Jim Boeheim stopped yelling at kids to get off his lawn long enough to make a half-assed peace offering to Greensboro on WSJS. But even then the Syracuse coach repeated a couple of his dumber ideas about why the ACC tournament, in which he is now 0-for-3, should abandon its traditional home court: “It’s about what is the best place in terms of getting exposure and getting near recruits, and those are the major cities.”

Exposure? Maybe back when players wore canvas shoes, but in the era of ESPN and the internet, no.

And recruits and their parents all across this big country have the iPhones and the televisions too, so, also, no. (Even in the days when print was king and the tournament never left North Carolina, great players from New York somehow found out about the league.)

But what about the original claim by Boeheim, who has never won an ACC tournament game, that there isn’t much talent around Greensboro in the first place?

I put together an all-time starting five from the Triad: Chris Paul, Lou Hudson, Bob McAdoo, Danny Manning, and Curly Neal. (Shout out to my favorite current Tar Heel, Theo Pinson, and my friend Wayne Robinson). 

Let the list cover the state of North Carolina and it quickly gets very long and very deep (including a strong candidate for college GOAT, David Thompson, and overall GOAT Michael Jordan).

Anyway, Sydney and I went to the semis last night in Brooklyn. It was exciting to emerge from the subway and see that cool new arena, and the Barclays Center was a nice place to watch a ballgame (at least until the Tar Heels hairballed up that fat lead). I didn’t even mind taking out a mortgage to pay for our hot dogs and beers, but the overall vibe had no more to do with ACC tradition than the pre-expansion players from Louisville and Miami who were inducted at halftime as league legends. It felt sterile and corporate and deracinated.  

I am not at all unbiased. As a GSO native and life-long ACC basketball fan, I believe deeply that the tourney should be held in our coliseum with great regularity. North Carolina is the geographic center of the conference, and has more schools in the league than any other state. Greensboro is a great host, and tradition matters, and, too, I have won exactly as many ACC tourney games as Jim Boeheim.

Comments

[Richard Beard]

Thank you Mayor Cone! Although last nights UNC vs Duke game had the energy of an ACC tournament, many of the other games have been less than energized. I have enjoyed being in NYC this weekend but will choose another time to return rather than next year's ACC tournament.

I must say, Mr. Boeheim s comments have certainly helped GSO's position as the best place to host this championship. Now if we can just get our knucklehead legislators to repeal HB2 so we can get back to more important business and to showcase our great State and City again.

[Roch Smith, Jr.]

Does the transitive property of knuckleheadedness apply to those who made campaign contributions to the supporters of HB2?

[G smith]

What was more disappointing was watching a second round game (UNC -Miami) in a half empty gym. When was the last time either of those teams played in a half empty gym? Even the Syracuse fan i spoke to in the bathroom line was embarrassed by BoeheimS comments. Let's move back to GSO!

[Ed Cone]

And as has been pointed out on FB, NY media coverage has been underwhelming.

[Harrison Turner]

As evidenced by the under attended earlier games and the under reported event in New York press, the tournament should be played MOST of the time where MOST of the fans are and MOST of the media is engaged. Unfortunately, with our legislators lack of knowledge of "transgender" and unwillingness to work for the good of the state, we probably will not see it return soon.

[john hayes]

Can't touch this...played at least 2 yrs high school in NC
David Thompson
Dominique Wilkins
Michael Jordan
Pistol Pete
Steph Curry
Chris Paul
Bob McAdoo
Eric Sleepy Floyd
James Worthy
Danny Manning
Buck Williams
Brad Daugherty
Lou Hudson
Cornbread Maxwell
ML Carr
Antwan Jameson
Rodney Rodgers
Phil Ford
John Lucas
Bobby Jones
Tommy Burleson
Curly Neal

[Ed Cone]

John asked me to add a couple of names to his list: Walter Davis and Jerry Stackhouse.
And to build on the NY-to-NC connection mentioned above, just at UNC you could build a team around Kenny Smith, Danny Green, Charlie Scott, Larry Brown, and Mitch Kupchak...

[Billy Jones]

Seriously, I rebutted this before you wrote it. You've given us no reason why it is to the advantage of the ACC to remain in Greensboro">.

"For you see, my friends, as much as you dislike what I'm telling you, when Greensboro's leaders can give us reasons why Boeheim is wrong then we'll also have the reasons we need to keep the ACC tournament in Greensboro all the time and not have to share it with Atlanta or any other city."

But as you can see above, Ed Cone couldn't do it either.

Such is the problems of putting all of one's eggs in a single basket.

[Ed Cone]

I disagree that casual dismissals of a basketball coach's flippant remarks demand research and evidence, and as anyone paying attention to this well-worn topic knows, arguments on Greensboro's merits have been made many times in many places, but this brief rant does conclude with some actual reasons GSO should host: "North Carolina is the geographic center of the conference, and has more schools in the league than any other state. Greensboro is a great host, and tradition matters..."

[Billy Jones]

Ed Cone, you disagree, but like Greensboro's leaders can give us the reasons we need to keep the ACC tournament in Greensboro all the time and not have to share it with Atlanta or any other city.

You've fallen short. You see I've already rebutted that too:

"Well if HB 2 has taught us anything, it's that  rhetoric, fan loyalty, and lame excuses will not save Greensboro from economic ruin. The Greensboro Coliseum and downtown performing arts center could sell out 365 events a year and the rest of the city could still starve to death. Don't believe me? Ford Field in Detroit (Founded just 15 years ago)  is currently doing a $100 Million Dollar upgrade while the City of Detroit rots away around it.)"

I like Rabbits

I'm decades ahead of you, Eddie.

[Billy Jones]

DECADES!

[Ed Cone]

If you see Biff Tannen, tell him I say hi

[Billy Jones]

Sorry Ed Cone, you're still confused, I'm living in 2017, you're still in 1955: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biff_Tannen

And Biff never made it past 2015.

[Jonathan Jones]

@John Hayes

Indiana can touch that:

Oscar Robertson
Larry Bird
Shawn Kemp
Glenn Robinson
George McGinnis
John Wooden
Greg Oden
Kent Benson
Rick Fox
Eric Gordon
Slick Leonard
Zach Randolph
The Van Arsdale twins
Jeff Teague
Calbert Cheaney
Alan Henderson
Eric Montross
Vic Bubas
Bryce Drew
Sean May
Damon Bailey
Steve Alford
The Zeller brothers
The Plumlee brothers

[Ed Cone]

add Brendan Haywood to the GSO team.
that Indiana team is impressive, Big O and Larry Joe especially...

[Ed Cone]

UNC national champs. 3 starters from North Carolina, including Theo Pinson from Greensboro.

[liv]

Agreed, it should be here but not until we get our politics right. No candy till you eat your veggies.