Demon Deacons and Wolfpack meet in ACC clash

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/26/2009 - Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the oldest rivalries in the ACC adds another chapter this evening, as the NC State Wolfpack invade Winston- Salem to battle the 13th-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons in conference action from the Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

This is the oldest rivalry for the Wolfpack, as this series dates back to the 1910-11 season. This contest will represent the 288th all-time meeting, with NC State holding a 131-97 series advantage. In addition, NC State has won nine of the last 14 meetings and is seeking the regular season sweep of the Demon Deacons after posting an 82-76 decision in Raleigh on February 11th.

Dino Gaudio's Demon Deacons jumped out to a fast start this season, but like a lot of teams, they have found the going a lot rougher in the ACC. Wake is just 7-5 in league play and is coming off a 101-91 shootout loss at Duke this past weekend.

The Wolfpack on the other hand are starting to find some consistency. Despite being a mere 5-7 in-conference, Sidney Lowe's squad has won three of its last four outings, including a 72-67 win over Virginia last Saturday.

It was a game of runs last time out, as NC State used significant runs in the first half (24-8) and the second half (17-4) to keep the Cavaliers at bay. The Wolfpack shot the ball effectively, at 53.2 percent, but needed guard Courtney Fells to put the game on ice with key free throws down the stretch. The bench did most of the damage for NC State, with C.J. Williams and Dennis Horner pouring in 16 and 12 points, respectively. Tracy Smith added 13 points to the cause, but leading scorer Brandon Costner, was held scoreless in 22 minutes of action.It was a surprisingly fruitless effort from Costner, who still leads the Wolfpack in scoring at 14.3 ppg. Center Ben McCauley adds to the cause up front with 12.4 ppg, while Fells leads the charge in the backcourt at 11.8 ppg.

Although the Demon Deacons came out on the losing end this past weekend, they once again proved that they are among the conference-elite in terms of offensive proficiency, putting up 91 points in Durham. On the year, Wake is converting nearly half its shots (.499), while rolling up 82.4 ppg. It certainly doesn't hurt to have the dynamic Jeff Teague on the floor. The sophomore sensation has the ability to take over a game at either end of the floor, leading WFU in scoring (20.3 ppg), assists (93) and steals (53). Forwards James Johnson (14.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and Al-Farouq Aminu (13.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg) give the team a pair of hard workers in the paint. The starting five rounds out with guard L.D. Williams (8.8 ppg) and center Chas McFarland (8.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg). Teague poured in 28 points and Johnson had 26, but it wasn't enough to earn a victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium this past weekend.Wake was down by 22 points on two separate occasions, but battled back and was within two points before Duke closed the game out. The Demon Deacons shot a sizzling 61 percent from the floor and also received double-digit efforts from Ishmael Smith (12 pts) and Williams (10 pts), but turned the ball over a costly 20 times, and was outscored at the free-throw line, 27-14.

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.