NCAA Round 3 Tourney Times for Your PDA
You can now download NCAA tournament third round matchups and tip-off times in .CSV format. This way you’ll be able to follow
when
games are played as the day rolls on.
Outlook/Palm Users:
- Create a new folder in your in Outlook calendar (Madness08, for example). Use the File | Import and Export… to import from “another program or file”, then “Comma Separated File (Windows)”. This will set up the schedule in your new sub-calendar where you can make whatever changes you want.
- When you are happy with the way the subcalendar looks, change the calendar view to “Events” (instead of 7-day or 31-Day or whatever view you’re using). “Select All” from the list, and drag them over to your main “Calendar” (The Treo and other Palm Handhelds only sync to the main calendar – time for Palm to get with the program on that one!). If you want to keep your sub calendar intact, use Ctrl-drag instead of plain drag. That will create a copy of each event to the main Calendar and keep the Madness08 calendar in place. Sync your handheld to copy the events to the handheld.
iCal Users:
- Use iCalTextImport to import the .CSV version of the schedule.
(right click on the link above and “Save As…”)
Notes:
- All times are EDT.
- A printable bracket with local game times can be found here .
- Use at your own risk. I do not accept responsibility for any consequences resulting from errors in the schedule.
gogo…Curry!
The RBC Center played host to Round One and Round Two action of the NCAA tournament this past weekend. Little did fans know the historic personal and team performances that were in store.
The #1 North Carolina Tar Heels exploded with the 3rd most prolific offensive 2-game performance in NCAA tournament history. On Sunday their offense was so efficient, they set a new high for points-per-possession in the 13 years I’ve tracked this statistic . The Heels move on to the Sweet 16 in Charlotte where they’ll face Washington State on Thursday night.
What could overshadow the dominant Heels? Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats can! On Friday America’s darlings of this year’s tournament dispatched of yesteryear’s darlings, Gonzaga, behind an incredible 40-point showing by Curry. It was the first NCAA win for the Wildcats since 1969, and they looked totally satisfied with just that one win.
And then there was Sunday…. Davidson faced the 2-seed Georgetown Hoyas, one of basketball’s most storied programs. Curry was clearly off in the first half as he carried 2 points and two fouls nearly to halftime. With 0:48 remaining in the half, Curry drilled a "3" leaving fans wondering if he had sparked a wildfire. Little did we know the second half would become one of the great moments in the building’s quickly growing lore.
Against the nation’s top defensive team, Curry came alive. He hit guarded threes, moved fluidly without the ball, made great entry passes, and drilled free throws as Davidson ousted the mighty Hoyas, and moved on to the Sweet 16. Curry scored 25 in the second half, and finished the weekend with a 70-point, 2-game performance. Stephen Curry joins Glen Robinson, Jerry Chambers, Clyde Lovellette, Oscar Robertson, and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to score 30 or more points in their first three NCAA games.
With nearly every Carolina fan in the building pulling for Davidson, the Wildcats enjoyed their largest ever home crowd advantage. When Curry moved over a pick, split defenders, and finished with a swooping layup, the crowd erupted to perhaps the building’s loudest-ever basketball volume.
Enough cannot be said about the Davidson team and the coaching of Bob McKillop. The team ran their offense to perfection and kept their chins up when facing a second-half 17-point deficit. There was no way that the bigger Hoyas were going to get into Davidson’s heads, and that’s the mark of a great coach. In fact, Davidson was able to overcome Georgetown’s 63% shooting day. It’s the second-highest percentage by a losing team in NCAA history.
Davidson moves on to Detroit to play a very winnable game against Wisconsin on Friday. Who knows what will happen there? One thing is for sure. Raleigh basketball fans, Davidson fans, and the Curry family will forever remember some special moments in Raleigh.
Clinton Coming to Cary, Basketball Traffic Beware
RBC Center traffic could get complicated on Friday afternoon. Former president Bill Clinton will be in Cary on Friday campaigning for his wife. The only announced details so far include a speech at the Cary Senior Center at 5 pm.
Clinton’s favorite team, the 9-seed Arkansas Razorbacks face the 8-seed Indiana Hoosiers in the 9:45pm game at the RBC Center. Don’t be too shocked if the president who attended the 1994 National Championship game in Charlotte makes his way to the arena for the game.
ECU 2008 Football Schedule for Your PDA
ECU fans who like electronic calendars rejoice! I’ve uploaded the 2007-2008 ECU football schedule in the .CSV format.
Outlook/Palm Users:
- Create a new folder in your in Outlook calendar (Fball08, for example). Use the File | Import and Export… to import from “another program or file”, then “Comma Separated File (Windows)”. This will set up the Pirate schedule in your new sub-calendar where you can make whatever changes you want.
- When you are happy with the way the subcalendar looks, change the calendar view to “Events” (instead of 7-day or 31-Day or whatever view you’re using). “Select All” from the list, and drag them over to your main “Calendar” (The Treo and other Palm Handhelds only sync to the main calendar – time for Palm to get with the program on that one!). If you want to keep your sub calendar intact, use Ctrl-drag instead of plain drag. That will create a copy of each event to the main Calendar and keep the Fball08 calendar in place. Sync your handheld to copy the events to the handheld.
iCal Users:
- Use iCalTextImport to import the .CSV version of the schedule.
(right click on the link above and “Save As…”)
Note: Use at your own risk. I do not accept responsibility for any consequences resulting from errors in the schedule.
Connect the Triangle Golf Tournament Coming in April
Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are still growing rapidly. For most it is an online experience, only, but some area LinkedIn members are taking the experience offline with a golf outing.
Last year’s inaugural event had 40 attendees, but this year’s Connect The Triangle Golf Tournament promises more. Organizer Eric Bostrom said,”What makes this event so unique is that we have taken an online space and completely opened it up and made it real, tangible and attainable by allowing you to actually meet and talk with the person you are connected to online. Once face-to-face contact is made, you have an opportunity to forge real connections that can turn into genuine business leads, job leads and even friendships.”
Players are invited to participate in a 90-minute workshop called “Master Your Competitive Edge” prior to the tournament. The workshop aims to provide the tools needed to play in the zone, make good decisions, and sustain peak performance on the golf course. The Creative Golf workshop will help identify key individual strengths and build the consistency to transform one’s game.
The tournament will take place on April 8th at Crooked Creek Golf Club (Fuquay-Varina). There will be a shotgun start 1 PM with dinner and drinks to follow. Tickets are $65 with $20 from each ticket going to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle. Email connectthetriangle@gmail.com for more information.
NCSU and UNC 2008 Football Schedules for Your PDA
NCSU and UNC fans who like electronic calendars rejoice! I’ve uploaded the 2008 football schedules for State and Carolina in .CSV format.
Outlook/Palm Users:
- Create a new folder in your in Outlook calendar (Fball08, for example). Use the File | Import and Export… to import from “another program or file”, then “Comma Separated File (Windows)”. This will set up the Heels’ schedule in your new sub-calendar where you can make whatever changes you want.
- When you are happy with the way the subcalendar looks, change the calendar view to “Events” (instead of 7-day or 31-Day or whatever view you’re using). “Select All” from the list, and drag them over to your main “Calendar” (The Treo and other Palm Handhelds only sync to the main calendar – time for Palm to get with the program on that one!). If you want to keep your sub calendar intact, use Ctrl-drag instead of plain drag. That will create a copy of each event to the main Calendar and keep the Fball08 calendar in place. Sync your handheld to copy the events to the handheld.
iCal Users:
- Use iCalTextImport to import the .CSV version of the schedule.
Download ncsufootball08.csv
Download uncfootball08.csv
(right click on the link above and “Save As…”)
Note: Use at your own risk. I do not accept responsibility for any consequences resulting from errors in the schedule.
Duke/UNC Round 1
Tonight is essentially the first of three tests to see who gets the NCAA Raleigh seed in March. The Heels enter the game without their first and second string point guards, so it is up to Quentin Thomas to lead the Heels. To add to UNC’s misery, Duke has been playing better than Carolina lately. Of course, we will see a barrage of Hansbrough (pronounced HANS-bro – just two syllables) right baby hooks with a foul to the left shoulder (it’s his go-to move).
The key to the game is Thomas’ ability to handle Duke’s perimeter overplay. Carolina needs to extend their offense far from the paint, and exploit Duke’s overplay by going back-door and setting picks. Duke, on the other hand, needs to pressure Thomas and beat Carolina with their running game.
So, it is the matchup of all of college basketball, but why does the media insist on insulting us with this "Tobacco Road" thing? While the region has a history of major tobacco production, it is a totally outdated concept, and equates the area with the abject poverty portrayed in Erskine Caldwell’s novel. It’s time to dump this moniker for something more accurately portraying the area’s education and healthiness (there are 15 states with higher smoking rates than North Carolina).
Center Ice Free Preview on TWC
Time Warner Cable subscribers have a real treat this week. The NHL Center Ice package is available for free (to digital subscribers) through Sunday night. This gives us a chance to see some of the teams Versus won’t typically show. It also is a rare chance to follow some former Canes such as: Kevyn and Craig Adams (Blackhawks), Sandis Ozolinsh (Sharks), Kevin Weekes (Devils), Jack Johnson (Kings), Martin Gelinas (Predators), Sean Hill (IR – Wild), Josef Vasicek (Islanders), and Byron Ritchie (Canucks). The
schedule of games
is available on the TWC site.
Solving RBC Center Ingress (Part II)
Part one of this series introduced a simple plan to solve the RBC Center’s West side ingress problems. Each lot on the arena’s West side would have a dedicated lane and would, therefore, have uninterrupted traffic flow.
The RBC Center’s East parking lots are accessed by the three-lane Westchase Blvd. Because one of those lanes has to be designated for egress during ingress events, the traffic flow on the East side of the RBC Center has major inefficiencies. While there would not be a bottleneck, it would be impossible to dedicate a lane for each East side lot, Lots 1, 2 and 3, using the existing lane configurations. With a simple redesign of about 500 feet of curb on the arena’s West side, all lots could have a dedicated ingress road.
Part I advised dedicating a lane for Lots 4, 5, and 6. Lot 3 traffic must use the East side. By expanding capacity on the West side, however, Lot 3 traffic could use Edwards Mill Road and leave Westchase Blvd’s two ingress lanes for Lots 1 and 2.
In this plan, read more…
Staal Named All-Star MVP
With 2 goals and 1 assist, the Carolina Hurricanes’
Eric Staal
was named the
MVP of the NHL All-Star Game
tonight. Staal is in his 4th season with Canes and currently ranks
9th in goals
and
25th in points
in the NHL. Congrats to Staal!
Staal was the only All Star from the Canes squad, however. We saw Rod Brind’Amour in Milton’s Pizza & Pasta tonight during the game and it almost made me sick thinking of what little respect he gets around the league.
Bring WPS Women’s Soccer To Cary
A new professional women’s soccer league, the
WPS
, will begin play in 2009. Cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas, St. Louis, Washington, Boston, New York, and Chicago have been named, but the league wants to add one more team. So far Cary leads in voting with 18%, and
your vote
can take the area one step toward joining this league. (The poll is halfway down the page in a cell).
Thanks so
Trisoccerfan
for the heads up.
Solving RBC Center Ingress Problems (Part I)
Ever since the RBC Center’s opening in 1999 the traffic scheme in and out of the parking lots has been an enigma. Each year the traffic plan is changed, but a true solution is never found. While the plan for egress and ingress are different, hard game times make the ingress plan more important to the experience of the RBC Center’s customers.
I’m not sure if the traffic plan is different for NCSU games than it is for Carolina Hurricanes games, but the parking designation for the events is definitely different. The Hurricanes largely sell the lot spaces as day-of-event general admission while the basketball games get reserved section parking.
The arena has six paved lots surrounding its North, West, and South sides and has two small VIP lots outside its main entrance. The west side of the arena is served largely by access from the variable direction, five-lane Edwards Mill Road while the east side is served from a three-lane Westchase Blvd. All perimeter roads around the arena on the property have three lanes.
There are a few caveats to planning traffic ingress. There must be a lane reserved on each road for emergency vehicle egress. Thus, the 3-lane roads can only use two lanes in any particular direction. Additionally, it seems that the City of Raleigh insists that at least one lane on Edwards Mill Road be marked for upstream traffic.
Regardless, there are two easy answers for creating smooth ingress for events. Using the existing roads, simple lane assignments should solve all problems. Because there are three parking lots on the building’s West side (Lots 4, 5, and 6), one lane should be designated for each lot from Wade Avenue inward. The illustration above show the first solution, and is a detail view of this area . read more…
UNC and NCSU Basketball Calendars for Your PDA
UNC and NCSU fans who like electronic calendars rejoice! I’ve uploaded the 2007-2008 UNC and NCSU basketball schedules in the .CSV format.
Outlook/Palm Users:
- Create a new folder in your in Outlook calendar (Bball08, for example). Use the File | Import and Export… to import from “another program or file”, then “Comma Separated File (Windows)”. This will set up the schedule in your new sub-calendar where you can make whatever changes you want.
- When you are happy with the way the subcalendar looks, change the calendar view to “Events” (instead of 7-day or 31-Day or whatever view you’re using). “Select All” from the list, and drag them over to your main “Calendar” (The Treo and other Palm Handhelds only sync to the main calendar – time for Palm to get with the program on that one!). If you want to keep your sub calendar intact, use Ctrl-drag instead of plain drag. That will create a copy of each event to the main Calendar and keep the Bball08 calendar in place. Sync your handheld to copy the events to the handheld.
iCal Users:
- Use iCalTextImport to import the .CSV version of the schedule.
Download uncbball08.csv
Download ncsubball08.csv
(right click on the link above and “Save As…”)
Note: Use at your own risk. I do not accept responsibility for any consequences resulting from errors in the schedule.
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