No More Plumlees?

I noted several years ago that the degrees of separation between me and ACC Basketball were increasing exponentially. That has increased to leaps and bounds.

Of the three local teams’ “regulars” I only know one name – Marcus Paige. You could show me all the other names. I could not assign any of them to a team. Of the ACC coaches, yes I do know the local three and Boeheim and Pitino. That’s it. Wait, there’s Danny Manning at Wake and the UVa guy “left his heart in San Francisco”. I keep wanting to call Gottfried Mike rather than Mark. It IS “Mark” isn’t it?

I’m sure all involved will survive this disconnect.

Is my terminal “don’t care” tied to the Gladiator vs Spectator Chasm thing? Yes, without a doubt. Is it tied to TGU? Not really except to the degree that the Glad / Spec chasm is also a component of TGU.

Certainly the wholesale capitulation to One/Two & Done is a significant factor. The significant players are only going to be around a year or so, way too short a period to develop any connection with their own fans, not to mention with rival fans. Certainly no historical permanence. ACC Basketball used to be 100% about its history and certain players earning places in that history. That has gone the way of short shorts and Sail With The Pilot.

Players aren’t around long enough to love’em or hate’em. If one is prone to such strong emotions about 19-20 year old kids. Did anyone “hate” Kyrie Irving or Kendall Whoever or “that State kid” last year?

TIME-OUT: Look I know some of you are still “ardent” fans of ACC Basketball and follow it with the same fervor you have for decades. It still matters a lot to you. Thats fine….. Maybe you still can’t wait for the McRib to return each year. I’ve moved on.

Last season the only game I watched at least a half of was UNC @ NCSU. I tuned in just as the shoot-out duel between Paige and the State guy was heating up. That was “special”. No other game even thru The Final Four got more than “passing thru the room” attention from me. Based on this year so far I will log significantly fewer minutes.

I can read two paragraphs of a post-game summary and figure what some of you will be all bent-out-of-shape about. Same silly crap you were bent-out-of-shape about ten / twenty years ago. “The refs cheated us” and “That idiot Dick Vitale said _______”.

Its not just ACC / College Basketball. I don’t watch NFL games either. We get Red Zone and turn that on to catch highlights. Other than Cam Newton and Whatshisname the Linebacker in those commercials I can’t name a Panther.

Last years’ NBA Playoffs were fun. That means “the last 3-5 minutes of some games”. The Spurs’ run caught my interest. The Bobcats / Hornets…. where’s Muggsy Bogues and Dick Harter?

I DO still enjoy the color & pageantry of college football. I thought the CFP drama was intriguing. My only suggestion is do not rank the final four until the last week. Announce who the Four are each week starting in mid-October, but don’t rank them 1-2-3-4. That is what created the mess this year. IMO, oh-so-predictable Conspiracy Theories are the most fun about sports anyway.

And, I DO enjoy ESPN’s College Gameday. That is definitely the best production ESPN does.

I really enjoyed the MLB Playoffs last year. The Royals Cinderella Run was very cool. The absence of major market “juggernauts” was especially nice IMO.

College Baseball’s Road To Omaha is compelling IF a local team is involved. Two years ago that was VERY Cool!

I understand Royz Boys are playing before more/more/more empty seats in The DD although “the announced” attendance does not reflect reality. It never did. The disconnect to reality “over there” is pretty inclusive on all levels.

Do the Wolfpack outdraw the Hurricanes at PNC? “Mike” Gottfried keeps getting high recruiting grades but it doesn’t seem to matter. The Ws & Ls of the ACC teams doesn’t affect my disinterest. Nor does The Kentucky “Thing”. Again, I appreciate that many of you are affected by your team’s success or lack of. Most fans are. I’m not “most fans” for what thats worth.

Speaking of Hockey…. since the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup eight years ago, I cannot name a single other team that has won it.

PGA Tour? I might be able to name 5-6 guys, maybe. Does the Senior (Champions) Tour still exist? Is Hale Irvin still winning every other week? Which Oriental Who-her is the newest star of the LPGA? Do the same people watch the LPGA that watch the WNBA? Take that however you wish.

NASCAR? It’s down to a hard-core audience at best. Tracks are reducing seating capacity. I cannot imagine what NASCAR’s wizards of smarts can do to stop that decline.

OK, I appreciate that I am not any sports marketer’s target demographic any longer. I’m OK with that. I don’t buy merchandise and I definitely don’t buy tickets to games. Other than $5/month for Red Zone for three months, I don’t buy TV packages.

Keep coming up with NCIS spin-offs and I’ll be happy with my HDTV. If NCIS and Blue Bloods are not among your top four favorite TV shows, we probably don’t have much else in common either. AgentPierce uses that as a key factor in even having lunch with someone. I’m starting to more and more myself.

I do watch Mike&Mike for 30 minutes with my morning coffee, but otherwise I don’t spend an hour/day with The Worldwide Leader unless there is some Humongous Story (that does NOT involve Johnny Manziel or RG3). I might catch a few minutes of Paul Finebaum on SEC Network. Some of Paul’s more colorful callers remind me of several of you. “Charles From Reeltown” could easily be _________.

The most compelling “sport” now is, without a doubt, The Great Unpleasantness. The ongoing antics of both The ABC Mob and the Franklin Street Ostrichs & South Bldg Keystone Kop Admins is priceless. Like Baseball, it is a game without a clock…. it can / likely will simply keep going and going and going…..

Sex Stimulant Question: Viagra, of course, has its new soft-porn “sexy middle-age gal making pillow talk”. This latest one is a brunette, not the British blond…… But it’s the Cialis commercial that intrigues me. The one with a handsome late 40s guy with salt-pepper hair in a gray shirt. In the first scene he’s laughing with a brunette at a carnival photo booth. In the next scene, I swear it’s the SAME GUY in the same gray shirt in a convertible at an overlook but now he’s with a blond. No wonder the guy needs Cialis.