Duke, back where they belong.

After another frantic weekend of NCAA basketball, the Duke Blue Devils are back in the number one spot in the polls. Duke, under Coach K has been and as long as Krzyzewski is the coach there will be a favorite to win another championship. To all of the Duke haters out there, why. Coach K has always run a clean program. Never a hint of scandal. He gets quality young men and molds them into a winning team the right way. Admit it, the only reason you hate Duke is that they win and beat your favorite teams. That, is what they are supposed to do. Give them credit for doing this the right way. They lost a very talented, freshman, point guard, Kyrie Irving, early in the season. Kyle Singlar is not having his most productive year. What do the Blue Devils do? They go out and win basketball games. Coach K and his talented staff does not accept excuses. They adjust. Quality teaching and coaching makes this look easy, it is not, but it is something Duke does regularly. This takes us back to what I stated earlier Duke is right back where they belong, the number one basketball program in college.

Jimbo Fisher the FSU savior?

Did Jimbo Fisher come in just at the right time to become the savior at FSU? The record so far bears that out. This past year not only did we beat Florida, quite easily as I recall, in the regular season, we beat them in the recuiting war. We turned Urban Meyers into a retired coach. We have Florida fans stumbling over their words to hurry up and remind us that they had a winning streak against us. Yeah they did but remember it is what you have done lately. They have to get a new system up and running, while we are settleling into our comfort zone. Remember you had, argueably the best college player ever in Tim Tebow. While he is gone. So is Meyers. Meanwhile Jimbo has come in and started that road back to greatness for Florida State Seminoles. Am I baiting all of you Gator fan out there? Absolutely. Let here what if anything you have to say. There is one restriction. You cannot say, hopefully. Like in hopefully our new coach, will get this done, or hopefully our returning players will play better, or hopefully we will avoid injuries. I have heard the excuses this year. When FSU lost I just smiled and waited for next year. While my next year, is this year and what a great year it will be. Oh and that smile, it is bigger then ever, thanks to Jimbo Fisher.

Down goes Ohio State

Finally, the pretenders that they usually are, The Ohio State basketball team went down to defeat. This will keep them from swooning in the NCAA Tournament while they fake being the number one team in the country. Year after year we watch as Ohio State goes from everybody's  team to beat, to the team that everyone seems to have a chance to beat. Wisconsin is the latest team to end the charade. The Badgers are, as they are every year a very good team and is always capable of pulling the surprise. However Ohio State is one of those teams that, at this time of the year, finds a way to be that surprised team. Next up at number one, we have another team, the Texas Longhorns, that are also very capable of losing their next time out. Will they be able to hang on long enough to see the Number 1 ranking before they loose? We will see. The best time of the year, March Madness is right around the corner. I am so ready!

What if we did not hate the other team.

When we got started on my new sports blog, I asked people to name the teams they loved and the teams they hated. I listed some of the better known rivalries and asked for your opinions. Now I want to ask the question, 'What if the teams we hate the most did not exist?" Think about the new season starting but University of Florida did not have games against Florida State, Alabama or Georgia. Things would be pretty dull. The best thing about the teams we hate is they provide us with the emotion to watch the sports we love. How many time do you get excited when Duke's basketball team plays Al's Barber College at the beginning of the year? Do you turn the TV on with anticipation of seeing a great game or do you watch reruns of, "American Idol?" Come on and admit it you love to play the teams you hate. Even if you are not a follower of a great rivalry, come clean, you still want to watch that game. So the next time you want to call the Seminoles the Criminoles, or hate on the Yankees, remember you want those teams, you need those teams. The alternative without rivalries just wouldn't be the same.

Duke vs North Carolina One of the best rivalries in sports.

Last night Duke and Carolina renewed their ACC rivalry. I believe this is one of, if not the best rivalry in sports. To have this type of atmosphere, we have to have certain elements in place. First the teams have to be geographically close, in this case a mere 15 miles apart. Second both teams have to have a tradition of winning. Third there has to be something of value at stake when they meet. Lastly they have to have a fan base of zealous supporters. This match-up usually has all of the above factors and more. Duke fell behind by 14, only to come back and win 79-73. I know several of you are going to come up with your opinion of the greatest rivalries, so let me know if you agree and if not which team match-up are better and why. Some to think about are Yankees-Red Sox, Florida-Florida State, Southern Cal-Notre Dame, Celtics-Lakers or Ohio State-Michigan. There are more, but this should whet your appetite for options.

Welcome to the Beginning!

Here we go. This is my new blog. My America Voice blog touches my passion for politics and social issues, and now Old School Sports will release my passion for sports. As the title states I am old school and not just in age. Being old school however, does not mean we will only look at sports in the past. I will endeavor to keep up to date and talk about relevant issues and today's games. You, my readers and commentators are the key to the flow of this blog. Help me by placing in front of me the topics you want to discuss. I will throw out some of my ideas and we will go from there. I am a Pittsburgh Steeler, Florida State, Orlando Magic, Duke basketball, Pittsburgh Pirate and University of Pittsburgh fanatic. I hate the Baltimore Ravens, University of Florida, Miami Heat, North Carolina basketball, New York Yankees and Penn State. That is a snapshot of my favorites and the teams I despise the most. I am sure this will give us a starting point. So lets get started.