Parcells to visit UNC

Miami Dolphins Executive Vice President of Football Operations Bill Parcells will make a trip to Chapel Hill tomorrow to have a look at former North Carolina football stars Hakeem Nicks and Richard Quinn. Nicks' name has bounced around mock draft boards and the Tar Heels' all-time leading receiver is certain to land in the first round. Quinn, on the other hand has managed to fly under the radar for many experts. But one look at his 6-foot-4-inch, 260-pound frame and you can't help but think that he's worth a look. Apparently Parcells does, anyway. And he's not the only one. Quinn has been courted by several NFL teams including the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. Currently, it seems that Quinn is targeted around the fifth-round. But his stock seems to be rising very quickly.

Nicks, on the other hand, couldn't see his stock get much higher after he posted a sub-4.5 40 at the combine earlier this year, but then had some scouts concerned when the 6-foot WR showed up at the University of North Carolina Pro Day 14 pounds heaver - 226 lbs. Regardless, Nicks stood on his 40 time and, to me, seems a great fit with several teams - mainly Indianapolis, the New York Giants, and Minnesota.

I don't even want to hear it

The Dookies are already starting. Excuses for why they got blown out just don't exist this time. No refs, no ifs, no ands, no buts. The defense played by Villanova was the best I've ever seen, period. Every single time down the court, the 'Cats were absolutely hounding the ball - for 40 minutes. Duke's glaring defect of having zero transition game finally caught up with them. So did the fact that they don't have as many stars as people think they do. Gerald Henderson is legit ... well, was legit. He'll be a lottery pick in the draft, so good luck replacing the only threat you've got, Mike. Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler cannot take a game over. The two get so much credit for being great scorers, but they cannot create for themselves - a cornerstone of most (most, because J.J. Redick couldn't create either) great scorers. Luckily they're part of an offense that creates for them. But as we saw last night, when all else fails, you have to be able to look into the teeth of a good defense and find a way to score, especially if you cannot beat a team downcourt and keep them from setting up. Every team from here on out has players that are capable of that, and most are good in transition. That's the difference between being able to win 30 games, or whatever, in the regular season, and being able to win six in the NCAA tournament.

Mike Krzyzweski may have done as good a job as he ever has to get this year's Duke team as far as he did, and it takes a lot for me to compliment the guy. He really is a great coach, but you can't coach what you don't have. And from the tip, the Blue Devils really didn't have a chance.

My Fantasy Baseball Roster

I owned this draft. Enough said. My roster is as follows:

C - Matt Iannetta
1B - Derek Lee
2B - Dan Uggla
3B - Jorge Cantu
SS - Hanley Ramirez
OF - Adam Dunn
OF - Ichiro Suzuki
OF - Jacoby Ellsbury
Util - Carlos Delgado

Bench: Pat Burrell, Jim Thome, Michael Bourn, Matt LaPorta

SP - Tim Lincecum
SP - Josh Beckett
RP - Brian Wilson
RP - Troy Percival
P - Max Scherzer
P - Edinson Volquez
P - Jair Jurrjens

Bench: Jeff Samardzija

Talk to you all in September when I'm crowned champion.

I guess I should be ashamed of myself...

... but can anyone tell me what is going on with this Anoop guy? I know he's from Chapel Hill. I know he's rockin' American Idol. But the only reason I know either of these truths is because the kid seems to be a Facebook icon. I mean, ain't nobody texting in votes for me to graduate. And let's be honest, I've been working on that a hell of a lot longer than this guy has been on the show. Didn't he already get kicked off? And now he's back? How does that work? I haven't watched AI more than a couple of times since William Hung signed a million-dollar record deal. That, and the fact that I cannot sing, pissed me off enough to decide, once and for all, that I was done with such nonsense. Now, it seems, I'm missing the boat on something pretty cool. I know that several of my friends are (or claim to be) friends with him, maybe even a few of you readers. But it would serve me, and my blog, well if you would post comments that might direct me toward a clue.

Thank you.

I TOLD YOU!!!

Three weeks ago, I posted that LeBron was better than Michael. And behold, ESPN.com thinks so too! (They must be reading my blog). Just wanted all of you to know that I wasn't completely full of crap.

And by the way, why is everyone voting for UConn. as the first No. 1 seed out of the tournament? Have you been watching? Is it because you think Purdue is going to beat them? If that's the case, then God, I hope you're not betting on these games...

Earth to Brandon Costner...

The NBA Draft? Are you serious? Kevin Costner has a better chance of getting drafted this year. Not to be deterred however, N.C. State's Brandon Costner announced yesterday that he will forgo his senior season. He's fresh off a season in which he averaged 13.6 points per game. That's not enough to even crack the top 20 in the ACC. He was 17th in the conference in rebounding, with six per. Both of those numbers are about even with his career averages. Considering his freshman season, maybe I'm being a little harsh, but not very. Someone might draft this guy - under the condition that he gets "D-League" tattooed on his forehead. The mock drafts that I've seen have North Carolina's Danny Green as a late second round pick. To me, that would put Costner somewhere in the fifth round ... which, of course, does not exist. That presents a problem. If Costner were smart, which he is (he'll earn his degree in Communications in May), he would test the waters overseas. In what seemed to be a popular trend last season, Costner could head to Europe for awhile to work on his consistency, and actually get paid for it. If he decides to go the NBA route, there is just no way, based on what he's showed so far, that he is going to magically become a consistent presence over the course of an 82-game season. I'm not hating on the guy ... really. I like Costner's game, or his potential game anyway. But for right now, this jump doesn't seem to make much sense.

So Far, Toe Good

My bracket is hanging in there, and so are the Tar Heels. Honestly, I didn't get to see much of either game North Carolina played this weekend. Ordinarily, I would seriously consider taking a temporary leave of absence in order to assure myself the opportunity to plant myself on the couch and yell at the television each weekend of March, but given the state of the economy, I guess I better do my best to keep my job. That said, I think, going into the LSU game, that it didn't make a whole lot of sense to play Lawson. I guess that's why they pay Roy and not me. A loss to the Tigers looked likely in hindsight had he not played. Lawson's 21 in the second half bailed out UNC and moved the team to Memphis for the Sweet 16. Back in Chapel Hill after the game, Lawson was back in the boot, but walking around without a noticeable limp. He appeared to be OK, though I'm sure he was given some medicine to ease any swelling or pain following his courageous showing in Greensboro.

The way things almost turned out, though, Lawson's play wouldn't have been the only break the Tar Heels got. The Zags looked iffy against Western Kentucky. Likely that will not be the case next Friday when they square off with North Carolina. In fact, it won't be easy at all for UNC should they get past Gonzaga, as they'll continue to run into teams with good guard play the rest of the way, making Lawson more important to the team than he has ever been in his entire career - and he's been awfully important. It is imperative that UNC has Lawson to counter other guards that are likely to expose the Tar Heels defensively. And the suspense is sure to only highten as long as this injury lingers. Guess we'll just have to stay on our toes ...

(Sorry, I had to.)