The Carolina Hurricanes summer hockey camps will be back for their 10th year.

The camp will have two instructional camps on either side of a one-week, three-on-three, pond-hockey-style tournament. The first week, from July 28 through Aug. 1, will be a developmental (skill development) camp intended for players with three or fewer years of hockey experience.

The second week, Aug. 4 through Aug. 8, will feature the third-annual Hurricanes Three-on-Three Summer Classic. The event, which sold out last year, allows participants freedom in pond-hockey-style games.

The third week, Aug. 11 through Aug. 15, features the elite-level camp, targeted at more advanced players looking to take their games to the next level. With intense on-ice instruction, the elite week should help any travel hockey player prepare for the upcoming season.

The USA Olympic Baseball team announced today that they will play four exhibition games against Canada, in the Triangle, just before heading to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. On August 1, the team will play at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary. On August 2, 3, and 4 they will play at the Durham Bills Athletic Park.

The Beijing Olympic games begin August 8, 2008.

For tickets and more info, see usabaseball.com.

After two seasons as the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, former Cane coach Paul Maurice was relieved of his coaching duties in Toronto today.

Raleigh’s Webb Simpson was recently named the #1 amateur men’s golfer (in the world) by Golfweek Magazine. Thus, he’ll forever be known here as “World Wide Webb”. The Broughton High School graduate and Wake Forest University Senior recently set the ACC Championship 3-round record with his 202 shot performance.

Page 30 of the new (April 14) Sports Illustrated highlights the heroics of Wayne Davis. The Southeast Raleigh High School junior recently set a national record in the 55-meter hurdles and tied the 60 hurdles record. See Wayne’s video here. Congrats, Wayne!

With hockey and basketball out of the way, it’s time for the Durham Bulls and the Carolina Mudcats to take the field. The Mudcats’ home opener is Wednesday night at Five County Stadium, and the Bulls open at home on Friday.

The teams’ sites have downloadable calendars to fit your needs:

Durham Bulls

• Full schedule (html)
• Printable full schedule (.pdf)
• Home schedule for Outlook Download (.vcs)

Carolina Mudcats

• Full schedule (html)
• Full schedule for Outlook Download (.csv)

The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers tonight, putting the final nail in the Carolina Hurricanes’ season. While injury plagued all season, the Canes kept a decisive lead over the Southeast Division foes for almost the entire season.

With an opportunity at home-ice advantage and a playoff pairing with the slumping Ottawa Senators, the Canes needed any of four things to happen recently:

• Canes win at Washington
• Canes win vs. Florida
• Tampa Bay wins at Washington
• Florida wins at Washington

None of those things happened, leaving the Canes wondering what if… The team finished last in the NHL in shootouts with a puny 2-3 record. Had just one of those gone the other way, the Canes would be in the playoffs. They lost 9 games by just 1 goal, and lost 6 times in OT. Additionally, one game was a 1-goal game with 2 minutes remaining. That makes 16 chances they had to get the playoff-making goal, and it didn’t happen. To make things worse, the Washington Capitals won 20 times by just 1 point. That makes 36 situations where one goal the other way would have put the Canes in the postseason.

As the ice thaws we can only contemplate the future. After two straight seasons of not making the playoffs, the roster will undoubtedly be overhauled. Which of these players have played their last with the Canes?

• AGE: Wesley, Hedican, and Brid’Amour
• HEAD INJURY: Tanabe and Cullen
• UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: Samsonov, Letowski, Aucoin, Bayda, Hedican, Wesley, Brookbank, and Grahame?
• RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: LaRose, Ruutu, Eaves, Gleason, Seidenberg, and Conboy?
• GAME HAS PASSED THEM?? Ward and Cole

Will we get back Commodore, Stillman, Weight, or Recchi (all are UFAs)? If you want to play armchair GM, here’s a good place to track contracts in the league: nhlnumbers.com

Deep-seated nausea is sweeping through Raleigh tonight as the Florida Panthers have defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3. With no games remaining, the Canes find themselves tied with Florida’s final opponent, the Washington Capitals. A Capitals win or overtime loss tomorrow night would eliminate the Canes’ from the playoffs and end their season. A Washington loss puts the Canes in the playoffs’ 3rd seed with home-ice advantage.

Don’t count of Florida showing up in Washington, though. While the Caps are the hottest team in the NHL (10-1 in their last 11), the Panthers players and management have already gone on record this season as hating the Hurricanes. The team that called the Canes "divers" and "actors" earlier this year is unlikely to want to do Carolina any favors. All the Canes can do is watch.

The Canes have had a nice season in the face of incredible adversity. With over 350 man-games lost due to injury, the Canes’ roster looked much like the Carolina Tar Heels roster would without Hansbrough and Ellington. They responded admirably. Since losing Captain Rod BrindA’mour for the season on Valentine’s Day, the Canes have gone 14-6-2. During that 22 game period they earned 30 standings points and matched the playoff cutoff line of the previous two seasons. It was a clip that extrapolated over a whole season, would earn the team 112 points. Little did they realize that the biggest standings comeback in NHL history was roaring behind them.

The Washington Capitals got off to a horrible start. As of November 22 they were already 14 points behind the Canes. On that day the Caps made a coaching change, and they were off to the races. Over the past 60 games, Washington has earned 79 standings points. In their last 11 games, they earned 20 points a scorching hot pace that would earn 149 standings points across the season.

In retrospect, it was that stretch that began just before New Year’s that did the team in. A 10-game stretch where the team went 2-7-1 is the one we’ll all regret. It’s a good lesson for the future. No matter what you do, if you take your foot off the gas, you may find yourself in a position where you cannot fight off being overtaken.

So, the future of the Canes rests in the hands of the Florida Panthers. Odds are that Washington cannot stay this hot. Will the Panthers have pride and try to win the game, or will they get the last laugh on the Canes? That will be settled at 7:00pm, tomorrow night.

Note: ESPN Classic will replay the NCSU/Houston game tonight at 6:00pm.

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of Raleigh’s most important entertainment event, and one of the most important days in the city’s history. The N.C. State Wolfpack beat an incredible Houston team 54-52 to win the school’s second national championship on April 4, 1983. While life and the characters in the story have moved on, the "Cardiac Pack" will always occupy a big place in the heart of Raleigh.

It was the second championship in nine years for State. Just nine years before knocking off Houston, a dominant NCSU team polished off a 1-loss season with the school’s first title. The 1983 team, though, was the inverse story.

The 1983 team was not deep, but its top 6 players were all excellent. The season was off to an excellent start, but was marred by the fracture of Derrick Whittenberg’s right 5th metatarsal (stupid Othell Wilson!). With depth an issue the team lost 10 games, but ended the regular season with a more than 40-point blowout of the ACC’s 5th team, Wake Forest.

Only a week later the Pack faced that very same Wake team in the first round of The Omni’s first ACC Tournament. This time, though, Wake came to play, and it took a pair of Lorenzo Charles free throws to get over the hump. State took care of UNC (in OT), and UVA to win the ACC Championship. Many of us laughingly held up fingers and yelled,"Four for Albuquerque!" as we left the arena.

read more…

To celebrate 850 the Buzz’ 10th Anniversary, The Fabulous Sports Babe is coming to Raleigh on April 10 for one show; 10am to Noon. The Babe’s national radio show was a lunchtime staple when 850am began its conversion to the Sports Talk format. Her weekday show was not only carried by more than 250 national radio stations, it was also shown live on ESPN2 during its peak.

I won 850’s big trip to eat lunch with the Fabulous Sports Babe in 1999. The programming manager at the time, Craig Schwalb, and his girlfriend flew my fiance and me up to NYC. We stayed at the Helmsley Park Central hotel for three nights, watched Babe do her show, and ate together at the All-Star Cafe. The station also supplied us with tickets for both the Rangers/Bruins hockey game and Saturday Night Live (Ray Romano/The Corrs). On Friday night Craig and Michelle ate at Windows on the World and got engaged, so 9/11 was difficult for them in a unique way. It was a trip for the ages for everyone involved, and we made lifelong friends in the Schwalbs.

Our trip had to be postponed three months because Babe was diagnosed with cancer. Soon after my trip she moved to Tampa and did her show from down there. ESPN radio dropped her and while she did find another syndicator, stations did not follow, and The Babe faded into the “I hope she’s doing well” category. To this day her website still reads “Gone Fishing”.

It will be great to hear her again. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to thank her for sending my fiance and me the Kiss of the Babe-ino on our wedding day. Nine years later, The Kiss works like a charm!

The Carolina Hurricanes visit the Washington Capitals in one of the most important games this season. With a win in regulation, the Canes can clinch the Southeast Division and a 3rd seed in the playoffs. The Canes, with the 8th most points in the Eastern Conference, currently have a 2-point lead over the Caps with just 3 games remaining in the regular season. Williams and Whitney are listed as "probable".

The puck drops at 7pm on FSN (TWC channel 50).

On Saturday night the North Carolina Tar Heels beat the Louisville Cardinals to earn a place in college basketball’s vaunted Final Four. It is both the school’s 17th trip and another chapter in the Triangle’s storied history in one of sports’ largest events.

In the "Modern Era", the Triangle has had a team in 20 of the last 28 Final Fours. Going back further, the Triangle has placed a team in 30 of the last 45 Final Fours, cementing the national event as an important part of our local culture.

The Triangle area is not short on national championships, either. In the last 26 years, 7 have come from the Triangle. Remarkable runs have occurred during that time, too. From 1986 to 1992, Duke only missed the Final Four 1 time (including 5 straight appearances). UNC went 6 times in a 10 year period from 1991 to 2000.

With Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski still bringing in outstanding recruiting classes, this part of our culture isn’t likely to fade soon.

Bold indicates National Champion

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.

Download ncaatourney_08.csv

(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.

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.

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 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.

Download ecufootball08.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.

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 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.

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).

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.