Well, ain’t this something. ESPN has hired themselves an ombudsman. What’s that you say? You have no idea what that is? Go ahead then and look it up (I know I did). I’ll wait a sec. OK, now you know. An ombudsman serves to hear complaints from the people. Complaints from us. Poor guy. George…

Paulwesterdawg (cool blog name) has nice map using helmets to show the location of every Division 1 football program. It’s interesting to see the large clusters and gaps. Check that clump in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, northern Kentucky and West Virginia. In contrast, there are no helmets from southern Wyoming through the Dakotas, western Nebraska and…

The New Orleans Times-Pacayune had a nice article over the weekend about the source of many college nicknames. One that stood out was Miami’s original name of the Orange Blossoms. Think they would have won as many titles with that name? Another one I’d heard as a derisive nickname, but didn’t realize it really was…

Sesame Street used Grover to teach the concepts of opposites. “This is near and … this … is far.” Highlights For Kids had Goofus and Gallant. Dave Sez has the 2005 recruiting classes of Duke and Virginia. Duke has the undisputed #1 class in the nation, led by #1 player Josh McRoberts and top point…

Evidently little Michael Jeffrey Jordan has all growns up. Or – he hopes – has nearly done so. Little Michael Jr. is now 16 years old and is currently at the prestigious Nike summer hoops camp for top prospects. Unfortunately for Mike Jr., he’s not 6’6″ like his dad – he’s 6’0″. Big difference. The…

This hurricane is terrifying. To anyone who is in its direct path – I wish you the best. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to ride out a Category 5 storm. I also can’t imagine what will happen to New Orleans if it really gets the 28 foot storm surge they say…

Ken Pomeroy is the man when it comes to college basketball statistics. There’s no one else even close. He looks at angles that nobody else has thought of and produces numbers that let you see the game in a new light. With this being the offseason, Ken is obviously a bit bored. So, he’s shining…

The Duke Basketball Report (missed you fellas while you were in server hell!) has two very nice articles up by some heavy hitters. First, Barry Jacobs takes an ACC-centric look at drafts past. As is his style, his article is chock full of charts and facts. Al Featherston weighs in with a much longer piece…

Jean Claude Van de Velde. When you hear that name, only one thing comes to mind – his colossal collapse at the 1999 British Open. Van de Velde came to the last hole with a three shot lead. A double-bogey would have won him the tournament. Instead of playing safely, he hit the ball all…

The Boston Globe has a very nice article on how many NBA players squander their fortunes. Fancy cars, bad investments, crooked agents, leaching families and friends, divorces, etc. They get it all. A little something to think about tomorrow night when you watch all of those young men walk across the stage to shake David…