News-Record.com

The amount of time, energy and words spent on covering college football recruiting is too mind-boggling to comprehend without getting a massive headache. Yet for all the chat rooms, message boards and Signing Day specials, there's never really been a book that took you inside the process or - in recruiting parlance - "the war room." Getting stories from the recruit's perspective has always been pretty easy. But truly understanding recruiting through the experiences of the coaches' whose livelihoods depend on it has eluded us, the recruiting junkies.

Make that "had" eluded us. Thanks to "Meat Market" by ESPN The Magazine's Bruce Feldman, we finally get a spot in the war room, to see how the sausage is made. Feldman spent much of the year between National Signing Day 2006 to the same day in 2007 shadowing the coaches at Ole Miss as they tried to put together a recruiting class.

Just getting that kind of access already makes Feldman's book unique. The guy who gave that access to Feldman, former Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron, makes an already interesting book a must read.

"When we turn this thing around, this is gonna make one helluva story," Orgeron tells Feldman early in the book.

Actually, Orgeron didn't turn things around. He got fired at the end of the 2007 season. Yet, having this knowledge in the back of your mind while you read "Meat Market" doesn't taint anything. If anything it adds a layer of poignancy as you see the coaching staff try to convince itself that it really has a shot at the nation's No. 1 recruit, Joe McKnight. (He chose Southern Cal, in case you didn't know.) And you get a pit in your stomach as offensive coordinator Dan Werner struggles to accomplish his main task - finding a stud quarterback.

Orgeron makes for a great protagonist. A Red Bull guzzling, ragin' Cajun who was once considered too wild even for Dennis Erickson, Orgeron is at his happiest when he's recruiting. It's hard not to crack a smile at a guy who tells his staff "Don't go out there trappin' and come back without no furs!"

How the staff figures out which furs ... err, prospects to go after is one of the more fascinating parts of the book. To summarize in brief, the Ole Miss coaches watch tape. Then they watch more tape. Then more tape. You get the picture. It's jarring sometimes how quickly a player can become a top target based on fives or six videotaped plays, or how quickly a recruit can get discarded because he didn't shed a blocker fast enough or show enough flexibility in his hips.

You also get a peek into the psyche of the assistant coaches doing the recruiting: Their tendencies to talk up the players they like; the pressure they feel from Orgeron, who is - to put it mildly - intense; the competition, though usually unspoken, they have with each other.

Feldman also spotlights the things you probably never thought about, like the endless organization that goes into recruiting. How many players should a school offer? (In Ole Miss's case, the goal was an astounding 200 offers). How high on "the board" should a player be? What about the other schools considering him? What about his grades? Is he worth bringing in for one of our limited number of official visits? How does a school schedule the limited amount of time out on the road it has to maximize the number of recruits its coaches can see in person?

It's all there in "Meat Market." Oh, and so in the wackiness that we've come to associate with college football recruiting. There's the wild goose chase to find a top recruit in the hours before signing day. There's McKnight text messaging an Ole Miss assistant about how fake his LSU recruiter is, while McKnight is on his official visit to LSU. And there's the bizarre ending to the recruitment of running back Robert Elliott.

"This whole dang thing's just plain crazy," one Ole Miss assistant tells Feldman.

Yep. But thanks to "Meat Market" at least it's now easier to understand the madness.

Steve Kirschner, UNC's SID, sent out the announcement a few hours before game time tonight. Ty Lawson is a no go.

That's huge period. But given that Clemson runs a full-court press that thrives off pressure and forcing turnovers, it's now even huger - if that was a word, of course.

So it's all set up. UNC reeling with the loss of its star point guard. The best Clemson team in recent years rolling into town after drubbing Boston College and Virginia (on the road!). This may be the best chance Clemson has had in my lifetime to break THE STREAK.

That streak, in case you were wondering, is currently at 52 games.

Could this be Clemson's first win ever in Chapel Hill then?

Nahhhh.

Clemson's up by 11 at the half, 45-34. Now granted, the Tigers are perfectly capable of blowing this lead and have done so in the past in Chapel Hill.

But it does seem like an evening for strange events.

For example, Liddie Dole has a front row seat for the game, right next to her opponent for the 2002 Senate race, Erskine Bowles. Making things even weirder, Dole, a Duke graduate, is sporting a baby blue blazer.

Oh, and Lee Melchionni is also in attendance.

I'm not saying ... I'm just saying ...

I had a feeling an email like this would be waiting for this morning when I checked my inbox. I was not disappointed.

"Your article neglected to mention the referees and the one-sidedness of their calls. 31 fouls against CU, 14 against UNC. 36 FT attempts for UNC, 7 for clemson. 2 tigers fouled out, many more in foul trouble. Tyler hansbrough can lower his shoulder and charge all night long and they will call nothing but blocking fouls. Clemson did make some mistakes in the last 3 minutes of regulation to blow a 10 point lead, but they were playing against the heels AND the refs all night long."
Believe me Tiger fan, I hear you.

First, let me just say that I've got roughly 630 words or so to capture my thoughts on a game in a game story. And, because we had early deadlines thanks to the wild winds on Sunday, I also had about 20 minutes to write my story. I chose to focus on the last stages of the game. As a consequence, the foul and free throw disparity couldn't be adequately addressed.

Now, having said that, I wouldn't read too much into those numbers. I know on the surface that it looks like Clemson got homered, given the huge difference in fouls and free throw attempts. But watching that game as an objective journalist, I just didn't feel that way. Part of it is an indictment of UNC's early defense. You can't foul someone if you're nowhere near them. Frequently that was the case with the Tar Heels' D. The worst example was when Cliff Hammonds split a double-team about 10 feet above the top of the key. He then dribbled straight down the lane for an uncontested layup. That should never, ever happen.

Also, keep in mind that Clemson was playing a much more aggressive style of defense. That allowed the Tigers to force more turnovers, but it also lead to more fouls.

Does that totally explain the wide gulf in free throws between the two teams? Probably not. Typically, human nature dictates that the home team will get a few calls. And usually the higher-ranked team does as well. That's not saying that there's anything deliberate on the part of the referees. Those are just factors that come into play when trying to make split-second decisions in an extremely physical game with 21,000 loud people watching you very closely.

Here's what Oliver Purnell had to say about it during the ACC teleconference today.

"I would have liked to have gone to the line a little more ...That affects a lot of things that happen in the game."

Asked if he might call the ACC offices to talk about the foul disparity, Purnell was again diplomatic.

"I haven't had a chance to look at the game yet ... My first thought is we weren't physical enough, we didn’t get it inside enough."

Purnell, as usual, took the classy high road. Reading between the lines he sounds like a man who feels his team should have gotten a few more calls but also should have played through that issue. That's what the great teams - like UNC and Duke - are able to do. Yes, sometimes the calls do go against the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils.

With 208, North Carolina's junior center has made more free throws than four Division I teams: Dartmouth (203); The Citadel (202); Northwestern (181) and Princeton (150).
Already UNC's career record-holder, Hansbrough remains on pace to break Lennie Rosenbluth's single-season standard of 285 in 1956-57.
Hansbrough is likely to become only the third junior in ACC history to amass 2,000 in a career, and at his current rate of 22.8 a game, he'll do it during Carolina's ACC Tournament opener on March 14. Dennis Scott of Georgia Tech (2,115 in 1990) and Duke's Jason Williams (2,079 in 2002) are the other members of the group.

Hopefully you saw my article last week about John Isner and his recent travails.

He's back on the court today at the SAP Open in San Jose. Unfortunately, because Isner is a player that U.S. tournaments are eager to showcase, he'll be the third match on Center Court tonight, with the first one not beginning before 7 p.m. That means it'll be a late night for John, and since he's on the West Coast, probably too late for us to get the result in the Tuesday paper. Keep your fingers crossed.

Don't worry though, I'll post the result and link to any relevant articles as soon as I can tomorrow.

What's that? Oh, the match? He's playing Frenchman Florent Serra, the No. 90 player in the world. He's 3-3 so far this season, with his best result a quarterfinals appearance in Chennai, a warmup tournament for the Australian Open. He's 26 years old and 2007 was the third straight year that he finished in the top 100. So he's an experienced player who's played top competition, but hardly a world-beater. In short, a pretty good draw I'd say, unless he turns out to be the reincarnation of fellow Frenchman Fabrice Santorro.

If Isner can win this match, he'd face the winner of No. 3 seed Tommy Haas and fellow American Robert Kendrick. He'd also pick up 15 valuable ranking points, which would likely vault him into the top 100. Currently Isner is at No. 106, 10 points behind the 100th ranked player.

First, mea culpa.

I told you I'd have an update on John Isner's results from the SAP Open yesterday and I failed to deliver. At least part of the blame falls on Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski, who kept me distracted with their latest public spat when I could have been blogging on Isner. So I'll apologize on their behalf as well. I'm sure they'd be fine with that.

Isner moved into the second round late on Monday night with a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Florent Serra. That win moves Isner into the second-round where he'll meet the winner of No. 3 seed Tommy Haas and Robert Kendrick. Strangely, those two haven't played yet. Kendrick and Haas play in the second match of the evening session tonight. So, if I'm figuring this correctly, Isner played his first-round match on Monday and then will have to wait until Tuesday for his Round of 16 match. Weird.

Isner's schedule in doubles is a little more normal. He and his partner, Donald Young, won their first-round match yesterday over Mardy Fish and Jurgen Melzer, 6-4, 6-4. They will play the world's top doubles tandem, Bob and Mike Bryan this afternoon in the quarterfinals.

The pairing of Isner and Young is intriguing, to say the least, and a little unexpected. Isner had told me he planned to play with fellow Georgia alum Travis Parrott in San Jose. Isner and Parrott won the only tournament they played together in last year, a Challenger in Lexington, K.Y. Instead, Isner and Young are together. Young, 18, is considered by many to be the next big thing in American tennis, but didn't really start putting things together until the middle of last year. He's now just above Isner in the rankings. Young is an interesting pairing with Isner becuase his forte is foot speed, while Isner's - in case you've been living under a rock - is his big serve. I'll be curious to see if Isner and Young try to pair up in tournaments after this one. I'm sure the USTA would like that.

As for the singles, I'll post a match time for Isner as soon as the SAP Open announces it. I won't let you down this time. I promise.

UPDATE: Just checked the ATP doubles rankings. Isner's currently No. 228 in the world, having played doubles in just six tournaments so far. The 40 points he's picked up so far in San Jose will move up into the 190s.

In case you didn't catch it in today's paper, John Isner advanced to the quarterfinals of the SAP Open yesterday afternoon with a three-set win over No. 3 seed Tommy Haas. Here's the writeup in the local paper, the San Jose Mercury News. The first part is about Andy Roddick, skim down to get to the good stuff about Isner.

That's 25 more ranking points racked up by Isner, who - even if he doesn't get by Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the quarterfinals this afternoon - will be at least in the mid 90's in the world rankings next week. The higher he rises in those rankings, the more ATP events Isner qualifies to play, which means more opportunities to earn big money and big points and continue to rise in the rankings.

More important than those ranking points, or $11,500 he gets just for reaching the quarterfinals, is the air of legitimacy this gives to what Isner did last summer. Not to take anything away from Isner's dramatic run to the finals of the tournament in D.C. or his third-round appearance in the U.S. Open, but until the SAP Open he'd been unable to duplicate those results. Granted, there haven't been that many tournaments in between and Isner's been injured for much of the beginning of this season, but I'm pretty sure that there were some in the tennis world who wondered whether he might be a flash in the pan, a big server who got hot for a couple of weeks in August and September last year.

After Thursday's dramatic win over Haas, the number of skeptics about Isner's game have to be dwindling.

As for Isner's opponent today, Garcia-Lopez, I don't know much about him. He's a 24-year-old Spaniard who is currently ranked 75th in the world, so he's certainly not in the phenom category. Garcia-Lopez has, though, put together some good results so far this year. He reached the quarterfinals in Chennai and the third round of the Australian Open, where he lost to eventual finalist Jo Wilfred-Tsonga. That's helped push him up from No. 90 in the world to his current spot at No. 75.

Conclusion: He's solid, but beatable.

We'll have the outcome of Isner's match here and in the paper as soon as we find out about them.

Sorry we didn't get this result in today's paper, but sometimes it can be hard for our humble paper to keep up with the relentless nature of the ATP Tour.

Or maybe we just assumed that John Isner would be took sick to play his first-round match in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championship in Memphis on Monday and would withdraw.

Instead, despited reportedly suffering from the flu, Isner dragged his 6-10 frame out on the court and nearly knocked off No. 7 seed Jurgen Melzer, 6-7(8), 6-3, 7-6 (4). Isner actually had a match point in the 12th game of the third set and then was up 4-3 in the tiebreaker before finally running out gas.

Here's the match report from the Commercial Appeal. And here's an interesting read from the Hunstville (Ala.) Times.

Melzer had a quote in the Hunstville story that caught my eye.

""He's a much better tennis player than Karlovic," Melzer said of Isner.

That would be Ivo Karlovic, the 6-10 Croation to whom Isner is frequently compared. Given that Karlovic is the No. 22-ranked player in the world, that's pretty high praise, I'd say.

Isner is scheduled to play doubles with Donald Young again, providing some creedence to Joe Sirera's theory that the USTA would really, really like to see these two paired up. Will Isner be healthy enough to make the match? Not sure, but at least it won't be played until Wednesday at the earliest. We'll be on the lookout for results.

Isner's next tournament after this one will the Tennis Channel Open, in Las Vegas. Heading into Memphis, he was ranked No. 93 in the world. I doubt he'll drop more than a spot or two despite his first-round loss in Memphis. Remember, until his first 12 months on the tour is up, Isner's only adding points.

Several people have asked me to post the comments I made about Jeff Carlton at his memorial service last Saturday. So here they are. Are they enough to do Jeff justice? Of course not. But they were my best shot.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like everyone here, it's been hard these last few days thinking about where Jeff won't be.

He won't be at the desk next to me in the office, spinning around in his chair to offer a bit of wit, insight or maybe a sarcastic comment about my Atlanta Braves and Bobby Cox.

He won't be sitting across from me in a booth at lunch, offering his wit, his insight, or maybe a sarcastic comment about my South Carolina Gamecocks and Steve Spurrier.

He won't be sitting around the table during a poker game, offering his wit, his insight or maybe a sarcastic comment about how lucky I got the hand before.

He won't be a lot of places in my life anymore, which is leaving an enormous hole that I have no idea how to fill.

But I'm going to try, as Jeff and other Phillies fans like him have learned over the decades, to accept crushing disappointment and move on.

To that end, I'm trying to stop focusing on the places where Jeff won't be and to spend more time thinking about the place where Jeff is now. Rob Daniels and I started riffing on this Thursday while in the office. It's exactly the sort of thing Rob, Jeff and I would have hatched over lunch at Fisher's.

Where Jeff is now: it's always 1980 for the Phillies. (Rob Daniels gets the credit for this one).

Where Jeff is now: the Washington Capitals are the most clutch playoff team in hockey.

Where Jeff is now: Al Groh is not Virginia's football coach and Craig Littlepage has no authority to offer contract extensions.

Where Jeff is now: Virginia Tech is on probation. Looooong probation.

Where Jeff is now: a road trip to see minor league baseball has already been planned and the car's got a full tank of gas. That car, by the way, has an XM station that plays only the Fixx, all day long and another that plays only Cracker.

Where Jeff is now: Ronald Reagan is probably the president. Yeah, Jeff was a bit different than the average journalist in that respect.

Where Jeff is now: he's always getting the card he needs on the river.

Where Jeff is now: he's got television with a channel that shows only Seinfeld, another that shows only Sopranos episodes and another in which every baseball game he watches is broadcast in the voice of Harry Kalas.

Where Jeff is now: deadline is always thirty minutes later.

Where Jeff is now: the copy editors always let him add five inches to his game story.

Where Jeff is now: he has the personal cell phone numbers of all the coaches and they all call him back, IMMEDIATELY.

Where Jeff is now: he has a dog that looks and acts a heck of a lot like Floyd.

Where Jeff is now: he's happy, at peace and waiting for the rest of us to join him one day ... and probably making a sarcastic comment about how long we're taking to get there.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

God grant you peace, Jeff.