Thursday, February 26, 2009

Krispy Kreme may yet survive the kollapsing ekonomy

Krispy Kreme is a North Carolina institution: over the years, thousands of N.C. children have raised funds for their schools and youth groups by peddling boxes of hot glazed doughnuts, and the company is as interwoven to state culture as NASCAR, college basketball and barbecue. North Carolinians are about as provincial and stubborn in the great doughnut battle (Krispy Kreme vs. that sorry upstart Dunkin' Dougnuts) as they are about Eastern-style Barbecue vs. Lexington.

But that doesn't mean the Winston-Salem doughnut maker will survive the global economic recession.

Oddly enough, it may just be the global marketplace that saves the company, says the Winston-Salem Journal.

Krispy Kreme's "growing international sales could be the key ingredient in keeping Krispy Kreme independent and out of bankruptcy -- a fate that some analysts have predicted for this year."


All of which means that the jobs of 3,829 employees, including 414 in Winston-Salem and another 76 in the Triad, are riding on Krispy Kreme's ability to make its doughnuts a lifestyle choice rather than an occasional treat in markets as diverse as China, Kuwait and Turkey.

More than 80 percent of Krispy Kreme's stores are operated by franchisees, and 57 percent of its 526 stores are based outside the United States, as of Jan. 31.

Kristin Graham, a senior analyst for The Motley Fool, a financial-services company, said she questions whether Krispy Kreme will be able to survive because of the level of debt it took on during its ill-fated domestic expansion strategy under a previous top executive, Scott Livengood.

"But if there is a life preserver for Krispy Kreme, it would be its international sales," Graham said. "If they can expand and establish the brand correctly overseas, it could be enough to carry them through 2009."

The company plans to open at least 75 stores in just China, Malaysia and Turkey by 2013. ...

Here's to hoping "KK" (as it's called in our household) survives and flourishes. There's just not really anything quite like a hot glazed doughnut, straight off the glazing journey.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The moon is up, but the sun has not quite set on 'One Tree Hill'

Fans of The CW's "One Tree Hill" (and I count myself among the many now -- see below) can rejoice: the show will get a seventh season.

“If that’s true, then I’m very excited,” Matthew Sullivan, a “One Tree Hill” set decorator, told the Wilmington Star-News.

Wilmington Regional Film Commission director Johnny Griffin said he had seen the rumors online but had not been officially informed. He said the formal announcement is good news for the 125 or so local crew members who are still working on season six.

“These folks can end this season already knowing they have a job,” he said.

Fans, meanwhile, want to know how many of their favorite actors will keep their jobs. The Internet has been abuzz lately with rumors that some of the core cast members, whose contracts expire after season six, would not be back.

CW publicist Jeff Tobler said Tuesday he had no information about whether all the regular cast members had re-signed for a seventh season.

“One Tree Hill” has filmed in Wilmington since 2003. The CW’s order for a 22-episode seventh season will give the drama 152 episodes in total. That makes it the longest-running project to be filmed in the Port City, surpassing “Dawson’s Creek” by 24 episodes.


I've often been one to make fun of the show, thinking that it's just your typical teen drama. Well, it is. But of late, I have come to see the light regarding "OTH." I'm a late-bloomer, having caught up through just Season Five -- the "skip-ahead four years" season. That device was brilliant, in my opinion. Instead of having the same cast of characters just happen to wind up at the same college, we start to go back and see what led them all back to quaint Tree Hill, N.C. Yes, it's contrived, but it's less degrading to the viewer than some shows have done. (How did David Silver just happen to graduate from West Beverly with everyone else?)

The writing on "One Tree Hill" is much better than some other like-dramas. And it's always fun to pick out the Wilmington-area landmarks.

Greensboro may host U.S. Figure Skating Championships in a couple of years

There's a report out there that the city of Greensboro has been chosen to hos the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 2011, "an event that could bring $30 million to the area, according to WFMY-TV in Greensboro.

"The city was expected to make the announcement Wednesday. Kansas City, Mo., was the other finalist to host the event.

"About 34,000 people could fill the Greensboro Coliseum to see the championships. ..."

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Want ACC tourney tix?

Dane Huffman is reporting that if you want the normally hard-to-get ACC men's basketball tournament tickets, Monday's the day.

The ACC announced Tuesday that tickets for the 2009 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament will be available for sale on a tournament book basis starting Monday, March 2.

The 56th annual ACC Tournament is scheduled for March 12-15 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga. The tournament has not had a public sale since 1966, although tickets were available at the gate on the day of games in Tampa in 2007.

“Due to the unique combination of playing this year’s tournament in a dome during very trying economic times, our league has the opportunity to offer a public sale of ACC Tournament tickets," ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. “Playing in the Georgia Dome provides a great stage for our conference teams and Atlanta has been a terrific partner. Having already sold more tickets to this year’s tournament than the capacity of any of our other venues, our schools felt it would be appropriate to offer the remaining tickets to college basketball fans in the Atlanta area.”

Tickets can be purchased, starting Monday, by contacting Ticketmaster by phone at 404-249-6400 or 1-800-326-4000 or by going to http://www.ticketmaster.com/section/sports.

So there you go.

Monday, February 23, 2009

North Carolina basketball report (8)

North Carolina beat State, and Duke beat Wake. State plays at Wake this week in the losers bracket.

Only five of the 19 North Carolina schools have winning records.

Bracketology is not included this week, because it was produced by a committee of ESPN experts with random conference tournament results provided by the NCAA.

Wednesday’s game
Davidson 70, UNC Greensboro 49 | boxscore

Thursday’s game
Wake Forest 85, N.C. State 78 | boxscore

Saturday’s game
UNC Greensboro 74, Elon 66 | boxscore

Rankings (results through Sunday’s games)
RPI rankings, team (overall record, record vs. North Carolina teams)

3. North Carolina (23-3, 4-1)
Last week: 4
beat UNC Asheville, N.C. State (2), Duke
lost to Wake Forest
ACC career scoring leaders        pts
1. J.J. Redick 2,769
2. Tyler Hansbrough 2,650
3. Johnny Dawkins 2,556
4. Rodney Monroe 2,551
5. Bryant Stith 2,516
I’ve decided not to include Dickie Hemric (2,587 points), because his first two seasons were in the Southern Conference — before the ACC was formed.
               pts   reb   ast    2pt    3pt     ft
Hansbrough 21.0 7.7 0.9 .528 6-15 .843
Ty Lawson 16.2 2.6 6.3 .579 .494 .809
Lawson: 10th in nation in assists, ninth in 3-point shooting.

4. Duke (22-5, 4-2)
Last week: 5
beat UNC Asheville, Davidson, N.C. State, Wake Forest
lost to Wake Forest, North Carolina

Duke’s latest lineup — Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas and Elliot Williams — scored 101 points in a win over Wake Forest. | boxscore

18. Wake Forest (20-5, 6-2)
Last week: 16
beat N.C. Central, UNC Wilmington, Winston-Salem State,
East Carolina, North Carolina, Duke
lost to N.C. State, Duke
               pts   reb   ast    2pt    3pt     ft
Jeff Teague 20.3 3.5 3.7 .511 .513 .832
Teague: fourth in nation in 3-point shooting.

59. Davidson (21-6, 5-1)
Last week: 50
beat N.C. State, Appalachian State, Elon, Western Carolina,
UNC Greensboro
lost to Duke
               pts   reb   ast    2pt    3pt     ft
Stephen Curry 28.6 4.1 5.9 .523 .377 .867
Curry: leads the nation in scoring, 10th in steals (2.63).

90. N.C. State (15-10, 6-4)
Last week: 91
beat High Point, UNC Greensboro, Winston-Salem State,
East Carolina, N.C. Central, Wake Forest
lost to Davidson, Duke, North Carolina (2)

166. UNC Charlotte (10-16, 1-1)
Last week: 179
beat UNC Greensboro
lost to Appalachian State

DiJuan Harris: fifth in nation in assists (7.0).

187. East Carolina (10-13, 3-2)
Last week: 181
beat Campbell, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro
lost to N.C. State, Wake Forest

Brock Young: leads nation in assists (7.8).

203. Western Carolina (12-13, 4-5)
Last week: 189
beat UNC Greensboro (2), Elon, Appalachian State
lost to Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville, Appalachian State, Davidson
Elon

204. UNC Asheville (11-14, 5-3)
Last week: 203
beat Western Carolina, Gardner-Webb (2), High Point (2)
lost to Campbell, North Carolina, Duke

220. Gardner-Webb (8-16, 2-3)
Last week: 195
beat Western Carolina, High Point
lost to UNC Asheville (2), High Point

254. Appalachian State (10-16, 6-4)
Last week: 242
beat UNC Charlotte, Campbell, Elon (2), Western Carolina,
UNC Greensboro
lost to UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, Davidson, Western Carolina

239. N.C. A&T (11-13, 2-0)
Last week: 249
beat Winston-Salem State (2)

264. Elon (7-17, 1-6)
Last week: 260
beat Western Carolina
lost to Appalachian State (2), Western Carolina, Davidson,
UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington

270. Campbell (10-15, 1-2)
Last week: 298
beat UNC Asheville
lost to East Carolina, Appalachian State

276. UNC Wilmington (7-22, 3-2)
Last week: 279
beat Appalachian State, N.C. Central, Elon
lost to Wake Forest, East Carolina

319. Winston-Salem State (5-18, 1-4)
Last week: 314
beat N.C. Central
lost to Wake Forest, N.C. State, N.C. A&T (2)

324. UNC Greensboro (3-23, 2-7)
Last week: 316
beat Appalachian State, Elon
lost to UNC Charlotte, N.C. State, East Carolina,
Western Carolina (2), Davidson, Appalachian State

328. High Point (5-18, 2-3)
Last week: 324
beat N.C. Central, Gardner-Webb
lost to N.C. State, Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville (2)

339. N.C. Central (1-24, 0-5)
Last week: 340
lost to Wake Forest, UNC Wilmington, High Point,
Winston-Salem State, N.C. State

Only Grambling, Sacramento State, Alcorn State and NJIT are worse.

Friday, February 20, 2009

From Motor City to Queen City: GMAC may move headquarters

The city of Charlotte is reeling, somewhat, because of all the hullabaloo over the nation's banking industry. (It should be noted, however, that Charlotte is repeatedly listed as one of the areas that is surviving the economic crunch better than others.) Some good news may be on the way.

The Associated Press is reporting that "General Motors Corp.'s financing arm is considering moving its headquarters from Detroit to Charlotte, where its chief executive lives."

... Spokeswoman Toni Simonetti says she doesn't know if GMAC will move to the hometown of chief Alvaro de Molina. Regardless, she says, it's "going to have a strong presence in Detroit."

She tells The Detroit News that Charlotte's financial industry makes it "an attractive base."

De Molina joined GMAC in 2007 after 17 years with Charlotte-based Bank of America. ...


Charlotte Rock City!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Greensboro/High Point among the 'emptiest' metros in America, says Forbes.com

A report by Forbes.com ranked Greensboro/High Point as the fourth-emptiest city based on vacancy rates collected from the U.S. Census Bureau for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Only Las Vegas, Detroit and Atlanta ranked "higher" than Greensboro/High Point, says the New & Record. The N.C. metro area edged Dayton, Ohio.

Forbes blamed the declines in Detroit and Dayton on industrial shutdowns, and placed Las Vegas' problems on the housing bust.

The report did not elaborate on how Greensboro/High Point landed fourth on the list.

But Keith Debbage, a UNCG geography professor who studies the city's economic health, says that those cities' circumstances are exactly what separates them from Greensboro.

"Yes, our region is suffering, as is the nation, but I would suggest we are no Detroit or Dayton nor have we had the speculative real estate bubble of Las Vegas or Orlando," Debbage said by e-mail Monday.

"I suspect if we examined the data over a longer period (instead of just one quarter), the rankings would shift dramatically particularly for Greensboro." ...

The Census information listed those rates for the country's 75 largest metropolitan areas. Atlanta, Detroit and Las Vegas are all in the top 30 largest metropolitan areas with at least 1.8 million people in each. The Greensboro-High Point area is 72nd in total population with slightly less than 700,000 people.

For comparison, Greensboro was second in homeowner vacancies with 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Raleigh ranked 13th highest; Charlotte ranked 28th. As far as rentals go, the Gate City was 13th at 15 percent vacancy. Charlotte was 15th and Raleigh was 33rd. Richmond, Va., was highest in rental vacancies at 23 percent in the fourth quarter. Orlando, Fla., with 7.3 percent vacancies among homeowners, was highest in that category.

Thoughts on this information? Personally, I've heard so much positive "buzz" about Greensboro over the past five years that I can't imagine that it won't survive the economic crisis -- just as most people expect Raleigh and Charlotte to. And secondly, do these factors of vacancies really mean anything? Is a city's success or survival really being measured?

Monday, February 16, 2009

North Carolina basketball report (7)

Wednesday’s games
North Carolina 89, N.C. State 80 | boxscore
UNC Asheville 81, High Point 78 (OT) | boxscore

Thursday’s games
Appalachian State 70, UNC Greensboro 69 | boxscore
Elon 72, Western Carolina 66 | boxscore

Saturday’s games
Western Carolina 69, UNC Greensboro 56 | boxscore
N.C. A&T 68, Winston-Salem State 61 | boxscore

Sunday’s games
Duke 101, Wake Forest 91 | boxscore
UNC Wilmington 75, Elon 72 | boxscore

Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology: Bracket | Video

Rankings (results through Sunday’s games)
RPI rankings, team (overall record, record vs. North Carolina teams)

North Carolina beat Duke, which has lost four of six. State beat Wake, which has lost four of seven. Stephen Curry is day to day.

Only five of the 19 North Carolina schools have winning records.

4. North Carolina (22-2, 3-1)
Last week: 6
Bracketology: No. 1 seed in the Midwest, vs. Big South champion
beat UNC Asheville, N.C. State, Duke
lost to Wake Forest
ACC career scoring leaders      pts
1. J.J. Redick 2,769
2. Tyler Hansbrough 2,612
3. Johnny Dawkins 2,556
4. Rodney Monroe 2,551
5. Bryant Stith 2,516
I've decided not to include Dickie Hemric (2,587 points), because his first two seasons were in the Southern Conference — before the ACC was formed.

Hansbrough: 21.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, .527 2-point percentage and .839 free throw percentage

Ty Lawson’s assist-to-turnover ratio is 3.40. The single-season record is held by N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe, who had 3.35 in 1982-83.

Lawson’s career ratio of 2.69 is second all-time to Lowe’s 2.94.

Lawson: 15.9 points, 6.4 assists, 1.9 turnovers, 2.1 steals, .586 2-point percentage, .494 3-point percentage, .805 free throw percentage

5. Duke (20-5, 3-2)
Last week: 1
Bracketology: No. 3 seed in the East, vs. America East champion
beat UNC Asheville, Davidson, N.C. State
lost to Wake Forest, North Carolina

Point guard Greg Paulus is back in the starting lineup, with mixed results:
                    min   pts   ast   stl   w-l
First 22 games 18.4 5.5 1.6 0.9 19-3
Last three games 31.0 9.3 2.3 3.0 1-2
16. Wake Forest (19-4, 6-1)
Last week: 14
Bracketology: No. 2 seed in the South, vs. Ivy League champion
beat N.C. Central, UNC Wilmington, Winston-Salem State,
East Carolina, North Carolina, Duke
lost to N.C. State

50. Davidson (21-4, 5-1)
Last week: 50
Bracketology: No. 9 seed in the East, vs. Florida State
beat N.C. State, Appalachian State, Elon, Western Carolina,
UNC Greensboro
lost to Duke

X-rays on Stephen Curry’s injured left ankle are negative and the nation’s leading scorer will be listed as day to day. | story

Curry: 29.0 points, 5.8 assists, 2.65 steals, .528 2-point percentage, .388 3-point percentage and .872 free throw percentage

91. N.C. State (14-9, 6-3)
Last week: 115
beat High Point, UNC Greensboro, Winston-Salem State,
East Carolina, N.C. Central, Wake Forest
lost to Davidson, Duke, North Carolina

179. UNC Charlotte (9-15, 1-1)
Last week: 167
beat UNC Greensboro
lost to Appalachian State

DiJuan Harris: fifth in nation in assists (6.8).

181. East Carolina (10-11, 3-2)
Last week: 161
beat Campbell, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro
lost to N.C. State, Wake Forest

Brock Young: leads nation in assists (7.8).

189. Western Carolina (11-12, 3-4)
Last week: 206
beat UNC Greensboro, Elon, Appalachian State
lost to Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville, Appalachian State, Davidson

195. Gardner-Webb (8-14, 2-3)
Last week: 156
beat Western Carolina, High Point
lost to UNC Asheville (2), High Point

203. UNC Asheville (9-14, 4-3)
Last week: 195
beat Western Carolina, Gardner-Webb (2), High Point
lost to Campbell, North Carolina, Duke

242. Appalachian State (9-14, 5-4)
Last week: 242
beat UNC Charlotte, Campbell, Elon (2), Western Carolina
lost to UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, Davidson, Western Carolina

249. N.C. A&T (9-13, 1-0)
Last week: 280
beat Winston-Salem State

260. Elon (6-16, 0-5)
Last week: 245
lost to Appalachian State (2), Western Carolina, Davidson,
UNC Greensboro

279. UNC Wilmington (6-21, 2-2)
Last week: 254
beat Appalachian State, N.C. Central
lost to Wake Forest, East Carolina

298. Campbell (8-15, 1-2)
Last week: 268
beat UNC Asheville
lost to East Carolina, Appalachian State

314. Winston-Salem State (5-16, 1-3)
Last week: 315
beat N.C. Central
lost to Wake Forest, N.C. State, N.C. A&T

316. UNC Greensboro (3-21, 2-5)
Last week: 312
beat Appalachian State, Elon
lost to UNC Charlotte, N.C. State, East Carolina, Western Carolina,
Davidson

324. High Point (5-17, 2-3)
Last week: 333
beat N.C. Central, Gardner-Webb
lost to N.C. State, Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville

340. N.C. Central (1-22, 0-5)
Last week: 339
lost to Wake Forest, UNC Wilmington, High Point,
Winston-Salem State, N.C. State

Only Sacramento State, Alcorn State and NJIT are worse.

The unwashed masses may actually be able to buy ACC Tourney tickets

Wow.

For the first time since LBJ was in office, a public sale of ACC men's basketball tickets may actually happen, writes Ken Tysiac.

Karl Hicks, who directs the ACC's men's basketball operations, said the "perfect storm" of holding the tournament in its largest venue during a huge economic downturn has some schools holding unsold tickets.

The tournament is scheduled March 12-15 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The dome has been configured for 36,000 seats – 4,083 fewer than its biggest crowd
in 2001 — in a slightly smaller set-up to help ensure that fans get a good view of the game.

But some schools have been unable to sell their allotment of 2,600 tickets. Hicks said the ACC is redistributing unsold tickets to schools whose demand exceeds the number of tickets they’ve been allotted.

Still, he said, there’s a chance the schools won’t be able to sell all the tickets to their boosters, and that could lead to a public sale of unused tickets. ...

There could be some hesitation among ACC members eager to preserve their boosters’ exclusive control over tickets. But the desire to generate revenue and welcome new fans might trump that hesitation and cause the ACC or the individual schools to sell tickets to the general public.


Never thought in a million years -- even in a down economy -- that this would happen.

'Eastbound' is 'Hicksploitation'

Randomly came across this Variety review of the North Carolina-filmed and -based HBO series, "Eastbound and Down," which we discussed last week.

"The premise isn't all that unusual," writes Cynthia Littleton, "but the setting is. You can tell that the show is shot [in] North Carolina with local extras. The tweens and teens in the middle school scenes don't look like L.A. kids who are angling for their SAG cards.

"McBride, Best and 'Eastbound' co-creator Jody Hill have talked about inventing a new genre dubbed 'Hicksploitation' that introduces the rest of the country to the best and worst of small-town Southern culture. In the same way that the small-town Texas setting of 'Friday Night Lights' was such a breath of fresh air, so is 'Eastbound's' Anytown, North Carolina. (Not that I am remotely comparing 'FNL' to 'Eastbound' in any other way. Not by a country mile.) ..."

Thursday, February 12, 2009

State-Carolina will meet at the end of the season

Duke and North Carolina will play for the Victory Bell once again. But this year, the Blue Devils and Tar Heels will meet on Nov. 7 -- almost a month before the end of the ACC football season. The Heels will instead meet N.C. State in its last regular-season game, not Duke. State and Carolina meet on Nov. 28 in Raleigh.

The ACC's schedule was released today.

ACCNow has a look at the N.C. teams' respective schedules.

-N.C. State
-UNC
-Duke
-Wake Forest
-East Carolina

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

'Eastbound and Down' is very much an N.C. creation

Was watching HBO in a hotel room while away at a conference a couple of weeks ago, and managed to see a sneak preview of the new Will Ferrell-produced series, "Eastbound and Down," which follows a washed-up Major Leaguer ("Kenny Powers," played by Danny McBride) as he adjusts to "normal" life back home in North Carolina.

The creators of this show were educated at the N.C. School of the Arts, and they commented that it just made sense to film it in North Carolina. ("Eastbound" is filmed around Wilmington.)

The show, I believe, starts next week. As with most HBO series, parental advisory is suggested.

"If nothing else, 'Eastbound,' set to bow Feb. 15, should have a ring of authenticity," says Variety. "McBride, who hails from small-town Virginia, co-created the series with two pals from film school in North Carolina: Jody Hill and Ben Best, who are both sons of small-town North Carolina (though Best bragged that his home town of High Point was 'the furniture capital of the world' and hosted a mammoth trade show every year.) And 'Eastbound' was shot in North Carolina using 'real Southern kids' as extras, 'not kids from Burbank,' McBride noted. McBride, Hill and Powers said they aim to update urbanites' view of life in the South beyond the 'Hee-Haw' stereotype. ..."

"We wanted to find new things to make fun of," McBride told the publication. "We wanted to get a little bit deeper into the South that we know," Best added.

Quick hits: WNC farms are disappearing, but 'poultry power' is not

Western N.C. farms are disappearing
"Western North Carolina lost more than 1,700 tobacco farms between 2002 and 2007, and the region as a whole lost farms at a higher rate than the state," says the Citizen-Times.

"That's according to the 2007 Agriculture Census recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and an analysis done by Charlie Jackson, executive director of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project in Asheville. While the news is striking, it's not all grim.

" 'The fact that over 1,700 farmers stopped growing tobacco but the region only lost less than 700 farms means that most former tobacco farmers are growing other things,' Jackson said. 'There are opportunities for farmers to make the transition from tobacco.' ..."




Poultry power coming to N.C.
"A company that generates electricity by burning poultry litter plans to build a $150 million plant that will employ 100 workers in Montgomery County," according to the News & Record.

"Fibrowatt, a Pennsylvania company, said Tuesday it will build the plant on 140 acres near Biscoe, off Interstate 73/74, about 50 miles south of Greensboro.

"Fibrowatt will be the largest industrial project in Montgomery County history, said Judy Stevens, executive director of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. ...

"The company built its first U.S. plant in Minnesota. The plants burn poultry litter, which is manure from chickens or turkeys along with the bedding, usually wood shavings.

"Fibrowatt found out about Montgomery County more than three years ago when a local poultry grower met Fibrowatt officials at a meeting in Delaware, Stevens said, where they told him they were interested in building three plants in North Carolina.

"After talks began, researchers at N.C. State mapped the parts of North Carolina with the heaviest concentration of poultry farms.

"Montgomery, Stanley and Moore counties had the highest concentration in central North Carolina, Stevens said. ..."


(Chickens photo from trainingreference.com)

Monday, February 09, 2009

North Carolina basketball report (6)

Wednesday’s games
North Carolina 101, Duke 87 | boxscore
N.C. State 82, Wake Forest 76 | boxscore
UNC Asheville 87, Gardner-Webb 78 (OT) | boxscore

Saturday’s games
High Point 61, Gardner-Webb 57 | boxscore
Western Carolina 89, Appalachian State 84 | boxscore

Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology: Bracket | Video

Rankings (results through Sunday’s games)
RPI rankings, team (overall record, record vs. North Carolina teams)

Duke lost to Clemson on Wednesday by 24 points — and the Blue Devils are still No. 1 in the RPI. But the Tigers are No. 8, and the RPI doesn’t care how badly a team loses. | boxscore

Only five of the 19 North Carolina schools have winning records.

1. Duke (20-3, 3-1)
Last week: 1
Bracketology: No. 2 seed in the West, vs. Patriot League champion
beat UNC Asheville, Davidson, N.C. State
lost to Wake Forest

Duke’s loss to Clemson was its worst since the national championship in 1990, when UNLV beat the Blue Devils by 30 points.

Then there’s the legend of Speedo Guy, 2003.

6. North Carolina (20-2, 2-1)
Last week: 4
Bracketology: No. 1 seed in the Midwest, vs. MEAC champion
beat UNC Asheville, N.C. State
lost to Wake Forest

Tyler Hansbrough: 22.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, .529 2-point percentage and .843 free throw percentage

Ty Lawson: seventh in assists (6.6).

14. Wake Forest (18-3, 6-0)
Last week: 14
Bracketology: No. 2 seed in the East, vs. Big South champion
beat N.C. Central, UNC Wilmington, Winston-Salem State,
East Carolina, North Carolina, Duke

50. Davidson (19-4, 5-1)
Last week: 30
Bracketology: No. 8 seed in the West, vs. Utah
beat N.C. State, Appalachian State, Elon, Western Carolina,
UNC Greensboro
lost to Duke

College of Charleston beat Davidson 77-75 on Saturday, ending the Wildcats’ 43-game Southern Conference winning streak and dropping them 20 spots in the rankings. | boxscore

Stephen Curry: 28.7 points, 6.2 assists, 2.88 steals, .530 2-point percentage, .380 3-point percentage and .865 free throw percentage

Curry: first in scoring, sixth in steals.

115. N.C. State (12-9, 5-3)
Last week: 102
beat High Point, UNC Greensboro, Winston-Salem State,
East Carolina, N.C. Central
lost to Davidson, Duke, North Carolina

156. Gardner-Webb (8-12, 2-1)
Last week: 189
beat Western Carolina, High Point
lost to UNC Asheville

161. East Carolina (9-10, 3-2)
Last week: 192
beat Campbell, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro
lost to N.C. State, Wake Forest

Brock Young: first in assists (7.8).

167. UNC Charlotte (8-14, 1-1)
Last week: 193
beat UNC Greensboro
lost to Appalachian State

195. UNC Asheville (8-13, 3-3)
Last week: 226
beat Western Carolina, Gardner-Webb, High Point
lost to Campbell, North Carolina, Duke

206. Western Carolina (10-11, 2-4)
Last week: 229
beat UNC Greensboro, Elon
lost to Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville, Appalachian State, Davidson

242. Appalachian State (9-12, 5-3)
Last week: 268
beat UNC Charlotte, Campbell, Elon (2), Western Carolina
lost to UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, Davidson

245. Elon (5-14, 0-5)
Last week: 252
lost to Appalachian State (2), Western Carolina, Davidson,
UNC Greensboro

254. UNC Wilmington (6-19, 2-2)
Last week: 276
beat Appalachian State, N.C. Central
lost to Wake Forest, East Carolina

268. Campbell (8-13, 1-2)
Last week: 295
beat UNC Asheville
lost to East Carolina, Appalachian State

280. N.C. A&T (7-13, 1-0)
Last week: 309
beat Winston-Salem State

312. UNC Greensboro (3-18, 2-5)
Last week: 328
beat Appalachian State, Elon
lost to UNC Charlotte, N.C. State, East Carolina, Western Carolina,
Davidson

315. Winston-Salem State (4-15, 1-3)
Last week: 320
beat N.C. Central
lost to Wake Forest, N.C. State, N.C. A&T

333. High Point (3-17, 1-3)
Last week: 332
beat N.C. Central
lost to N.C. State, Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville

339. N.C. Central (1-22, 0-5)
Last week: 340
lost to Wake Forest, UNC Wilmington, High Point,
Winston-Salem State, N.C. State

Only Sacramento State, Southern, Alcorn State and NJIT are worse.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

The Avett Brothers: The most 'Carolinian' of bands?

North Carolina can lay claim to its fair share of noteworthy musicians over the years. Just off the top of my head I can think of James Taylor, Doc Watson, Randy Travis, Ryan Adams, Tori Amos, Ben Folds, The Connells, Petey Pablo, Corrossion of Conformity, and a slew of American Idols or almost-Idols. Not too bad, and I'm sure I'm missing some other important ones.

But perhaps no artist of note "name drops" North Carolina as much as Concord's The Avett Brothers. Heck, the band has albums titled A Carolina Jubilee and The Robbinsville Sessions.

Among their many songs are a series of songs about "pretty girls" from such places as Raleigh, Matthews and even Locust. They sing about "40 East," and "Greenville Town." They even mention relaxing on the shores of Lake Junaluska.

This trio -- made up of brothers Seth & Scott Avett along with Bob Crawford -- were recently name-dropped themselves by "Marley & Me" author John Grogan in Time. "It is impossible not to grin while listening to this infectiously upbeat blend of folk, rock and bluegrass, all played on acoustic instruments and with whimsical, witty lyrics to boot," wrote Grogan.

(Emotionalism cover and Ryan Adams photo from Wikipedia.com)

Monday, February 02, 2009

North Carolina basketball report (5)

This week’s schedule
Monday: Davidson 89, Western Carolina 65 | boxscore
Tuesday: N.C. State 87, N.C. Central 59 | boxscore
Thursday: Davidson 75, UNC Greensboro 54 | boxscore
Saturday: Appalachian State 77, Elon 63 | boxscore

Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology: Bracket | Video

Rankings (results through Sunday’s games)
RPI rankings, team (overall record, record vs. North Carolina teams)

Duke lost at Wake Forest but kept the top stop, and 14 of the 19 North Carolina schools rank in the bottom half of the RPI.

1. Duke (19-2, 3-1)
Last week: 1
Bracketology: No. 1 seed in the Midwest, vs. MEAC champion
beat UNC Asheville, Davidson, N.C. State
lost to Wake Forest

4. North Carolina (18-2, 2-1)
Last week: 7
Bracketology: No. 1 seed in the West, vs. Patriot League champion
beat UNC Asheville, N.C. State
lost to Wake Forest

Tyler Hansbrough: 22.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, .547 2-point percentage and .843 free throw percentage

Ty Lawson: seventh in assists (6.5).

14. Wake Forest (17-2, 6-0)
Last week: 12
Bracketology: No. 2 seed in the South, vs. Big South champion
beat N.C. Central, UNC Wilmington, Winston-Salem State,
East Carolina, North Carolina, Duke

30. Davidson (17-3, 3-1)
Last week: 37
Bracketology: No. 9 seed in the East, vs. Ohio State
beat N.C. State, Appalachian State, Elon
lost to Duke

Stephen Curry: 29.0 points, 6.4 assists, 2.90 steals, .542 2-point percentage, .379 3-point percentage and .868 free throw percentage

Curry: first in scoring, 10th in assists, seventh in steals.

102. N.C. State (11-8, 4-3)
Last week: 110
beat High Point, UNC Greensboro, Winston-Salem State, East Carolina
lost to Davidson, Duke, North Carolina

189. Gardner-Webb (7-11, 2-1)
Last week: 180
beat Western Carolina, High Point
lost UNC Asheville

192. East Carolina (7-10, 3-2)
Last week: 166
beat Campbell, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro
lost to N.C. State, Wake Forest

Brock Young: first in assists (8.0).

193. UNC Charlotte (7-13, 1-1)
Last week: 193
beat UNC Greensboro
lost to Appalachian State

226. UNC Asheville (6-13, 3-3)
Last week: 203
beat Western Carolina, Gardner-Webb, High Point
lost to Campbell, North Carolina, Duke

229. Western Carolina (9-9, 2-3)
Last week: 234
beat UNC Greensboro, Elon
lost to Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville, Appalachian State

252. Elon (4-13, 0-4)
Last week: 281
lost to Appalachian State, Western Carolina, Davidson,
UNC Greensboro

268. Appalachian State (7-11, 4-3)
Last week: 255
beat UNC Charlotte, Campbell, Elon, Western Carolina
lost UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, Davidson

276. UNC Wilmington (5-18, 2-2)
Last week: 270
beat Appalachian State, N.C. Central
lost to Wake Forest, East Carolina

295. Campbell (7-12, 1-2)
Last week: 305
beat UNC Asheville
lost to East Carolina, Appalachian State

309. N.C. A&T (5-13, 1-0)
Last week: 280
beat Winston-Salem State

320. Winston-Salem State (3-14, 1-3)
Last week: 330
beat N.C. Central
lost to Wake Forest, N.C. State, N.C. A&T

328. UNC Greensboro (2-17, 2-4)
Last week: 322
beat Appalachian State, Elon
lost to UNC Charlotte, N.C. State, East Carolina, Western Carolina

332. High Point (2-16, 1-3)
Last week: 333
beat N.C. Central
lost to N.C. State, Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville

340. N.C. Central (1-21, 0-4)
Last week: 338
lost to Wake Forest, UNC Wilmington, High Point,
Winston-Salem State

Only Southern, Alcorn State and NJIT are worse.

Nothin' could be finer ...

If you grew up in North Carolina (and probably in South Carolina too, I would suspect), then your elementary school's music class probably sung the ditty "Carolina in the Morning" at least once or twice.

The song is one of those tunes like "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (or even "America The Beautiful" or "This Land is Your Land," for that matter) that we seemed to sing at least once a week in 4th or 5th grade but that I've rarely heard a note of since.

The chorus is one that most people, even non-Carolinians, seem to know: "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning/No one could be sweeter than my sweetie when I meet her in the morning." But how many people actually know the melody and the words to the rest of it?

Well, here they are, the words at least. (For the melody, here's Al Jolson doing it way back when.) This way, if someone asks you to belt out "Carolina in the Morning," you have no excuse.

(from Wikipedia)

First verse
Wishing is good time wasted,
Still it's a habit they say;
Wishing for sweets I've tasted,
That's all I do all day.
Maybe there's nothing in wishing,
But speaking of wishing I'll say:

Chorus
Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning,
No one could be sweeter than my sweetie when I meet her in the morning.
Where the morning glories
Twine around the door,
Whispering pretty stories
I long to hear once more.
Strolling with my girlie where the dew is pearly early in the morning,
Butterflies all flutter up and kiss each little buttercup at dawning,
If I had Aladdin's lamp for only a day,
I'd make a wish and here's what I'd say:
Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning.

Second verse
Dreaming was meant for nighttime,
I live in dreams all the day;
I know it's not the right time,
But still I dream away.
What could be sweeter than dreaming,
Just dreaming and drifting away.
(Repeat Chorus)