 |
||||||||||||
Greetings Packsmack is up and running for 2011. Please feel free to explore all the icons and get up to speed with everything surrounding my latest adventures. I had to tweak the site and get it ready for some future additions....and that includes an announcement about a future program which should take place sometime later this week. Of course, you've come to the right place to find out anything and everything that I'm doing this year. You can also get daily updates from me on my twitter account (MarkPacker). I still have a bunch of stuff in the works, including new radio and television shows, speaking engagements and numerous corporate functions. As I pointed out in countless individual emails and on this site...it takes time to get everything in place. Like I did during my 13-year stint with CBS Radio, I've answered every email....so you can certainly find me if you have a question. I'll just warn you that I don't always have an answer. I wish I had a magic wand to produce the results that you've requested....but life isn't that easy. While all this is going on, my family and I have been through the fun and frolic of moving. What a pain in the &*(&^%....but in the long run, it will be worth it. Our home is going under a complete demolition and reconstruction, so we've packed our stuff and moved into an apartment. We're not moving from Charlotte, unless something bizarre and unexpected happens....but when you pack every single belonging you have and watch it go into either storage or a new abode...it doesn't matter if you're moving across the street, or across the country. Oh, joy. I can honestly tell you, we've never been closer. Most of our stuff is in storage and we're living the good life for the next 10 months while our house is built. How can anybody ask for a more exciting first couple of weeks of 2011 than what I've been through already....and it's just the beginning. I told myself that I was going to enjoy the journey this year, and I've already put my resolve to the test. Enough of the personal stuff.....here's my take on some of the latest sports news from the new year: This year is the worst collection of ACC basketball teams that I've seen in my lifetime. I've given this a lot of thought, but it's not even close. I've never experienced ACC hoops being this bad and boring. I know the ACC coaches love to talk about a media bias towards the league when it comes to teams not getting NCAA Tourney bids, but based on what I've witnessed this year, the league will be very fortunate to land a handful of teams. I know we're barely halfway through January, but here's the deal: Duke is a really good team....and with a healthy Kyrie Irving, they are by far the best team in the country. However, Irving is not healthy and doesn't appear to be heading back to the line-up anytime soon. With that being said, the Blue Devils are still plenty good and should be a factor in the big picture. The rest of the league is "iffy", at best. Florida State can be impressive...but Leonard Hamilton's guys can also lose to Auburn....who, by the way, is atrocious. UNC has a bunch of good-looking athletes, but there is something missing with Roy Williams' squad. Inconsistent backcourt, inconsistent shooting and the national hype of Harrison Barnes is embarrassing. Virginia Tech is beat-up....N.C. State has been a dog so far, but the return of Tracy Smith has to help matters.....Maryland is average at best.....and Boston College is still a forgotten member of the conference. Anybody afraid of Clemson, Virginia or Miami? I didn't think so. Georgia Tech and Wake Forest are awful. Add it all up, and it is the worst year ever for the ACC in hoops. As ridiculed as the conference is in football (and rightfully so), at least there were four teams in the final Top 25 poll.....I'm hard-pressed to believe that the hoopsters will be able to make that claim. The ACC is so far behind the Big East, Big 10 and Big XII, it's not even funny. Only the Pac-10 looks as incompetent, and that's because they don't have anybody as good as Duke. I hope some teams improve overnight and give us something to talk about.....otherwise, this is a year to forget....unless you live in Durham. The Panthers hired Ron Rivera. Yawn. Don't get me wrong; I hope Rivera does well. I've enjoyed reading up on his background and he does appear to bring some positives to the Carolina franchise. But all of the "rah-rah" stuff means little, until he takes his line-up and beats people consistently. The fans, players and owner are demanding that it takes place ASAP. After the 2-14 joke of a season in 2010, the team can't be worse.....can they? After following Jerry Richardson's press conference a few weeks ago and listening to the Panther brain-trust talk about how hiring an assistant coach as the head coach turned out to be a "good thing" for the team, I wondered why they were even having the press conference? If it is such a good thing, why do you find yourself in this position of being the worst team in the league looking for another coach? I like John Fox and thought he did a solid job....but he couldn't produce back-to-back winning seasons in Carolina. Neither did Dom Capers and the same goes for George Seifert. The Panthers have never had back-to-back winning seasons......so how could any GM or owner claim that hiring an assistant coach has proved to be a good thing for the franchise? So, the Panthers have now hired another lifetime assistant coach to lead the way. I'll hold judgement on Rivera.....he should be given time to weave his magic in Charlotte. I want him to be successful......but there is a reason most fans are hesitant about being overly excited with the hire. By the way, Rivera should have announced that he will select Nick Fairley from Auburn with the first pick of the NFL Draft before even completing his staff. Speaking of Auburn football, congrats to the Tigers...errr....War Eagles...all I know is that the SEC has now won the last 5 BCS national titles. That's ridiculously good. The SEC is now 7-0 in BCS national title games, and when you realize that includes wins by Tennessee, LSU, Florida, Alabama and now Auburn....it makes it even more impressive. I still contend that the SEC was down this past year in football....it wasn't as good from top to bottom as it has been in years past. The 5-5 bowl record points that out, but it should also be noted that all five wins came after January 1st. I'm already looking forward to the season openers....which includes Oregon at LSU. As you know, I'm a huge San Francisco Giants baseball fan and I'm still living the dream (with all due respect to MLK, Jr.), with my guys winning the World Series back in November. I read that Showtime has decided to follow my guys around for the '11 season and produce a documentary. Given all the characters on this team, and the fact that nobody this side of the Bay Area expects them to repeat, I have a feeling that it will be highly entertaining. I just hope that Showtime can live up to the standards of NFL Films, HBO and ESPN with their behind-the-scenes account of the upcoming season. By the way, pitchers and catchers report in five weeks. The NFL Playoff weekend delivered the ouster of both #1 seeds......go figure, that New England and Atlanta were one-and-done in the post-season. Of course, it seems like it is the norm these days in the NFC, where the top seed has been eliminated in three of the last four years during the divisional round of the playoffs. Last year, the Saints were the top seed and they won the Super Bowl.....but the other top seeds in the NFC have been kicked to the curb in recent memory. You know Rex Ryan and his trash-talking Jets loved sticking it to Belichick & Brady. It ain't bragging if you can back it up, and the Jets did just that. I didn't think the NFL Playoffs were anything special....the games really lacked great drama, with the exception of the Steelers-Ravens tilt. Those two teams always seem to play entertaining, tight games. Hopefully, we'll get a pair of good ones on Sunday.....and I think we will. Jets-Steelers......Bears-Packers. Cold....outdoor football.....tough defenses....and a ton at stake. What is there not to like about both games? These NFL games are kind of a microcosm of college basketball these days.....all the power teams are in the Northeast and Midwest. Forget the South and the West.....we'll all just kick back and watch everybody else have fun. |
|
|||||||||||
