40

"Without Tyler, I don't think we'd be anything as good as we are,'' said forward David Noel, UNC's senior leader after losing its top seven players from last year's NCAA title team. "If you take away a guy like Tyler, we're probably looking at an 0-and-whatever record. ... He's definitely carried us this far, so hopefully, we can just continue to ride him."

The thing is, Noel's probably right. The Tar Heels would be 0-22 if it wasn't for Hansbrough. Last night against Georgia Tech he dropped 40. UNC had 82 total points. Yeah, that'll work. Almost more amazing than the fact that Hansbrough broke a bunch Dean Dome scoring records is that the Tar Heels were down 20 at one point in the first half. Twenty! To a Yellow Jackets team that was 3-8 in the conference, averaging 66% from the line and 38% from behind the arc. In the first twenty minutes? GT was perfect from the foul line and 9 for 10 on 3-pointers. It wasn't like these guys were getting wide open looks either. They were just on fire.

Still, Hansbrough had 23 points in the first half, and in the second half, the rest of the Tar Heels got in on the act. David Noel had two monstrous dunks, Reyshawn missed another, Wes Miller started hitting some threes, and Georgia Tech started missing everything they attempted.

It's also worth noting that UNC had fewer turnovers than their opponent (13-20). I don't know when that last happened, but if I had to guess, it would be: "the 2004-05 season." Also, Quentin Thomas is slowing making a run at Wes Miller's spot on the HSS No-Name Hall of Fame. He played 12 minutes last night, had one measly turnover, three assists and scored three points. My buddy Andy's still not sold on Quentin as a legit ACC point guard, and he's right. But right now, I feel like the guy who's son is the worst little leaguer on the team, and every time he doesn't strike out (even if that means he has to get hit by the pitch), it's a victory. Same with Quentin. Except I think he's too old to play little league. Either way, the guy's getting better. (You won't believe this until you see it -- I know I didn't -- but Thomas and Frasor have similar assist-to-turnover ratios. Now, I don't know how psyched Frasor would be to hear that his A/T is 1.9 and Thomas's is 1.8, but that's where we're at.)

Finally, I saw this in today's News and Observer and just the visual of Hansbrough "attacking the iron in the weight room is enough to make me chuckle. It actually makes sense after seeing Tyler, after being fouled on a potential three-point play under the basket, look up at the basket and yell, "Come on!" like he was mad at the rim for not making the ball go in:

The 6-foot-9 forward earned his "Psycho T" nickname from his strength coach who saw him attack the iron in the weight room. On Wednesday, he earned it again for the way he attacked the iron on the court.

***
More Random Steelers Stuff

... First things first. Julie raises a very important issue, and one that I obviously should've discussed a few days ago. Yep, that's right, the photo of the Steelers B-listers attending the Pit-WVU game in their full gameday getup (OK, they didn't bring their helmets, or their pads, or their game pants for that matter -- well except for Jeff Reed -- but those are minor details).

Anyway, let's take a look at the photo, player-by-player. From the left we have Antwaan Randle El. It would be easy to make an Arnold Jackson joke here, so I will. Randle El looks like Arnold Jackson. The cousin Eddie mock turtleneck, his Sunday School pants and the Bluetooth earpiece completes this ridiculous ensemble. Next to Randle El is Jeff Reed, who by the looks of it, just lost a bet. Of course, it could just be the case that Reed is trying to start a whole new denim koulots-Fame headband thing, which would explain a lot.

Simmons is the most normal looking of the bunch, and Brett Keisel looks to be making some sort of gang sign. Or maybe it's some kind of Mormon thing. Here's a question: why is Ricardo Colclough shorter than Jeff Reed? Other than this appearance, Greg Warren's mug was last in the paper when he and Morey and Gardocki tried to run that unintentional fake punt against the Ravens on Monday night. Good times. Given that Stuvaints blew up his knee, and was re-signed during the season after somebody went down with an injury, I think it's safe to say that he's lapping up every Super Bowl-related moment while he still has a job. And I can't blame him. Yeah, probably not a good idea to poke the bear, so I'll leave Art Rooney Jr. out of this.

... I'm not comfortable commenting on Tyrone Carter replacing Chris Hope as the starting free safety because, well, if I'm not laudatory in my remarks, he'll kill me. And I'm not speaking euphemistically here. I'm serious. He made it quite clear that if I spoke in unflattering terms about his playing ability he would add my skull to his ice cream truck. That is all I can say. That is all I will say.

... There was also a mention of Jeremy Bloom as a potential return specialist. He's flying from the Olympics straight to the Combine, so that's something to look for. Although, I saw a piece him on Total Access last night and he's very, very small. I mean Topher Grace small. And while he might be a great return guy, some NFL scout-types are concerned about his ability to do much else (like catch passes, or take hits). I guess the Steelers could add another player to the roster who's sole purpose is special teams ace (maybe Sean Morey and Chidi Iwuoma can get shirts made up that read, "Chicks dig guys who can only play special teams"), but at some point Pittsburgh's going to run out of roster spots.

... Speaking of Total Access, Mike Pereira, head of officials, was finally on to talk about the Super Bowl calls. Rich Eisen, who still believes that Ben didn't score on the touchdown (or at least he acts like he doesn't believe he scored), got Pereira to explain five of the biggest calls:

(1) Offensive pass interference on Darrell Jackson
(2) Ben's TD
(3) Darrell Jackson kicking the pylon
(4) Locklear hold
(5) Hasselbeck personal foul

Here's what I wrote right after the Super Bowl:

It'll be interesting to hear how Mike Pereira explains the calls this Wednesday. I suspect he'll say the officials blew the low block on Hasselbeck and maybe clarify the pylon ruling, but otherwise, he might not give too much ground on the other calls.

And guess what? That's exactly what happened. Of course, some of these calls were so clear-cut that it's like me predicting the sun will come up tomorrow, so it's not all that impressive, but hey, I'll take it. Seriously, looking back at all the mock outrage concerning the officiating, a lot of it came from people making ridiculous accusations without knowing the rules (see (1) and (3), for example). I'm sure Pereira's appearance won't change anything, but neither will all the bitching and moaning from the Spooky Mulder faction.

... Jeebus Duce, get your story straight. Honestly, at this point, does it even make sense trying to change your retelling of the events ... as they unfolded ... at a gentlemen's club ... at four in the morning ... while you were wearing 100 grand worth of jewelry? Yeah, I didn't think so. Israel mentions that the Steelers might be inclined to take a running back on the first day of the draft, and that's probably a good idea.

... Hey, Jim Wexell, one of my favorite Steelers beat writers, left a comment about Chris Hope, and he's not a big fan. Interesting stuff. I've mentioned before that Hope isn't the best tackler, but I think a lot of that has to do with him trying to lay people out without wrapping them up (with the notable exception of Reuben Droughns, who just bulldozed Hope all Sunday night long in their first regular season get-together). I agree that the Steelers shouldn't overpay for this guy, but I think they should make him a competitive offer. Of course, part of my problem is that I like keeping teams together and that's why I'll never be a GM (along with the fact that I'm spectacularly underqualified, bad at balancing my own checkbook [OK, I don't even have a checkbook], and can't even mistake my way into a decent draft in Madden -- which I guess qualifies me for the Detroit job). Right now, I'm still in the Hope camp, but after reading Wexell's thoughts, it does make me feel better about the Steelers' personnel situation heading into the offseason, whatever happens. Although, the fact that he agrees with reader Bill W. makes me wonder if they're the same person. But then again, Israel pretty much agreed with Bill W. too. Hmmm. Very interesting.

... As some of you may or may not know, I write the AFC North offseason articles for Football Outsiders. The first of these went up on Tuesday (and only had, like, 18 factual mistakes) and then was posted on FOXSports.com on Wednesday night. Well, I had this email waiting for me Thursday morning:

Hi Ralph,

read your article on Fox about the Ravens QB situation

boller is a bust, we all know that, but after that debacle, they would have to be idiots to follow up with McNair (lots of heart, but body's toooo beat up), Collins (days as a starter are over, if he can't throw to Moss, he's done), Charlie Batch??????? Pleeeeeease, where did that come from, the Titanic/

Culpepper, if he can ever play again, maybe.

gotta say again....Batch, that is toooo funny!

The reader's point on Charlie Batch is well taken and I have no problem with it. Actually, I don't have a problem with any of it. In fact, my favorite part is when he addresses me as, "Hi Ralph." Awesome. And I've always wanted a nickname. Ralph. Yeah, I like the ring of that. I always thought of myself as a Ralph Macchio type, but tougher.