1. ACC Barnstorming Tour

I mentioned about this in last week’s post but I got a cool birthday gift: tickets to the annual ACC Barnstorming Tour at my high school alma mater – VIP style! The tour featured several players from UNC, N.C. State and Duke as well as some local talent. The main event was a game pitting the ACC All-Stars against the Durham All-Stars but there was also a Three-Point Shootout and Dunk Contest between the two squads. After the game, I was able to attend a VIP reception where I met some of the players and got autographs, including UNC senior standouts: Marcus Paige, Brice Johnson and Joel James. Some photos from the event – all except the last two taken by yours truly for obvious reasons –  are below.

The view from my seat at the game.

The view part two.

Me with UNC’s Joel James.

Me with UNC’s Marcus Paige.

2. Duke WBB Investigation

Interesting story developing in Durham. Numerous media outlets, including ESPN, reported on Tuesday that Duke University Human Resources is leading an internal review of the women’s basketball program after several players have decided to leave since midway through the 2015-16 season. According to ESPN, two players announced they were leaving the program at the end of the season while another announced she was transferring midway through the season. ESPN reported that sources close to the situation say the review is regarding head coach Joanne McCallie’s tenure at Duke and her treatment of players and staff during that time.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

3. Texting at the Movies?

This has been a very talked-about story this week. On Tuesday, AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron said in an interview with Variety that his company would begin testing the idea of allowing texting in some of the theater chain’s auditoriums in an effort to make some theaters more inviting for those who would like to use their cell phones while watching a movie. Quickly after the interview was published, social media went ablaze with criticism which, according to USA Today, falls right in line with a Pew Research Center survey that showed 95 percent of Americans polled saying it’s not okay for someone to use their phone at a movie theater or other place that’s usually deemed as quiet.

Due to this swift and critical response, Aron said in a statement on Friday that AMC was ditching the plan altogether, citing consumers made their voices “loud and clear” that they did not want the use of cell phones to occur during a movie. For me, I absolutely despise the use of cell phones during a movie unless it’s an absolute emergency. In that case, the person should step out of the auditorium. If you can’t go two hours without typing away on your phone, you may need to get that checked out. I’m not even playing!

4. Survivor Talk

Okay, I’ll just go ahead and say it: this season of Survivor is just not that good. I mean, it’s hard to top the past two seasons in my opinion, but this season is too predictable and there is not a single castaway that I’m rooting for. I usually pick at least one or two but none of this season’s castaways are doing anything for me.

That leads me to my main arguing point. There are a couple of, what many on social media have called, bullies on the show. Scot and Jason have been the most annoying and, quite frankly, appalling castaways since the onset of this season. That came to a head in this week’s episode after the tribe blindsided the duo’s alliance at Tribal Council. Scot and Jason, acting much like sore losers, concocted a plan to sabotage their newly-merged tribe by hiding tools essential for everyday survival and dousing the tribe’s fire with water.

Now, hiding the tools was pretty childish but dousing a fire out of spite of what happened or whatever is ridiculous and absolutely uncalled for. I’d venture to say it was a slap in the face to the game of Survivor. I don’t think it’ll happen but, if either Scot – who, in my opinion, shouldn’t be on the show anyway given he’s a former NBA Basketball player – or Jason end up winning, I’ll will not watch Survivor again.

5. Katie Basden on The Voice

As I’ve said before, I have some incredibly talented friends. Katie Basden went to elementary school with me and we went our separate ways thereafter. Thanks to Facebook, I discovered that she had started a career in the music industry. Somehow we reconnected and now I’m proud to support Katie and her career. I’ve been to a show or two of hers in the area and I’ve purchased her music- including her latest album, you best go check that out 🙂

Anyway, Katie’s hard work led to an audition on the NBC show The Voice, where she made it all the way to the live “Playoffs Round” before being cut. You know, I don’t get what these shows are looking for. Katie is an amazing talent and deserved to go much further on the show than she did. Of course, I have a very strong disdain for The Voice anyway, so it’s easy for me to be critical.

Oh well. I’m proud of ya, Katie! I know you’ll continue to do great things.

Thanks for Reading