I grew up a fan of ACC basketball. Atlantic Coast Conference college hoops, nothing better. I could go on all day about the near-operatic drama of the conflicts between the rival programs, but I won't. I was, and remain to this day, a North Carolina Tarheel, and have always been pleased that the various rivalries in the conference involved us: Carolina-Duke, Carolina-State, on occasion Carolina-Wake Forest. I respected and admired Coach Dean Smith long, long before I realized that Smith was a staunch and principled Democrat. For years I considered it a badge of honor for Smith, who could have run for and probably won any elective office in the state that he chose, including senator or governor, to consistently and politely decline to run for anything. He remains, to this day, above the fray.
But that approach has its price, both politically and on the court. Cross over the halfcourt squiggle and let's run some plays on the subject.