VIRGINIA ICON BENNETT HIRED TO HELP NBA LAKERS WITH DRAFT

 Some opinion, mostly fact 

The Los Angeles Lakers have hired TONY BENNETT

 as advisor for the 2026 NBA draft in June. He will report 

directly to GM ROB PELINKA, and already there is 

speculation UVA’s all-time winner (364-136) “is going to 

stick around for more than just the draft.” You will recall 

he quit just prior to the start of the 2024-25 season, saying 

he couldn’t coach college hoops any more.

IT HAS BECOME almost too easy for Duke, which led 

47-30 at halftime Monday night at N.C. State which 

opened in a zone defense, something the Blue Devils 

haven’t seen very often and reacted with a customary ho-

hum … no big deal

It was tied at 18 midway through the opening 20 minutes. 

“This is the first time State has used the zone and, to this 

point, you have to say it has been successful,” said BOB 

CARPENTER, working the game on ESPN with former 

UVA standout CORY ALEXANDER.

So much for successful. With fewer than three minutes 

left before the break, the 27-2 Blue Devils led by 14 and 

kept pouring it on. The final score was 93-64 as they 

clinched first place in the ACC for the second straight 

year.

“We’ve been saying it for a couple of weeks … the No. 1 

seed [in the NCAA tournament later this month] is theirs 

to lose,” said half-time guest on ESPN JOE LUNARDI, 

generally considered the best of the braketologists.

Only “a couple of weeks?” Come on, Joe, tell us 

something we didn’t know!

“We’re seeing more teams [on the post-season tournament 

bubble] playing their way out than playing their way in 

… Auburn, Cal, Southern Cal, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, 

San Diego State ... all lost over the week end,” Lunardi 

said. “Everyone thinks the bubble stinks. It doesn’t stink. 

It’s just hard to win when you are playing other NCAA-

tournament-level teams.”

DUKE REMAINED No. 1 in the latest AP poll although 

it wasn’t unanimous.

Virginia fell two spots to No. 13.

UPSET OF THE WEEK: NASCAR president STEVE 

O’DONNELL admitted (finally), “deserted our fan 

base,” which has accounted for a decline in popularity the 

past two decades.

The stock car racing organization’s core audience, based 

in the southeast, didn’t like all the changes the governing 

body implemented to attract potential fans as its ambition 

to become a world-wide leader got in the way of common 

sense. An attempt to sell the sport via TV backfired. As a 

result, its popularity has sunk to an all-time low … which 

NASCAR is determined to overcome by returning to 

some once-abandoned tracks as well as a simpler 

championship format and, as O’Donnell put it, “by 

embracing our identity.”

In other words they hope that returning to the sport’s 

roots will make it grow.

BRUCE FROEMING, one of major-league baseball’s 

most colorful umpires for 37 years (1971-2007), died 

Wednesday after striking his head in a fall at his home in 

Mequon, Wisc., and doctors couldn’t stop the bleeding in 

his head due to blood thinners he was taking, according to 

his son. He was 86.

Known for a loud, distinctive strike call, Froemming 

worked the third most games (5,163) in MLB history … 

among them 11 no-hitters including four behind the plate. 

He also had 125 ejections which is 13^th most.

I KNOW, I KNOW … 0fficiating (any sport it seems) has 

gotten worse … as the games people play have 

emphasized speed … and the whistle tooters simply 

haven’t been able to keep up.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t explain what’s going on in the 

National Hockey League. Take Sunday night’s game 

between the two-time (defending but fading) Stanley Cup 

champion Florida Panthers and New York Islanders.

We clicked off early after several obvious penalties by the 

home team were ignored only to have a borderline 

holding call go against the Panthers. And I finally decided 

not to be a basketball coach because of the officiating?

It’s gotten so the best games have the fewest calls … like 

the recent Olympics where the game officials were told to 

let them play,” as long as neither side got an 

advantage with extra-curricular play.

WHAT THE HECK! They are televising a bunch of top-

flight pros like RORY McELROY playing indoor golf, 

teeing off into a SCREEN? Please, tell me nobody 

watches.

Until next time ...