Willowglen

I am a Duke alum. It is nowhere near the top for sports fans. Basketball is a unique experience, but there is a limited number of seats at Cameron (it was built as a copy of the Palestra in Philadelphia) and guys like me on athletic scholarship couldn’t invest my time camping for games. Football is an underwhelming experience, not up to Vandy level, and sports like men’s lacrosse, where they attract enormous talent, draw very little. When the NCAA football scheme consolidates to 40 or so teams, Duke may not be in the game. Dont get me wrong - Duke was a great no cost education for me, but it is a so-so environment for sports fans.

Your best coach ever was John McDonnell in xc and track. Never again will any coach win as many championships.

It wasn't only that his guys were great. They routinely over performed in NCAA's. The antithesis of chokers.

The Achilles heel with this lsu squad is Van Lith. Men or women tourney pls I’d about guard play. Van Lith has proven to be an undersized two guard. Walz at Louisville knew what he was doing by not having her play point.

This young woman is from Australia and doesn't have family here. One can be confident LSU will take care of her, but the team's stars need to step up and watch out for her. In a game against Auburn, I saw Ms Poa about as exhausted as a player can be, so she is a tough player and I hope she comes through.

EKG has nailed it. The initial payment will be paid by the Foundation, with later payouts intended to be paid by the athletic department. I would guess the Foundation may step in and pay some payments again.

Bahamian prisons are no joke. Conditions are very rough and the very nature of her alleged crime means alienation from her family. Not sure I have sympathy but if she was going to do this she should have found a way to do it in the YS.

Bennett is far more talented than his game manager label indicates. His receivers are bigger and stronger than TCU's, and he has a good line in front of him, but he makes throws into tight windows consistently.

Coaching is suspect this year for Clemson. They play in such a weak league, they would have been undefeated but for starting a non Division 1 level qb all year. The fake field goal is just another bad coaching look.

I just returned from New York on a business trip. There is actually a watering hole/bar on 44th Street near 2nd Avenue.A and M flags out front and yell leader photos and other similar photos inside. I stepped in, and the bar guy asked me if I was from Texas. I said no, but was fascinated why this place was three blocks from the UN. He said the owner is an Aggie, and the place hops in the fall. He did say they had some world series traffic. The SEC travels.

Arkansas just won yet another SEC track championship,continuing the legacy of the incomparable John McDonnell. Texas A and M catches a lot of flak here, but every year they have national and world class track athletes, making Arkansas' achievements even more impressive. I recognize track is not all that popular, but with teams like Arkansas, LSU, A and M, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Ole Miss the SEC is far and away the best in the nation. To give an example, the top two teams in the ,4 x 4 broke three minutes. There are only a handful of national teams in the world that can break 3 minutes! Some of the national level athletes were not highly recruited, showing that the SEC develops talent as well. 40 years ago I scored several times in the ACC. Even then, the SEC was better. Much respect.

This game is difficult to benchmark in terms of assessing how good UCLA may be. Hawaii's tackling and defense is along the lines of Connecticut's three years ago, where UConn was starting players who were barely above good high school levels.

Jay Bilas hit the nail on the head commenting on the Arizona State - Villanova game. He said that ASU was on paper longer and perhaps a bit quicker (Hurley can recruit), but that Villanove was superior because they played "older" - meaning good team defense, good shot selection, and a feel for dominating the game. I am not sure Kentucky could take the Villanova approach as the school is stuck with one and done's (and they get great talent), but Villanova shows what great coaching along with pretty good talent can do.

South Carolina’s team is a joy to watch. I am surprised they are so dominating after losing Herbert Harrigan - the best defensive player I have seen at the collegiate level.

If FSU does go 1-11 there will be extraordinary pressure to fire Taggart. But the only way that gets done is if Taggart messes up, such as a material compliance violation, and even then, it would have to be very material to sustain a breach of contract to exact a settlement to pay less than he is owed. Lots of misery, but Taggart probably stays for his initial contract term.

I wonder, too, about the challenge of fixing a woeful offensive l8ne. Even with superb recruiting, it could take years because the OL is not a place to start freshmen. How the line got to this stage is inexplicable to me at a place like FSU.

How one views LSU differs from the perspective of a stakeholder.

A serious and talented in-state student can do very well at LSU. On my last visit to Baton Rouge, my daughter and I met a delightful, polite and bright young African American woman from New Orleans majoring in Electrical Engineering on scholarship but also working her way through school for living expenses. I have no doubt she received a competent engineering education. And frankly representative of what one can find at a state flagship university. This of course is anecdotal, but the point remains - serious students can do well at any of the SEC schools, including LSU.

From the perspective of faculty and staff, LSU could likely be limiting for the best and brightest. They won’t consistently pay in the arms race for top faculty, and if one doesn’t obtain tenure, the next job can be difficult to obtain. If denied tenure at a Duke or Stanford, a professor can generally move on to a state flagship somewhere and succeed. A little tougher at LSU. But tenured professors at LSU likely have an enjoyable career -LSU is a major university.

From the perspective of in state residents, athletics provides great entertainment. I think the key is to use athletics as a springboard for economic development for the school. Clemson has done just that in the past view years.

LSU folks are friendly. I still wear the LSU Track T-shirt given to me decades ago while competing in Division 1 track and field. And while a Northerner by birth, kind gestures like that make me a bit of a fan.