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I saw this score on the ESPN bottom line earlier this week and assumed that it was either a typo or that I really needed to get some sleep.

It read, "The Citadel 126, Kissimmee 43"

What?!? Look, I saw The Citadel play earlier this year, and the Bulldogs are, in a word, not good. Just what kind of team could be soooo bad that it would lose by 83 POINTS to these guys?

I had to know.

As it turns out, Kissimmee isn't even the name of the opponent. It's Florida Christian College, in Kissimmee, Florida.

Why was The Citadel playing this team? You really need to read this article by Jeff Hartsell of the Charleston Post & Courier, which curiously, is posted on The Citadel's website.

There are some priceless quotes in there.

Like this:

"We need a good fundamental practice (today), because this game, I don't think we got a lot out of as far as getting better." -- Pat Dennis, head coach of The Citadel

and this:

"The reason I did this was for the experience for our kids. They've never played in a place this big against a team like The Citadel. This will only help them when we get into our conference." -- Phillip Smith, head coach of Florida Christian

How does an 83-point loss help? I'm really curious to find out. I'll be tracking FC's progress - or lack thereof - this season (assuming I can find their scores) to find out if there really is honor in such a pathetic defeat.

No we're really not picking on The Citadel. Honest. It's a tough place to recruit to and a tough place to put together a winning basketball program.

But what's up with this schedule? First Florida Christian, which the Bulldogs pounded, 126-43. Now here comes Atlanta Christian, which got waxed by The Citadel, 126-61 on Monday night.

We'll dispense with a lengthy critique of who these guys are and just show you the team photo. Does that look like a D-1 team to you?

(total side note. I'm pretty sure that no Christians were actually ever fed to the lions in the Roman Colisseum. I believe the tradition of feeding prisoners to the lions ended before the rise of Christianity. Not 100% sure though. I took that trip to Italy before the birth of my daughter 15 months ago. Everything before that day now seems like a very distant memory.)

I'd planned to blog this yesterday, just after UNCG had knocked off ECU on the road.

The point then was that the Spartans (now 5-3) could be a real threat to go the NCAA tournament this season. They have the two key ingredients you need to win in the SoCon: a big man who plays bigger than his size (6-6 Kyle Hines) and a guard who can can fill it up when he's hot (i.e. Ricky Hickman. In addition, there is a third scoring option in shooter Kevin Oleksiak My biggest question is whether the Spartans can handle the ball well enough in critical games. UNCG is averaging almost 20 turnovers per game right now.

So that was my original point. But a few other results have forced me to append my comments.

First, I saw that Davidson whipped Missouri for the second straight season, 82-73. While that may say as much about how precarious Quinn Snyder's job security is out in Columbia, it also reveals that once again the Wildcats are a major force to be reckoned with (watch out UNC, they'll be in Chapel Hill on Jan. 3). No real suprise there, this team went undefeated in the SoCon regular season last year before getting knocked by the G in the SoCon tourney.

But then I saw that Chattanooga knocked off mid-major power Creighton. Granted the Blue Jays were playing without their leading scorer, Nate Funk, but still, an impressive win.

And then I saw that Wofford missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have knocked off unbeaten Clemson, a team that looks like it could be dangerous in the ACC this year. And Appalachian State hung with Tennessee right to the end. Yes, the same App State team that had earlier been destroyed by Davidson, 102-69.

So what's my conclusion? Well, Davidson's still the class of the conference. But I think the line of contenders for the crown is getting longer, with G likely at the head of it.

Thanks a lot, W.

But seriously, folks.

I don't think anti-Americanism had anything to do with it, but boy, you almost wonder when you look at the draw the U.S. got for the 2006 World Cup. Joining the U.S. in group E will be Italy, the Czech Republic (ranked No. 2 in the world) and Ghana, arguably Africa's top team. As Jerry would say, "Good luck with all that!"

SI's soccer guru Grant Wahl breaks down the draw here.

Here's my take on it:

Man, do I really wish the U.S. could start things off with Italy. The well-gelled boys from the Mediterranean always seem to get off to a slow start in the World Cup (see, Ireland, 1994). I had visions of the U.S. getting an early goal and holding on for the upset.

As good as the Czech Republic has been in recent European Championships, somehow I can't shake the feeling that the Czechs could be this year's Portugal. I'm sure the U.S. team is feeling the same way.

Ghana? Who knows. African teams have traditionally been extremely dangerous, but also capable of laying an egg. Here's hoping the U.S. catches them at the right time.

My projection? I think the U.S. sneaks into the main draw by finishing second in the group (with a 1-1-1 record) but then goes up against mighty Brazil in the first round and goes out. It'll be an earlier exit than 2002 by a team that is clearly better than its previous version. Unfortunately, those are the breaks when you only seed eight teams in the draw.

I'd be curious to read what our resident soccer guru, sports editor Joe Sirera, thinks.

So I'm watching Sportscenter on Saturday when the highlights started rolling for the Oklahoma State-Gonzaga game ...

... and they showed a guard for OK State named Jamaal Brown sinking a 3-pointer.

Wait a sec? Is that the same Jamaal Brown?

Why yes, yes it was. The very same Jamaal Brown who signed a letter of intent with UNCG in the fall of 2001.

I was covering the Spartans at the time and I remember watching with growing interest as Brown had a dynamite senior season, leading Westinghouse High School to the Illinois state title and then winning the MVP award in the Chicago-New York all-star game. And I remember talking to then UNCG coach Fran McCaffery as he waited (and waited) for Brown to get a qualifying SAT score.

Never happened. Brown never qualified, was denied admission and wound up at Utah Valley State. Here's the rest of his bio from the Oklahoma State site.

Pretty impressive huh? Makes you sort of wonder what might have been, doesn't it? Brown would have been coming in right on the heels of Courtney Eldridge, perhaps providing the next star point guard for the Spartans. Instead, UNCG spent the next few years relying on Ronnie Taylor, who never seemed comfortable in the point guard role, and Ray Bristow, who showed flashes but never truly grasped how to run McCaffery's offense.

Why didn't Brown qualify? Maybe he just never could get that necessary score. But he took so long to take the test that suspicions arose that perhaps Brown had been instructed not to qualify. Doing so would have gotten him out of his LOI to UNCG and allow him to sign with a power conference team after spending a year or two at a prep school or a juco. That sort of thing does happen - i.e. player signs with mid-major, blows up his senior season, suddenly can't seem to fit the SAT into his schedule, doesn't qualify, winds up at a prep school then ends up at a power conference the next year. App State fans will swear up and down that's what happened with former West Rowan star Donte Minter, who orginally signed with the Mountaineers but ended up at Fork Union and then eventualy signed with UVA.

Whether that was the plan with Brown (or with Minter) we'll never know. But Brown did end up at OK State, where he's now the starting point guard. I gotta think he would have made quite an impact in the SoCon.

After seeing some sparring on the ACC message boards about which school bought more tickets for the Charlotte bowl -- UNC last year or N.C. State this year? -- I checked around to see how some other schools are doing with bowl ticket sales. I came across this interesting item about buying proxy tickets for the Music City Bowl at UVa's athletics Web site.

The guiding principle: Buy tickets to be donated to local families so you don't have to travel to Nashville to see your lousy team and the school will still get credit for ticket sales, thus helping to eradicate this nasty image of Virginia as a school that doesn't travel to football games. Wonder how that reputation got started. In any case, it's a pretty crafty plan. But it means we can't trust the numbers.

Actually, it is funny to read -- on message boards and elsewhere (quotes from GT AD Dave Braine, for instance) -- that Georgia Tech would've brought a huge contingent to Nashville. Sure, the Jackets are coming off the upset of Miami, but since when do their fans travel? And didn't they lose to Virginia? So I don't really understand the uproar.

Ah, the return of the ACC season. That means barbecue instead of pizza on the press room buffet. Good times.

On a totally random sidenote, I hadn't had a chance yet to comment on the music video the Bengals recently made. While I normally am vehemently opposed to such stunts - really, can you ever hope to top the Super Bowl Shuffle - I have to say this one gets my approval.

Why? Bootsy Collins.

Yes, the prominent member of Parliament Funk is the master behind this musical tour de force, giving it just enough funk to have credibility.

OK, time for the tip.

USA Hockey announced its roster for the '06 Olympics in Turin, Italy, this week, and I have to tell you, this team looks very old, bordering on decrepit, to me. Mike Modano, Doug Weight, Keith Tkachuk, 44-year-old Chris Chelios, and so on. If AARP membership helps your chances at gold, then the U.S. is set.

Personally, I'm partial to a younger, more exciting breed of players -- new blood -- especially after the NHL labor strife of the past two years. Out with the old. We don't have a Sidney Crosby (Canada) or Alex Ovechkin (Russia), but I would've like to have seen C Tim Connolly and D's Paul Mara and Paul Martin.

To be fair, there is some decent young talent on the roster. And there is some speed, which fits the Olympic game, with its bigger sheet of ice, and fits the coaching style of Team USA coach Peter Laviolette, who has Carolina rolling under the NHL's new, wide-open rules. Brian Gionta, Erik Cole, Jason Blake are solid goal-producers.

It was also good to see Mark Parrish, the brother of former Greensboro General Geno Parrish, make it.

Interesting snubs: Jeremy Roenick (another old-timer) and Bruins defenseman Brian Leetch, one of the best power-play point men in the NHL.

And it's hard not to be worried about the goalie situation. The U.S. has John Grahame, the injured Robert Esche and Rick DiPietro to defend the net -- none in the top 25 in NHL save percentage. Meanwhile, Canada just announced today that Marty Turco, Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo (55 saves Sunday vs. Washington) will be on its roster. That's a decisive mismatch.

At least the U.S. goalies have youth on their side.

John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News makes a pretty solid case for how the Olympics throws the competitive balance of the NHL season off-kilter, thus we're probably better off without it. Then again, I don't think he needs to pick on the '98 Capitals and '02 Hurricanes to make his point. Let's face it, the Flyers underachieve in the playoffs even in non-Olympics years.

Dave Glenn, publisher of the ACC Sports Journal and an erudite Raleigh-area radio commentator on all things ACC football and basketball, now has a must-read sports blog. Check it out here, where today he expounds on the recently released, and revised, ACC graduation rates -- you can read N&R reporter Robert Bell's story on the subject here -- and comes down hard on Grinch sports columnists who grouse about 28 being too many college bowl games.

To them, he says:

So whether or not you're a long-fingered, canine-abusing, furry green guy, or perhaps just a sportswriter who's too lazy and unoriginal to come up with a better idea for a column, you probably have more important things to worry about than a handful of mostly meaningless football games. Kiss your wife. Play with your kids. Hug your girlfriend. Heck, introduce the wife to the girlfriend.

And, may I add: Yes, why complain? There are a lot of TV channels to choose from, especially if you have digital cable or satellite. So shut up, turn the channel, sit back and let the free-market economy do its thing. Of course, the BCS cartel isn't exactly a shining beacon of capitalism. And the bowls don't allow us the equal-opportunity excitement the NCAA basketball tournaments do. But I'm not a columnist. And I don't want to be a Grinch. So I'll leave it right there.

As for the wife meeting the girlfriend, that's the kind of halftime entertainment that would likely boost the attendance at such pre-Christmas snoozefests as the New Orleans and GMAC bowls.

So Willie Parker is just 63 yards shy of 1,000 in his second NFL season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. With two weeks to go, I imagine he'll get there -- he better, he's on the Van Buren Boys' fantasy-football roster. As any North Carolina football fan can tell you, Parker never rushed for 1,000 yards in a season with the Tar Heels. In fact, he finished with 1,147 in his four-year career. And no Tar Heel has eclipsed 1,000 since Jonathan Linton in '97.

Yet, here Parker is about to join a list of Steelers 1,000-yard rushers that includes Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier and Jerome Bettis. How do you figure? He had a great career at Clinton H.S., but quickly established a reputation in Chapel Hill for his breakaway speed ... when running to the sidelines. Either he's a late bloomer, has developed a new-found toughness and willingness to run north-south or the UNC coaches gave up on him/failed to develop him to his potential.

So which is it?

Ask, and thou shalt receive. Here's a timely story from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review with thoughts from Parker as well as UNC running backs coach Andre' Powell on what went wrong for the Steelers tailback at Chapel Hill.

An excerpt:

Bunting wanted Parker to gain weight and become more of a power back. Parker, who was 200 pounds at the time, wanted nothing to do with Bunting's plan.

"He said to me, 'If Willie ain't going to do it, it's my way or Willie's going to hit the highway,' " Parker said of a conversation he had with Bunting.

And from Powell:

"In retrospect, we probably could have done some things differently with Willie," Powell said Monday. "But we were trying to develop our own style. When we got there, North Carolina was a finesse team, but we were bound and determined to be a (physical) running team. We wanted things done a certain way. We have more 1,000-yard rushers in our history than any other program. We hadn't had one since 1997. We wanted to get back to that."

Parker, though, never bought into the new staff's power-ball philosophy.

Of State's 68-64 win at Alabama.

Strange, strange game. How often do you see a team win a game when it doesn't attempt its first free throw until there are less than 20 seconds remaining? How often do you see a team have a shot to win or tie the game in the final minute after it's been outscored, 33-3 from the 3-point line?

Talk about a contrast in styles. State's perimeter passing and shooting versus Bama's pound the ball inside, then grab it off the glass if you miss the shot.

State prevailed because it made 11 3's, it commmitted only a handful of turnovers and it had an answer every single time Bama made a run. Yes, State did give up 13 offensive rebounds and yes, Bama shot almost 43 percent against the nation's leader in field goal percentage. But the Wolfpack is heading back to Raleigh with a 9-1 record. Not too shabby.

I've seen this thread running on State message boards, started by some of the Wolfie's more pessimistic fans. It goes something like this - "State shoots too many 3s. When it hits a game where the 3s aren't falling, it'll be in trouble."

That's true, to some extent. But consider this - there's no way State wins this game without its long-distance shooting. Bama didn't turn the ball over much, it shot pretty well from the field and when it missed shots, it got a lot of second chances. Meanwhile, due to the contrast in styles - and maybe, just maybe a little home-cooking from the refs - Bama went to the free throw line with regularity, while the Pack never even came close. So how was State going to make up those points? By minimizing its turnovers and maximizing its points per possession - i.e. shooting and making 3s.

Also there's this: maybe one or two Wolfpack players have off shooting nights, but what are the chances that Evtimov, Atsur, Bethel and Bennerman, maybe even Brackman, are all going to go cold on the same night? Not too often.

Plus, it was no fluke that the Pack came into the game only allowing its opponents to make 35.7 percent of their shots. This is a top-flight defensive team.

That means it's still an upper division ACC team and a lock to make the NCAAs. What else can the Pack achieve beyond that? We'll see.

Yes, I'm still working feverishly on N.C. State-USF bowl preview stuff (sick of it yet??), but I did manage to keep one eye on the Virginia-Minnesota game that just finished. The Cavs pulled it out, 34-31.

This was the sort of game that provides the argument for having 28 bowl games. Did either team really deserve to be in the post-season? That's debatable. But we still witnessed a heck of a game that probably would never have occurred otherwise. It was a chance to see Minnesota's punishing running game and to see Virginia's Marques Haggans and Wali Lundy one more time. No one disappointed.

And hey, how about Al Groh filling three or four coaching positions all by himself?

Meanwhile, Northwestern and UCLA are staging a shootout in the Sun Bowl and my beloved chickens are getting ready to play in the Independence Bowl. Ahhh, bowl season, baby!