It Must be March...
Posted March 1, 2006, 11:01 PM ET

Man, the weather is back in the 70's, and everybody is getting pumped for a great month of sports.

The CIAA Tournament is underway in the Queen City, and it is getting me ready for next week's ACC showdown in Greensboro. It is good to see everybody having a blast in the Queen City.

Charlotte looks to add to the party with the announcement of the NASCAR Hall of Fame next week....by the way, was there any other place for the "Hall" to be located? Charlotte is the natural pick and hopefully it will be a win-win for the city and for the race fans.

Back to hoops: Duke finally lost a conference game, this time to Florida State. I know, some people will say this will be a good thing for Coach K and his Blue Devils....nonsense. It is never good to lose....especially late in the season, when you need to be peaking for the tourney.

It needs to be noted that the "Duke gets all the calls" theory started back in early February when Duke beat Florida State in overtime by one point. In that game, Duke outshot FSU from the FT line, 43-11.

In the six ACC games that Duke has played since the controversial game with Florida State on February 4th, the Blue Devils have been called for a grand total of 3 fewer fouls and have shot only 3 more free throws. It seems to me, that Duke's conference games have been officiated in a different manner than the ones prior to the controversy. The numbers in both categories certainly point that out...(you can always check out the Infamous ACC Index Card)

In the loss to FSU on Wednesday night, Duke was outshot from the FT, 40-17. Same teams, same type of game...close, lead changes and the FT discrepancy in both games is impossible to explain.

Coach K made a statement this week that coaches don't influence referees during games and that when he's barking during the game, he's not "working the refs". In fact, he hates the phrase and it is not a matter of "working" the zebras.

I'm not buying it. Every coach "works the refs"...if not, then that coach is getting worked.

But I had two interesting calls into my radio show this week....One was Bobby Lutz, the coach of the Charlotte 49'ers. Lutz claimed that coaches are constantly woking the refs. He said the good refs will allow you to speak your mind and make your point...but for the most part they are in total control of the game.

Jay Bilas also called into the program and took a very different stance. Bilas claimed that he was upset at certain national broadcasters that claim that refs are being influenced by coaches such as Mike Krzyzewski. Bilas mentioned that the one announcer that made such a comment is former Maryland great Len Elmore.

During our discussion, Bilas said he believes that Coach K doesn't receive preferential treatment from referees. Bilas also believes that holds true for former UNC coach Dean Smith, too. For anybody that has watched ACC basketball since the glory days of David Thompson, Phil Ford, Michael Jordan, and even Jay Bilas...do you think it is possible that K and Dean got a call or two ?

I like the fact that Bilas was so passionate talking about the game of college basketball and taking up for the integrity of the refs and the basic principles of the game. But if you don't think UNC and Duke get the benefit of a call or two, you've got to be out of your mind.

The Panthers made some tough cuts as free agency gets cranked up...See ya later to Brentson Buckner, Stephen Davis and Rod Smart. It is just the start as the Panthers try to cut another $5-7 million from the cap.

By the way, I can't believe that the NFL and the Players' Association can't come to their senses and work out a deal...there have been too many examples of labor unrest in pro sports for the NFL to sacrifice billions and billions of dollars.

Enjoy the great weather and get ready for the Madness...it is going to be an awesome month.