked up.

5. For entertainment purposes only

If you're interested, here are the early lines on the four NFL playoff games this weekend:

New Orleans is a 7-point favorite over Arizona (hmmm...);

The Colts are 6 1/2-point favorites over Baltimore (Peyton Manning covers);

Minnesota and Brett Favre (bottom) are 2 1/2-point favorites over Dallas (take the underdog);

And, San Diego is an 8-point favorite over the New York Jets (sounds about right).

To do list for your sports weekend

With the weekend at hand, here’s a five-item to-do list while wondering how the national championship game would have been different if Texas quarterback Colt McCoy hadn’t gotten hurt:

1. It’s finally college hoops season

Now that the clutter of bowl season is behind us, college basketball finally kicks into gear. After too many games that don’t really matter, conference play takes over now.

It’s a full-out assault in the ACC. Just look at Saturday’s schedule: Virginia visits N.C. State; Duke has a potentially monster game at Georgia Tech; Boston College visits Clemson; and, Wake Forest goes to Miami.

And on Sunday, the North Carolina roller-coaster gets back to business hosting Virginia Tech.

2. Hey, that guy looks familiar

That’s because it’s Buzz Peterson, the former Appalachian State basketball coach who is again the Appalachian State basketball coach.

Peterson brings his Appalachian State Mountaineers to Davidson for a 2 p.m. game Saturday. The Buzzer can swing by home while he’s here. Peterson, who spent the previous two years as director of player personnel for the Charlotte Bobcats, still has a home in Charlotte where his wife and children are still living.

3. Memphis has an NBA team?

No one’s saying the Bobcats are at the top of the NBA’s most recognizable teams list but they’re probably ahead of the, uh, Grizzlies, who visit Saturday night. At least one question will be answered, though. Whatever happened to Hasheem Thabeet?

Allen Iverson was briefly with the Grizzlies this season until he realized the franchise was rebuilding – again. That apparently took A.I. by surprise. He’s the only one who was surprised.

4. It’s playoff time

It’s rematch weekend in the NFL as the playoffs start. The good news is we can sit inside and watch games without having to worry about sitting in the cold to see one here.

Best match-up of the four games? Gotta be Philadelphia-Dallas, Part 3. But only if the Eagles and Donovan McNabb are better than they were last Sunday.


5. It just screams A-10 hoops

After a disappointing loss to undermanned Tennessee that almost made coach Bobby Lutz pop a vein earlier this week, the Charlotte 49ers return home Saturday night to host St. Bonaventure. Sounds like a nice way to bounce back from a loss.

-- Ron Green Jr.

Texas-Alabama: Worth the wait?

All rise for tonight's long-awaited (too long?) national championship game between Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns and the supposedly more talented Alabama Crimson Tide.

Five things to start your sports day while waiting to hear ‘The Eyes of Texas’ tonight (8 p.m., WSOC-TV channel 9):

1. It still doesn’t justify the BCS

Roughly five weeks after their last game, Texas and Alabama play for college football’s so-called national championship tonight, though the good people of Boise no doubt will argue the point.

Add these complaints to the BCS format:

• It takes too long to get to the national championship. Five weeks? That’s longer that pre-season practice.

• By spreading the major bowls out over several days, they lost their bang. Was that the Orange Bowl Tuesday night?

2. Say it’s Knotts so

The news that Tom Knotts is leaving Independence High for Dutch Fork High near Columbia has the impact of a sledgehammer on high school football in this area. You can’t blame Knotts for going someplace where he can make more money and he sounds like a man thrilled at the prospect of moving.

It’s the end of an era here, no doubt.

The good news is by moving south, Knotts can still wear shorts on the sideline all season. But he and his shorts are outta here.

3. Start spreading the news

The Bobcats are in New York tonight to face the Knicks. OK, so it doesn’t get back-page treatment in the tabloids like a visit from LeBron or Kobe might -- Gerald Wallace (right) is about as close as Charlotte can come -- but the Bobcats have won three in a row and with a six-game homestand looming, they’re on a nice roll. Did someone say playoffs?

4. What cold? It’s golf season

The 2010 PGA Tour season begins today in Kapalua, where there’s no chance of snow flurries and the wind chill factor may make it feel like the temperature is in the upper 70s. Tough life.

Twenty-eight winners from 2009 are in the field this week. Tiger Woods, you may have heard, is not one of them. But hey, Jeff Ogilvy (putting, above) is there.

5. It’s 34 days until the first Duke-North Carolina men’s basketball game this season.

We'll let you write your own caption on this one.

-- Ron Green Jr.

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What's important in your sports world today, or this week, or this month? Post your picks in the comments section, and you could see our thoughts on them in a future edition of the revamped O List.