They Call Him Philthy

Welcome back! First of all, yes, I survived St. Patrick's Day. I just haven't gotten around to writing in a little while. Second, thanks to everyone out there who takes a little time to check in on the "Philthy" Blog and thanks for all the kind words. For the sports fans out there, WHAT A TOURNAMENT THIS YEAR! Some are saying this could be the best NCAA Tournament in recent memory, maybe the best ever. To that I say, NONSENSE! How about that N.I.T baby! My Terps are still pathetically fighting hard. As for the news world, anyone else tired of hearing about Terri Shiavo? I'm not even sure what my stance is on this. I don't think people should have to live in a vegetable state like that, I sure don't want to. But with all of the politicians and news media focusing their agendas on this case that isn't so unique (you really think this is the first time this has happened?) I'm just plain tired of it all. Can we please be allowed to think about something else now? What happened to Michael Jackson? The news media has unbelievably driven me to demand that Jacko's case once again rule the airwaves! Speaking of the news media, that brings us to this edition's topic:

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I like a lot of cheesy movies. I'm a big fan of "Garden State" even though I accept the fact that the love story featured in it is pretty cheesy. I like a lot of cheesy music. While I prefer GOOD music, my friends make fun of me when they catch me listening to incredibly cheesy pop music every so often. I like cheese itself. I mean what else are you supposed to put on hamburgers and macaroni? And what would the city of Philadelphia do without cheese steaks? Oh the humanity!

What I refuse to ever accept even just a LITTLE bit, are cheesy TV news anchors. Remember, this is coming from a guy who graduated from Elon University with a degree in broadcast journalism and who works at a television station. I love the media. I won't sit back and watch it embarrass itself!

What's that you say? You've never seen a cheesy TV news anchor? Oh I beg to differ. A rare breed they are not. If you've ever watched any local newscast for more than five minutes continuously, you've seen the cheese. And if you still don't think TV news anchors are cheesy, then maybe you should examine YOUR cheesiness. And then go write some pop music.

Let's examine the TV news anchor shall we?

First, the physical attributes. For the men it seems to be an unwritten requirement that your hair be parted and gelled so that it reaches maximum height. The closer to the ceiling the better. Absolutely no facial hair. We don't want individuality in the media! Your smile must be as close to ultimate cheese as possible. For the women, same smile. It helps if you are young and beautiful, or at least if makeup can make you look like that. Only a high school reading level is required ("If I put words in your camera would you read them? Welcome aboard"). After only a quick search of local stations across our country, here are a few examples of cheesy anchors. And this is just what they LOOK like! Imagine when they talk and interact with other cheesy TV news anchors!






A good cheesy TV news anchor will really convince you that they care about the gang-related deaths in the city yesterday. Then only seconds later, they'll show you their incredible sense of humor as they laugh at another one of their co-anchor's HILARIOUS puns!

Hey TV news anchors, STOP BLAMING THE WEATHER GUY FOR TODAY'S SHITTY WEATHER! It's not funny anymore. I think even the weather guys stopped laughing at this sometime in the early 80's. Is there NO other way to transition from the news into the weather without something like this happening? :

"...and restaurant patrons were not too happy. Speaking of not too happy, Tom, why do you make us suffer through these unseasonably cold days?"

Guess what cheesy TV news anchor, Tom hates you. He's only smiling because it's in his job description and it distracts him from wanting to rip your fake head off. Tom doesn't control the weather. He can barely predict it. Weather is fucking COMPLICATED. Accept this fact. Tom will generally tell you if it will be sunny or rainy and he can even give you what today's temperature will be within about 10 degrees. That's impressive and enough for me.

I can't totally defend Tom though. Yep, weather guys are cheesy TV anchors as well. They just have more boring information to relay so sometimes it's harder for the cheese to shine through. And as much as it pains me, I can't leave out the TV sports anchor. Yes, even he can be cheese. I am an aspiring sports anchor myself. Everytime I see a cheesy, talent-less, hair crazy sports anchor that has made it on TV, well, it's just what keeps me going. Hell, if someone put THAT ass clown on the air, maybe I have a shot.

Maybe the worst cheese moment in the entire newscast is the toss from sports back to the news anchors. It's terrible. It pains me to watch, think about, write about. I know you've seen this and I know you feel my pain. When the sports guy finishes his report, one of the anchors tries to build off of the last story and claims that they are, "looking forward to seeing that game tomorrow."

Hey cheesy TV news anchor, we know that you have ZERO sports knowledge and ZERO sports interest. You don't have to pretend. In fact, it's perfectly fine! I'd rather watch a news anchor that isn't into sports. They should be spending their time with things that matter so I can spend my time on entertainment, and then get real news from them. We know that if it was up to you, cheesy TV news anchor, sports wouldn't even be a part of the show. Just that five quick minutes of sports coverage at the very end takes away from time you could be telling us about cute cats, today's town council meeting, or "something your children are playing with right now could kill them...We'll tell you what it is at 11."

The cheese factor here is unbearable. Note: as a city's population increases, it's local news cheesiness tends to decrease at an exponential rate. That explains why bigger city's local news is much more watchable than middle-of-no-where's is.

We are pleading, cheesy TV news anchor, STOP THE CHEESE! We'd like for you to read us the news in an informative way. Don't be afraid to be yourself. That's what we are! Just because you're in front of the camera it doesn't mean you get to act like a movie star (that means you North Carolina-based Mike Hogewood...). With your cooperation we just might be able to turn local news into a legitimate program in time. And we better do that by the time I find my on-air sports job. Or I'll rip cheesy TV news anchor's head right off.

Every so often the stars align and magical things happen. Things like the first moon landing, USA upsetting the Russian hockey team in the Olympics, and of course the brilliance of David Hasselhoff on "BayWatch."

Well friends, the stars have come together once again for another special moment in our lives. St. Patrick's Day and the opening day of the NCAA basketball tournament have fallen on the same day! Let's examine them both.

St. Patrick's Day celebrates the life of the most beloved Irish saint in the Catholic church. He died on March 17th. Boston in 1737 was the place and time the holiday was officially honored in this country. It's generally linked to green, Ireland, and beer. In other words, this has become a day Americans love to take off work and just go drinking.

Meanwhile, the opening day of the NCAA Tournament is a glorious time for any sports fan. The brackets have been out for a few days, the buzz has been building for even longer, and all at once on Thursday, there's an explosion of basketball. 16 first round games tipoff on this day and every game is available on TV in one way or another (go to a sports bar). In other words, this has become a day Americans love to take off work and...yep, go drinking!

So we have these two giant days of alcohol celebration rammed into ONE day. Is it possible? Can we even be expected to handle it in a safe fashion? I do know this, I'll be over to my friend's apartment by no later than 9:00am tomorrow, and we will arrive at McFadden's (bar in DC) no later than 9:30am.

I must tell my readers this; First, if you are under-21, don't drink. Who am I kidding, DRINK! Just don't try to buy the beer yourself. And don't drink and drive (that of course applying to the crowd under AND over-21). Second, I'm not an alcoholic. Don't get the wrong idea about me. Heck, I don't drink terribly too much at all. I just believe that if you ARE going to go out and drink, at least make it count.

That being said, McFadden's is an Irish bar. It's not officially a sports bar, but it advertised that it would carry every single NCAA game tomorrow. So for at least one day, McFadden's will be an Irish sports bar. And on St. Patrick's Day and the opening round of the tourney! I'm in heaven!

It gets better. Starting at 9am, this bar offers $1 beers. Starting at noon, pitchers are $2. Starting at 3:00 there's some other ridiculously cheap beer offer. In other words this place is promoting heavy drinking for tomorrow. And I'm fine with that. That's why my in time tomorrow is approximately 9:30am.

My thing is this; if we allow bars to promote binge drinking to our citizens, how do we continue to say that marijuana is illegal in this country? I don't get it. We promote heavy drinking, something that has been proven to tear apart your liver and increase your excitability or angry emotions. On the other hand, we've got pot. Something that calms you down, has been proven to work in some medical conditions, and enhances your senses of touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing. We don't want that? Anyway, that little tangent was caused by catching part of a radio program late last night promoting the legalization of marijuana. I'm just saying, think about it!

Back to beer. I hope you're ready! 2 large events whose intentions are simply to drink beer and have fun. I'm ready, are you? Post your St. Patty's Day/NCAA tournament plans no matter how boring or how bizarrely cool. Just click on comments here at the bottom of this post and share your day!

Stay tuned for more Philthy, We'll be Right Back.

Whether you've known me for years or only for a few hours, it should be pretty clear that I love to laugh and to find humor in just about any situation. I figure, let's live a little longer and try to have a little fun along the way. Today marks the end of 4 days working at the ACC Tournament in Washington, DC. Do you think I could spend all that time without building a massive list of hilarity? Of course not!

In sharing my experiences with you I must admit that everything here did not come from inside the walls of the MCI Center. Either way they're all related to my 4-day tournament experience. So sit back, keep your eyes fastened and your traytables way the hell away from electrical equipment like your computer.

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The easiest way to travel around DC is the Metro. For you wacky New Yorkers, this is what we call our Subway. This morning I walk the 10 minutes to the Silver Spring Metro and hop on the train headed for the District. Early morning on a Sunday there usually aren't too many travellers. But with my luck one of those few happened to be a strange looking older man with dark red glasses and a black cap.

He appeared to be travelling heavy with a shopping cart full of what I assumed to be his every last possession. The fact that this man was probably homeless is not the funny part. If you were laughing just now you should be ashamed of yourself. Laughing at the homeless...look at yourself.

He unfortunately decided to talk to me as we were briefly stopped at one of the stations. He pointed to an oddly shaped cream-colored structure just outside and said, "Hey man, what's that thing? A missile factory or something?"

Yes. It's a missile factory my friend. It sits just outside a suburban neighbord in Washington and churns out explosive rockets every hour on the hour. The rationale for his guess was that the particular Metro stop we were at is called "Fort Totten."

Now, I don't pretend to be an expert on the history of this city, but clearly there is no military installation outside this Metro stop. It just looked like another subway tunnel. Either way, me and Old Red Glasses were on speaking terms.

By the time we came to my stop the two of us had discussed (or I had nodded my head while he tried to form working sentences) how much he hated President Bush, how hard it was to make money in this city, and how very soon he would move back to California. But not San Francisco. No not back there. I could have dug deeper, but honestly, would you have?

He described Bush as a killer, who "can't stop, he just has to keep killing. KILL KILL!" Just for fun I asked him if he considered himself a Democrat or a Republican. He got a little angry when speaking of Republicans.

Visitors to my fine city, don't take this story as a warning never to use public transportation here. These people are few and far between but when you stumble upon one you just have to take advantage to find some humor.

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After Saturday night's games myself and the other ACC crew went out for a big meal and some drinks at the Capital City Brewery a few blocks from the MCI Center. The meal was great with funny stories from all of our Cameramen. If you ever want to hear some of the best stories of all time, get to know a cameraman.

At some point I noticed there was a woman at a table behind me. She was probably in her late 50's and was sitting alone. I began hearing her talk in lengthy conversations. I would glance behind me and though I couldn't see anyone else near her, I assumed she was talking on a cell phone. A half an hour later, the talking was constant and I had an ACC intern go do some reconnaissance. Sure enough,no phone, no friends at the table.

That's right. Another crazy person. I love it! I started paying attention to the content of her "conversations." I swear I'm not making this up. I heard: "And that's why you shouldn't get married. Marriages never last, I'm done with marriage"; "Oh really? Then why is it that YOU are the one going to jail, the big house. You don't see ME in the slammer do you?"; "I don't know, a large box I guess. Metallic of course but still neat enough to put a bow on top and take to the market."

My friends, I couldn't make that stuff up if I tried! BRILLIANT! We sat around and discussed a plan of action to mess with her of course. The bright idea out of our jackass producer from Fox Sports South was to go sit down next to her and then yell, "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING TO??" We left her alone and went home.

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I love fans. My last post is all about my love for ACC fans. But folks, there are always times I've got to laugh at their stupidity and annoyances.

Every single person in the building apparently has a better view of the action than the referees. Yeah, I'm talking about you Mr. drunk, over-60 Wolfpack fan who has seats so high up that it would make an airline pilot's nose bleed. How could you possibly have seen that foul from up there sir? I mean really? And are the refs really out to get you and your team? Do you really think someone is paying them to make those bad calls? No! You're just playing Duke...

Here's a rule: If you are at the ACC Tournament, the granddaddy of college basketball conference championships, and you're wearing your favorite team's clothes and have your face painted, AT LEAST know who your own players are. A girl in her twenties today was asked who her favorite Duke player was. She answerd, "Um...the starter." And THAT answer took several seconds! After we semi made fun of her by letting her know that five players start, she needed to be more specific, she answers, " Shavlick...Krzyzewski."

Nice work young lady. You've managed to combine Shavlick Randolph, a player, with head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Do you watch any basketball? Do you even know where you're going today after you get your ticket ripped?

New rule: Not everyone is as good at basketball as ACC players. When I get into conversations with these MCI Center ushers and even police officers about how they could play college ball, I can barely hold in the emotions. "I just didn't finish college, that's why i'm not playing now, I didn't get enough exposure. But i'm fast dude! And I got some hops!"

You're right, you could probably school Rashad McCants at your towering height of 5'11' and blazing usher-to-seat speed. Come on my friend, it doesn't even LOOK easy from here. These guys are fuckin good. You didn't make your neighborhood JV squad.

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Scalpers: No I don't have any tickets. No I don't want to buy two seats 5 sections apart. Go get a real job and leave these real fans alone. Stick to NBA games.

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And thus, another ACC Tournament comes to an end. This was my second tournament and second as a member of the media. My experiences were incredible and there were entirely too many to talk about here.

I hope I helped in painting the most detailed picture of the behind the scenes world I got to peek inside for 4 days. In no way did I want any of this to appear to be bragging, I felt like I was one of the luckiest guys around and just wanted to share.

It was funny the divide that I saw. Some people couldn't believe I worked so long and didn't get paid. Other people couldn't believe that I got to sit on the floor at the ACC Tournament. To each their own. For me, going to TWO tournaments and getting the access that I've had, I couldn't be more greatful to my friends at the ACC for giving me this opportunity.

I've learned that the majority of sports reporters and announcers are good people, a minority thinks they are god's gift to the Earth. I've learned that the magic of the ACC Tournament can survive in cities other than Greensboro or Charlotte, because the fans will go wherever the Tournament is. And I've learned that the people, whether it be the fans, the players, coaches, media, or stadium workers are the ones who make this experienc so unforgettable. Seeing southerners, northerners, blacks, whites, rich, only semi-rich people all joined by the love of college basketball was worth the time and energy.

I hope you've enjoyed this little journey. Remember, just because my life can't always be this exciting, doesn't mean you shouldn't keep this goldmine blog of all blogs bookmarked because the brilliance is constantly being pumped out of me and into here for your enjoyment.

Stay tuned for More Philthy, We'll be Right Back.

Well, when I said last night that I was exhausted, I really had no clue. Today consisted of four games and that meant two sessions of back to back games. TIRING to say the least! But another great day of action. I've been trying to take ACC fans and sports fans in general on a behind the scenes trip to this year's ACC Tournament in Washington, DC. Today I'm focusing on the many different personalities that I've had the pleasure of running into so far after two days of basketball.

The first thing that you should know is, all of the people I talked with today I could have done so without a press credential. These people are all fans, or at least people paying for a ticket to get in the door. I could spend a day talking about all the people you can meet in the press fantasy world; television reporters, writers, coaches, players, etc. But sometimes the most fascinating personalities are ones that you come across simply by roaming the different seating areas.

If I wasn't convinced before, then I am now: The fans are by far what makes this tournament so special. The ACC Tournament is generally thought of as one of the best all-around conference tournaments in college basketball. This has to do with a few factors. First, ACC teams are consistently competitive. Second, the tradition of this tournament goes back 52 years. In other words, generations of families have graduated from these schools, had children, who've had children, who now go watch the tournament. It's special. Third, there are very few professional sports teams located in ACC country. Therefore, college basketball has always been the absolute number one choice for people in this region. Fourth, many of the schools are so close to each other that natural rivalries have blossomed and it's not uncommon to see neighbors or husbands and wives bitterly divided between rival schools.

North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Duke are all within about 30 minutes of each other. Duke and North Carolina are so close you could throw a midget from one campus to another. Naturally the midget would die upon landing, but still, it can be done. Now throw in Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech, and you've got eight schools that are either in or bordering the state of North Carolina. Needless to say, the fans are diehard and they are VERY close to each other.

In other words, these unique fans represent all that is good and fun in sports these days. I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with several kinds of fans today. Here are a few:

- A mother, husband, and their young daughter. The wife, decked out in Carolina blue complete with a temporary cheek tattoo of a Tar Heel. The husband, wearing a red shirt, red pants, red hat, and red NC State flag. Then there was their daughter who couldn't have been older than 5 years old. She had a red cheek and a blue cheek; a UNC jersey, but an NC State cheerleading skirt; one red pom pom, one blue. When I interviewed the family I asked the little girl who her favorite team was, she looked into the camera for a little while, eyes beginning to squint just slightly, and then suddenly she threw her hands up in the air and smiled saying, "I just don't know which one to pick!"

- I had the pleasure of interviewing the former governor of North Carolina for 8 years, Jim Hunt. He began answering our questions very diplomatically. He loved visiting the city and loved the people. By the end of the interview we had Mr. Hunt talking X's and O's! I remember him actually scripting out an inbounds play in his head for NC State. Pure genius I tell you. NC State won fairly handedly against favorite Wake Forest today. Coincidence? I think not...

- Ah the scalpers..."Got any extra tickets for tonight?" How much fun is it when your team has just lost an unbelievably close game, you turn and walk out of your seating area, and just as you enter the tunnel you're greeted by eager scalpers who have specifically gathered at YOUR team's fan exit thinking you'd be ready to unload tickets now that your team is eliminated. But I'm not talking a handful of scalpers asking you the same question over and over, it's more like 20 to 30 people lining the exit walls ready to pounce on your slightly outstretched hand with a ticket in it.

- College students are probably the most fun. I like them because, well, it wasn't even a full year since I was last in college. Let's face it, we're still pretty far from being fully mature, we really like alcohol, and we're much more likely to yell and chant ridiculous phrases in the name of our school. Wake Forest students seem like pretty good people, North Carolina State fans are slightly "rednecky" but mostly a lot of fun. North Carolina students are COCKY, or at least they are this year (they have good reason to be). Maryland students are assholes for the most part and Duke students are absolute nerds. These are of course wide sweeping generalizations, but ones observed at the tournament and and I'd say it's a fairly good representation of each school.

What should be clear is that people are much more willing to talk to you if you hold a camera and a microphone, especially one that says "ACC" on it. So that always helps. It's definitely a neat feeling when most everyone around you is so eager in wanting to talk with you about their stories of their school and family. Long live they fans, they are truly what makes this tournament so much fun.

Quickly, my thoughts on the actual games today. Clemson played another unbelievable game against North Carolina. Most people in that building expected a blowout but instead Clemson nearly won the game, and it took one heck of a comeback from UNC to pick up the win. NC State is for real. The doubters should take one step back. These guys, with a fairly mediocre regular season record without a marquee win, have shown fans in the past month just how well this team can move the ball and gel when it plays up to it's potential. Virginia Tech battled in the first half, then played like an ACC newcomer would be expected to. Georgia Tech when healthy and with an effective Luke Schensher are hard to beat. Virginia put up a valiant effort against Duke, but Pete Gillen has most likely coached his last game with them. It's time to begin respecting Melchionne. The guy can hit some threes and he's pretty athletic too.

Tomorrow both of the games will be excellent. No blowouts here kiddos. I'm secretly rooting for the two higher seeds to advance. A Duke-North Carolina championship game would be absolute sports heaven. If there is an upset, it's NC State over Duke.

Well, hope you enjoyed Day 2 of the ACC Tournament from Washington, DC. There's still two more days to come, so y'all come back now ya hear?

Stay tuned for more Philthy, We'll be Right Back.

What a day! I'm exhausted. Lugging around camera equipment for about 13 hours is fairly grueling, but a hell of a workout.

So day 1 is in the books. My Terps disgustingly and predictably lost AGAIN to Clemson. This all but assures Maryland no NCAA tournament appearance. Oh well, I'm over it. The point of this installment is not to gripe about Maryland, but to give you an interesting perspective from behind the scenes at the ACC Tournament. I'm constantly amazed at the things I'm getting to do and see. I've said many times that I'm tired of talking about it or telling stories to friends, I want to bring people down to where I am and have them experience everything for themselves! Someday when I'm a media mogul I'll be able to do that...but for now, enjoy what I hope is an insightful and interesting look at a view that most people will never get to see of the ACC Tournament; behind the scenes.

My job with the ACC this year is basically "head grunt man." That's right, I shadow one of our photographers who's job it is to roam the crowd getting reactions. We go on the floor, into the fan seating sections, up top; wherever we need to go to get the shots. This means I have a very cool job. I carry extra batteries, tapes and a ridiculously heavy tripod and follow around our photographer wherever he goes. I can basically just watch the games while all this is going on! The point of all of this by the way is that we (the ACC) are creating the official ACC Tournament documentary. Everything from fans entering the building, scalping tickets, tailgating, game winning shots, stories of the game, EVERYTHING. Last year's documentary was amazing and this year's should be more of the same.

Some notable things I experienced in Day 1 of the action:

- Simply walking down the back hallways of the MCI Center is incredible. I could never see a game this year and still be completely wowed. These hallways are where the members of the press, operations people, and the teams travel to get back and forth to the court, locker rooms, and work areas. So imagine my delight when I just walk around to find a snack and I pass by ESPN broadcaster Mike Patrick, former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins, and tons of players! Believe me, I try to hold in the excitement and look professional; But as I'm walking next to them I'm thinking, "holy shit! YEAH! YEAH! THIS is Julius Hodge! He's right there!" In a way these guys are celebrities to me. I'd be more gaga over seeing an ESPN broadcaster than I would an MTV personality or B list celebrity.

- Having a Press pass is like holding the golden ticket to the world. I hope someday everyone can experience, even for just one hour, what it's like to wear a press pass around to a big event. I'll never get tired of it. They treat you like royalty! "What's that? You want to walk on the court during the game? SURE! You want to go chat with the players and the coaches? They're over there." I think it's hilarious how nice we get treated all because of a lamenated press pass, and seconds later, a "common" ticket holding fan is constantly questioned by ushers and doubted until the bitter end. I mean me, for example, I'm helping to make a documentary by carrying around some camera equipment...but in order to do that I have wear a press pass. Suddenly I'm given unlimited free meals, I can come and go ANYWHERE as I please, and literally NO ONE questions me. It really is fairly ridiculous and I love it.

- A few kids before the Miami-Virginia game had two tickets to sell to that game. Now normally, any ticket to an ACC Tournament game would go for over $200 easily. People say tickets to these things are tougher than even the Master's golf tournament. It's that special. But in this particular instance, NO ONE wanted these tickets! They shouted: "Ok, fine! $10 for BOTH of them, please? Either that or I'm throwing them in the trashcan!" The fact was, this was billed as one of the less exciting and competitive games (when in reality, it was easily the best game of the day, coming down to a last second shot).

- Pseudo celebrities I either said hello to or walked near today (I'm such a nerd): Julius Hodge, Herb Sendek, Pete Gillen, Bobby Cremins, Mike Patrick, Rick Majeris, Johnny Holiday, Chris Knoche, Guillermo Diaz, Travis Garrison, Gary Williams, Mike Bowers, Debra Morgan, Mike Hogewood, Steve Martin (no, not the actor).

By the way, if you've never heard of ANY of those people, it's ok, it probably means you actually lead a meaningful life free from sports. And for that, I commend you. For those of you who know who those people are, be jealous, be very jealous...

Well, that about wraps it up for now. I hope I've somewhat opened the door into this strange world of the media credential. It's such a neat experience and I can't wait to do it all over again tomorrow! Hope you'll check out the Tournament tomorrow on ESPN or your local Jefferson Pilot TV stations. A recap of Day 2 will be next!

Stay tuned for more Philthy, We'll be Right Back.

That's right, tomorrow begins one of the greatest college basketball conference tournaments in the country. This year it's right in my backyard, the MCI Center in Washington, DC! Last year I went as a member of the media working for the Atlantic Coast Conference as an intern. That was my first ACC Tournament experience and it was unbelievable.

This year I'm back working again for the ACC (it pays to keep good relationships with former employers). Our purpose here is to create the official 2005 ACC Tournament documentary that will air about a month after the Tournament ends (It will be on Fox Sports Net and Comcast SportsNet stations across the country, check your local listings).

We'll be shooting each game (that's "videotaping" for you people not in the biz), shooting the crowds, interviewing past legendary players, getting video from the locker rooms, post game commentary from coaches and players, and basically anything and everything that makes up the flavor of the ACC Tournament.

What I will give you HERE is hopefully a rare look from behind the scenes at the Tournament. I promise this isn't part of some ego trip...I just realize that most people will never have the chance to watch a game from press row, or hold a microphone up to Coach K's mouth after a game, or eat dinner with Michael Wilbon and Dick Vitale (haven't had that happen yet, but there's always THIS year baby!). I know how lucky I am to be able to see all of the behind the scenes action that never gets televised or seen by most people and I just want to share! I'm the biggest fan there is, and while it's true that I probably look professional and calm while I'm there working, inside I'm really just a little kid in a candy store, mouth wide open in amazement at all the players and personalities walking next to me!

So keep an eye out here. I'll post a recap of the day's happenings each night during the Tournament. I promise you'll love it, and if you don't, well, may God have mercy on your soul. That was a bit dramatic. I like it.

Stay tuned for more Philthy, We'll be Right Back.

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Aha! Why do people spend so much time reading these blogs? Why do people like me want to go as far as creating their OWN blog? Well, remember reality TV? It basically flew in from another planet, took over, and kicked ass. I mean it's all that's on TV anymore. I'm not completely complaining; for some reason I find myself watching the "Real World," "Amish in the City," and "Surreal Life." (FLAVOR-FLAV!)

So people are for some reason just really into other people's lives. They'd rather watch other people party than go out and party themselves...now that's sad. But it's today's reality. Pun intended thank you.

Well my theory is that these blog things (I still don't know what blog means) are just extensions of reality television, but this time, we can ALL be the stars! How pathetic, and funny, and interesting to me. But hey, I'll run with it and sell out by starting this blog of my own.

I just think it's extremely interesting that we've got bloggers reporting from the White House press corp, from major sporting events, and simply turning journalism into sort of an open-ended idea. Being a member of the traditional media by day job, I don't think I feel threatened by this new media competitor, more like intrigued. I definitely think bloggers have been making a dent in the traditional media formula, but I think that's a good thing.

Stay tuned for more Philthy, We'll be Right Back.

Ok listen, I did it. I got myself a blog and I don't even know what blog means. I do know that it's long been racing up the fad tree and an incredible number of people own blogs, even more read them.

That brings us to now. I done jumped on the bandwagon and got ma'self a blog momma! What can you expect to find here? Hell if I know. That's the fun of it! Keep these things in mind: I'm a big fan of the laughter, sports, and just plain putting thoughts into words, so don't get complacent people. There's lots to see here.

That being said, there's really nothing to see here yet. But the important thing is that we finally got this here blog started, so I guess that makes me an official "blogger" now.

Well, you've built up enough interest in me to come here and read this mindless banter. For that I commend you!

Stay tuned for more Philthy, We'll be Right Back.