Thanks!
Thank you to the voters of Orange County for their gratifying support in the recent Democratic primary for county commissioner at-large. Serving as your commissioner these past years has been an honor and a privilege, and I look forward to continuing my work on behalf of our community.
Now that the electoral cycle is over, candidates and our supporters are conscientiously taking down campaign signs around the county. If you see any of my signs lingering along the roadside, please let me know at barry.j@mindspring.com or at 732-4384.
Also published in the Carrboro Citizen and the Chapel Hill News.
Davis Injury Yields Henson Revelation
My latest column was published at TarHeelBlue.com last week.
The news that Ed Davis decided to turn pro unofficially concluded North Carolina’s 2009-10 basketball season.
The Tar Heels have now yielded 19 players early to the NBA, going back to Robert McAdoo in 1972. That’s believed to be more than any other school, and an indication both of the caliber of players who come to Chapel Hill and of the handicap UNC coaches overcome year in and year out in maintaining program continuity.
In fact, you could argue the spotty results of the ’10 season reflected the difficulty, often overlooked, of adjusting to early departures.
Roy Williams did a masterful job of maintaining the program’s stride in 2006, a year after winning a national title and watching four key players leave early – Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants. A similar exodus ensued following the 2009 championship, with junior backcourt starters Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington going pro alongside seniors Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green.
Given recent precedent, it was easy to assume Williams and Company would adjust seamlessly.
So much for assumptions. (more…)
Gratifying News
Major endorsements have come in, and the news is good. I was endorsed on consecutive days this week by The Independent Weekly and the local Sierra Club chapter. Both have endorsed me previously, although the Indy was more enthusiastic than it’s ever been.
The Weekly said it “strenuously” endorsed me, citing “a track record of leading on the county’s environmental and social issues” and my “immense experience, both locally and regionally, as a leader of intergovernmental organizations.”
Other excerpts:
* “He’s by far the best versed on the issues, and in office, he often is the one moving the board forward with pragmatic solutions.”
* “We can’t see any reason to cut the county off from this type of leadership and institutional memory and expertise.”
Read more at http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/orange-county-races/Content?oid=1372571
Thanks, Indy. And thanks to the Orange/Chatham Sierra Club!
Great local success habit, not happenstance
Orange County’s largest property owner has a pretty good men’s basketball team this season, and it’s given a boost to my miniscule career as a basketball television expert.
This morning at 6:40 I was on WRAL’s Early Show, invited by Bill Leslie, to discuss Duke’s prospects tonight in the NCAA tournament championship game. (Turns out Bill is a gifted writer and musician as well as a TV talker. He kindly gave me a CD of his music, and a lovely book, “Blue Ridge Reunion,” that contains his words and his father’s rich drawings of NC mountain vistas.)
(more…)
Nine, and counting
We have nine candidate forums scheduled so far. The events give you a fair idea of what’s on the minds of community members, not to mention the other candidates.
- March 24:Orange-Chatham Sierra Club. 7:00-9:00 PM at Chapel Hill Town Hall.
- March 25 : Orange County Democratic Women. 7:30-9:30 PM at OWASA on Jones Ferry Rd., Carrboro.
- April 1: Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP. 7:00 PM at Chapel Hill Town Hall.
- April 6: New Hope Improvement Association. 7:00 PM at New Hope Community Center on Whitfield Road.
- April 7: Northern Orange Black Voters Alliance. 6:00 PM at Old Court House in Hillsborough.
- April 12: Orange County Democratic Party Precincts from Town Hall, Carrboro, Lion’s Club, OWASA, and North Carrboro. 6:30-8:00 PM at McDougle Elementary School, Carrboro.
- April 13: Carol Woods Community Relations Committee. 3:00-4:30 PM at Carol Woods Assembly Hall, Weaver Dairy Road, Chapel Hill.
- April 14: Chapel Hill PTA Council. 7:00 PM at Chapel Hill Town Hall
- April 15: Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce. 7:00 PM at Leland Little’s Auction House, Cornerstone Court, Hillsborough.
Last night the Orange-Chatham Sierra Club hosted our first forum at Chapel Hill Town Hall. It was recorded for cable and blogged on orangepolitics. The issues raised understandably had a strong environmental focus, which is quite comfortable for me. Most of the questions evoked informative responses; in our at-large race I think you could tell who knew the whole county and who did not.
When I first ran for commissioner in 1998, there were seven of us vying for three seats. We had something like 14 campaign-specific events in a 40-day span. Last time I ran, in 2006, we had a similar number of candidates but only three forums. Fortunately, it looks like community interest and involvement have revived.
Running the forum racetrack has its own rhythms. A major challenge comes in answering the questions intelligently, directly and succinctly.
Event formats have proven strikingly dissimilar this go-round, with more questions coming from audience members and less order imposed by moderators on which candidates respond to which queries. Certainly a more lively way to do things.
Courtside at the ACC Tournament
Here at the Greensboro Coliseum, it’s chilly with so few people in the stands. Teams get an hour to practice on Wednesday, the day prior to the first round of the ACC Tournament.
N.C State just left the court, and Virginia Tech is out there now. There’s a smattering of fans in the stands, but not much air of excitement. This should change tomorrow.
This year’s oddity, of course, is that North Carolina, winner of 17 ACC Tournaments, participant in more than three of four semifinals since 1954, enters as the No. 10 seed in the 12-team field. To capture the 2010 men’s title, the Tar Heels would have to win four games in four days. They haven’t won more than two in a row this calendar year, and no team has won four times in four tries since that became a tournament possibility in 1992.
Usually UNC fans form a significant contingent in the stands at any ACC Tournament, buying up the tickets of supporters of other teams as their favorites are eliminated. Should the Heels kick the dust quickly, Duke fans will probably flood the place, attracting the most animosity too.
But who will comprise the largest counterveiling force is anybody’s guess.
Thoughts from the first session…
The first session of the ACC Tournament produced wins by a pair of lower-seeded teams. Virginia’s win over Boston College, No. 9 versus No. 8, was a minor surprise. More remarkable — and problematic in some respects — was Miami’s dominance in the second game against No. 5 Wake Forest.
The Hurricanes posted the fourth win in five years by a No. 12 seed. That’s how long the ACC has had a dozen members.
A fifth seed is sort of a jinx – no No. 5 has ever won the ACC Tournament in 56 years.
Wake Forest entered this year’s tournament with four losses in its five previous games, and was met with scattered boos as it left the court at halftime trailing by 14. Plenty of Demon Deacon fans apparently are here at the Greensboro Coliseum, where Wake used to play home games in the 80s.
Miami, 4-12 in the ACC regular season and 18-12 overall after a 15-1 start, basically had its way with Wake, posting a comfortable 83-62 victory, after the teams split their two previous meetings, with each winning on its home court.
Recall that last season, with two first-round NBA draft choices in James Johnson and Jeff Teague, Wake lost its first ACC Tournament game as the second seed, then was humiliated in its NCAA tournament opener by Cleveland State. This year’s Deacs are thought to be NCAA-bound, but their late-season performance is going to impress no one.
All of which could spell trouble for head coach Dino Gaudio, who ascended to his job from an assistant’s role after the sudden death of Skip Prosser in the summer of 2007.
Wake loses four seniors, three of them starters, following this season. Gifted sophomore forward Al-Farouq Aminu is also expected to leave early and head to the NBA. That means a recent record of disappointment, the prospect for significant rebuilding in the immediate future, and a very unhappy fan base.
Meanwhile, a Miami win salves what has been a very disappointing season for head coach Frank Haith, who grew up in Burlington and graduated from Elon.