...the Bible(along with the context in which it was written) tells me so

I think this is a great idea. First because it's an elective, so no one is being forced to do anything. So long as that remains the case, I wouldn't have too many problems with it being a full-on worship service.

But the really great thing about it is the fact that they'll be looking at the history of the Bible as well as the context in which it was written. I would have loved to have a class like that in my high school. I mean, Library Aid was a great elective and allowed Peter Bosman and myself to take countless Seventeen Magazine quizzes with Mrs. Covington, but I would have much rather been learning some important things about the book upon which so much of my faith is based.

Seriously. If more high schoolers had access to this kind of learning, maybe guys like Pat Robertson and James Dobson wouldn't have such a huge following. And that could only be good for Christianity and the world.

for the rest of you

Here are two questions that people that have no ties to NC State basketball might have:

1. Why would they fire Herb Sendek?
2. Why would they give Herb Sendek a parade?

That's about where people stand on our basketball coach.

Herb has his supporters. They see steady improvement. They think they owe him eternal gratitude for rescuing our beloved team from the Les Robinson era. They see decent recruiting. They see that Herb won ACC Coach of the Year once. They see 5 straight trips to the Big Dance. They see NC State in the top 25 more and more consistently. They see success, and they don't see how anyone could say otherwise. They have their points.

Then there are those who would rather see Herb move along. They see talented teams collapse in the final minutes of close games. They see a boring offense that relies on 3-pointers which routinely goes on scoring droughts. They see early exits from the NCAA tourney. They see a collection of embarrassing losses. They see that in 10 years Sendek has managed to beat Duke and Carolina 8 times, with a majority of those wins being at Carolina's expense during some of their darkest seasons. They see Atsur as next season's leader and tremble. They see a team that's better than bad, but still not good. They see "close, but no cigar" stamped on our beloved team. And they have their points.

I tend to side with the second group. Herb needs a change of scenery and NC State needs a basketball coach that can get them past the wall they currently are running up against. Where some see 20 win seasons, I'm looking at seasons with no quality wins. State has, under Sendek, netted 3 wins that are in any way memorable.

1. Last year's win that put us in Herb's only Sweet Sixteen.
2. A win one season before that over Duke that seemed to cement our status as a contender. Little did I know...
3. A win against then #1 UNC at the Dean Dome by a going nowhere NC State team in the 1997-1998 season, one of the highlights of my freshman year.

That's it. Each of those wins seem like distant memories when watching games like NC State vs. Iowa from earlier this year(the absolute worst event in the history of contested sport).

There are rumblings from the optimistic, though, that we should give Herb a big fat party. I've read on message boards and blogs that people are actually trying to put together a march of some sort to support the keeping of Sendek as head coach. A man whose greatest basketball achievement is one visit to the round of 16.

No matter who gets their way here, we're crazy.

I understand that Sendek isn't going anywhere. I understand that he'll be around next year, coaching a team that hoists up 3-pointers, doesn't rebound, and collapses hardest when the most is at stake. He'll do well enough for people to think I'm crazy to want him gone, but poorly enough for me to stay resolved in my assertion that we need a new coach and a new system. And I understand that next year around this time, the fans of NC State will be having the same "Should he stay or should he go" argument while 16 other teams prepare for some actual basketball.

All I have is to silently hope that Sendek is tempted by one of the upcoming college ball coaching slots. That, and to hope that a replacement would actually bring improvement.

March. Madness.

putting in the "mad"

Okay. I've had some time to calm down and reflect on yesterday's basketball happenings. I couldn't be happier for George Mason. And there's no team I'd rather see go out early than the University of North Carolina. They've been eulogized all morning on TV and radio as a team that was expected to have a hard season who rose to the occasion to achieve well beyond their and so on and so on and so on. Good for them. Better for George Mason.

NC State gets no eulogy from the sports media. We were there. We were hanging with Texas. After being blown out of the water in the opening minutes, we hit a run and brought it back close. But how?

With Gavin Grant and Cam Bennerman doing something unheard of in NC State basketball. They got their points two at a time instead of just heaving up ill-advised 3-point shots. Heck, Courtney Fells got in on the 2-points at a time game plan. It was working. Going to the basket was working. Had Sendek actually changed his gameplan in an effort to win a game?

Then suddenly, inexplicably, Bennerman and Grant are on the bench watching Evtimov and Atsur chuck the basketball at the hoop from section H again. And this, friends, is why many of the Wolfpack faithful are tired of the Herb Sendek years. Sure, it's nice to make the NCAA's 5 years in a row. But it's not nice to see the team constantly wilt when faced with a team that can be described as "good at basketball." It's also not too nice to be piling up some embarrassing losses each season as well.

NC State was shooting over 50% in the first half, mostly on the back of the "actually taking the ball to the hoop" stategy which was promptly abandoned. Want to know why the game wasn't even close? 3-for-22 from the three point line. A basketball coach might have told his players to knock it off. But Herb isn't a basketball coach. Herb's a nice guy. And nice guys let Evtimov stay on the court because he's a senoir. Nice guys don't care if you're making bad decisions. Nice guys don't care that you're not really that good at basketball. Nice guys don't care if you might be doing too much on an injured body. Nice guys only care that you're a senior.

Nice guys lose by 21 points.

March. Madness.

kablooie

For the first time in five years, my final two aren't going to be correct. I know this after the first day of play. That horrible moaning sound? That's my brackets experiencing a slow, painful death. Thanks a lot, Syracuse.

I think that Hayley Minter maybe has worse brackets than mine, but that's little consolation considering I watched a boat load of Sportscenter and she watched boatloads of Dora the Explora in preparation.

March. Madness.