It is highly, highly unlikely that the above smile from John Swofford is authentic.
How do we know this? Because it was captured during one of those football ACC title games in 2007 or 2008 between Virginia Tech and Boston College that were witnessed in person by an embarrassingly low number of fans.
So the man has a good poker face ... or a good politician face ... or whatever. But today, Swofford probably has genuine permagrin as a result of what's happened thus far in the NCAA Tournament.
Duke, UNC and N.C. State are all in the Sweet 16 together for just the fourth time ever. The last time that happened on Tobacco Road was 2005. (The other years were 1986 and 1989.) The ACC as a whole is also having a fine tournament, though counting newbies Notre Dame and Louisville as ACC teams gives me the willies.
However, expansion is here to stay, so the ACC ended up a staggering 11-1 for the opening rounds and will send five teams to the Sweet 16, by far the most of any conference and tied for the most in history with the 2009 Big East (though that league had 16 teams compared to the ACC's 15). Only No. 2 seed Virginia bowed out early.
That's more like it, Swoffie...
A few Monday links:
-- Here's the story on Roy Williams and North Carolina finding relief and joy in their run to the Round of 16.
Williams spoke of losing Seagroves and Smith and his "big-time buddy," popular ESPN personality and UNC alum Stuart Scott, who in January also died of cancer. Williams spoke of Mitch Kupchak, the Los Angeles Lakers general manager and former UNC player whose 15-year-old daughter died in January.
At times this season basketball might not have meant as much to Williams. And yet it meant so much.
"It's been a hard year, it really has," he said. "I probably acted sillier in the locker room after this game than I have in quite a while. I'm going to try to enjoy the dickens out of this one for a while tonight."
Williams didn't elaborate. He didn't explain what "acted sillier" meant, but he has been known after significant victories to dance with his players, or to jump around with them as if in a mosh pit.
He said he hoped the cameras weren't inside the locker room to capture the moment.
The players sitting next to him after Saturday's victory - Justin Jackson, Marcus Paige and J.P. Tokoto - were asked to describe what it meant for Williams to have "acted sillier," but they wouldn't budge, either.
-- David Teel writes on Virginia's "underachieving" postseason.
Malcolm Brogdon's summation of Virginia's basketball season was brief, harsh and accurate, presented in a monotone that offered but a glimpse of the anger that most certainly brewed inside.
"Successful during the regular season," Brogdon said without a trace of emotion early Sunday afternoon. "Underachieving in the postseason."
-- Florida State football could face Mississippi, Alabama and Auburn in consecutive seasons.
As Florida State moves closer to securing a neutral-site game with Alabama to open the 2017 season, the Seminoles now are in the beginning stages of working on a deal to play Auburn the next year.
The Alabama game, as first reported four months ago by the Palm Beach Post, would open the season and be played in Atlanta. Although the schools are not close to making an announcement, talks are progressing and a contract is expected to be signed, according to a source.
FSU and Auburn are in the early stages of working out a game for 2018 to be played in Jacksonville, a source confirmed. The Seminoles already are schedule to play at Notre Dame that year.
If contracts are signed for both games, FSU would be playing three consecutive neutral site games against SEC teams. The Seminoles and Mississippi are set to open the 2016 season in Orlando on Labor Day.
-- In his Monday Morning Quarterback, Peter King sits down with Roger Goodell and talks about a bunch of other stuff.
-- Richard Dietsch with his weekly media column at SI, touching on Grant Hill's growing pains as an announcer:
Grant Hill, who was elevated to the top team with little experience, is clearly a work-in-progress. CBS/Turner knew Hill would have some growing pains on the air, and we've seen that. Too often, he came off like a guest breaking up a two-man party between Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery, and a cliché-sprouting guest at that as this Richard Sandomir piece pointed out. He's also not helped by a soft voice when the crowd noise is great. Hill will get better. His colleagues say he's committed about getting direction, and not surprisingly, he's well-liked by the staff given his affable nature, though you might not recognize that until next year's tournament.
The 10 highest-rated TV markets through Sunday:
1. Louisville
2. Dayton
3. Cincinnati
4. Columbus, OH
5. Indianapolis
6. Raleigh-Durham
7. Greensboro
8. Kansas City
9. Richmond-Petersburg
10. Memphis
-- And Vic Beasley is honored with his number retirement in his hometown.
The baskets were raised to the top of the Adairsville High gym ceiling Friday afternoon, and it was probably for the best.
Vic Beasley, who notoriously busted two backboards with dunks during his high school basketball playing days at Adairsville, was back at his old stomping grounds at AHS.
However, Beasley was not there to showcase his jaw-dropping athleticism like he had done time and time again with the Tigers. Beasley, who will likely be a first round pick in the NFL Draft on April 30, was on hand to be honored by Adairsville as he had his No. 3 jersey retired and had the day proclaimed Vic Beasley Jr. Day by Mayor Pro Tem Buddy Bagley.
"It's an honor. It's a blessing to be in the position that I'm in now. I'm very thankful for the things that God has done in my life, and I'm just very blessed," Beasley said of the ceremony. "Growing up, I always dreamed of playing in the NFL and I was hoping to see that dream come true and, obviously, retiring my jersey kind of comes with that. So I'm very blessed and thankful to be in this position."
LW
This post was edited on 3/23 9:07 AM by Larry_Williams
