The conference's TV contracts are in place through the end of the 2010-11 academic year. Any serious tinkering with the ACC's schedules will come when the TV deals expire, so that the conference can maximize the financial payoff of its changes.
The conference feels that they don't want to give away extra games for free.
After all, they know that the ACC is still damn good TV. Five of the top ten college hoops games on ESPN involved at least one ACC team. The second North Carolina-Duke game was ESPN's highest rated game -- ever. As for football, Clemson-Florida State was the World Wide Leader's top rated college game ... while Boston College-Virginia Tech was ESPN's highest rated Thursday game -- ever.
If you have watched the ACC tournament, you have been endured to this video above. It is some dude standing in a gym singing about the ACC in Charlotte.
"Wearing the colors proud-ly!"
This has been one of the worst intros in the history of intros. Not only is it grating but it sticks in your head long after the fact. My wife and I ran a few errands and I caught myself singing "representing the ACC in Charlotte". I think she wanted to slap me.
Thank god the tournament is over and that we don't have to be subjected to it again. As someone who lived most of my life in Charlotte, that song sucked beyond belief. If you live in Charlotte (which my family still does) then you weren't subjected to any of this. You got to see the WBTV broadcast of the game and ESPN was blacked out. So, watch above and get ready to cringe.
Speedo Guy III came and went in the UNC-Duke rivalry ... and hopefully he will never come back.
ESPN spent all day on its family of networks showing a feature on the original Speedo Guy. He was a Duke grad student who, back in 2003, stripped down to his skivvies and danced while UNC's Jackie Manuel shot (and missed) two free throws.
ESPN thought it'd be neat to do a feature on his which saw Speedo Guy (who is now a minister), Jackie Manuel and Mike Krzyzewski (who said that no one should ever do that again) discussing the incident. No one listened because Speedo Guy II appeared in 2005 while UNC's Marvin Williams shot (and missed) two free throws.
ESPN's Reece Davis noted that UNC has missed all free throws that Speedo Guy has danced to. Trap set. As you can see in the video above, the bait was taken.
Hard to believe that it has been 15 years since those magical first ESPY awards when former NC State coach Jim Valvano gave his famous "Don't Give Up" speech. Back on March 3, 1993, Jimmy V stood in front of a packed house to accep the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award when he gave his now legendary speech.
"To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."
"Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all."
Valvano would pass away less than two months later.
A lot of college basketball fans think that ESPN is far too favorable toward North Carolina and, especially, Duke, on its college basketball broadcasts. Dick Vitale, in particular, draws criticism for treating Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski as though he's not just the greatest coach in human history but the greatest man in human history.
Last week's Duke-North Carolina game drew a 2.1 cable rating for ESPN, making it ESPN's highest-rated regular season college basketball game in more than a year. And that high rating was despite having the game blacked out on ESPN in most of ACC country.
The last time ESPN did better than a 2.1 rating for regular season college hoops, it was also a North Carolina game, against Ohio State in November of 2006. Fans of Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, SEC and Pac 10 teams may not like it, but as long as the ACC delivers the biggest ratings, the ACC's top teams will be on TV more than Leave it to Beaver reruns.
Around the country, fans will see the return of ESPN's Dick Vitale to announcing when Duke takes on North Carolina on Wednesday. Either you are excited to see him back ... or a bit bent that you have to hear all that pent up emotion just waiting to explode. The fact that he will be paired up with Mike Patrick might just make you want to watch the game with the sound off.
Maybe you rather be in ACC country? In ACC markets, the game will be carried by Raycom sports ... who will have Tim Brando (of "the iron unkind" fame) and Billy Packer calling the game. In those markets, ESPN's coverage will be blacked out and ESPNews will be shown instead. No Vitale for you!
Who would you rather listen to: Dickie V waxing poetic about Duke, Michaelangelo (aka, Dean Smith) and the rivalry? Or Billy Packer ... who hates everything?
Kudos to Awful Announcing for this video, demonstrating the ridiculous flops from Duke point guard Greg Paulus against Florida State:
But even more ridiculous than Paulus was the reaction from ESPN's Mike Patrick, who acted as if Florida State had put out a hit on Paulus. Apparently ESPN hasn't issued Patrick his BS detector.
A scope and analysis of Vitale's throat by Dr. Steven Zeitels in Boston revealed that the broadcaster has recovered sufficiently after the removal of the non-cancerous lesions.
"I was in tears when he asked me to speak my first words since the surgery," Vitale wrote in a letter to fans. "Believe me, it was very difficult to go 3½ weeks without speaking! When he had me count to 10, I was so relieved."
It seems a fitting comeback game for Vitale, who is mocked as "Dookie V" and also glowing of North Carolina to return to action. He does most of the UNC-Duke games over the years and has been part of some of the most memorable calls in this memorable series.
It's been pretty evident for the past half century or so now that Duke University doesn't really care about their football program, or the fact that they have steadily become what is possibly the worst "BCS League" program in the country. It hasn't been anything blatant, but just a steady neglect that has slowly rotted away the foundation of what used to be a proud and successful program. Duke basketball is obviously the lifeblood of the athletic department and the top dog in the school's sports food chain. It's going to draw the attention of all the fans and the vast majority of the media coverage (seriously - can you remember the last time you read a Duke football story other than "look at Duke's football team, aren't they terrible"?).
This weekend though, Coach K made the irrelevance of the football team as clear as it could be when Duke's annual Blue v. White basketball scrimmage was played in an overlapping time slot with Duke football's visit to Florida State. Even Duke fans thought this was a bit much, as it would have been very easy for the basketball team to play earlier in the day (the scrimmage had originally been scheduled for 1pm and was later bumped to 7pm) and not force fans to choose between hoops and pigskin. Look, I know the vast majority of the fans didn't care and wouldn't have watched, but at least the athletic department and the basketball coaching staff could have pretended that football mattered in the slightest bit. Instead, it's just another step by Coach K and Duke athletic director Joe Alleva that makes it more than clear that the only reason Duke football still exists even in it's abortive form is because the ACC won't allow membership without it.
(biggest surprise out of all of this ... Duke has football fans, and they are pissed!)
A lot of college basketball fans think that ESPN is far too favorable toward North Carolina and, especially, Duke, on its college basketball broadcasts. 
Around the country, fans will see the return of ESPN's 
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It's been pretty evident for the past half century or so now that 
