Opportunity for fans in Hampton Roads area

[davidson]

The Norfolk Forum is an annual speaker series at Chrysler Hall in downtown Norfolk. Coach K was originally scheduled to speak on Tuesday, April 19, but his post-season surgery made him unable to attend.

Fortunately, they came up with a pretty good replacement - a panel consisting of Jay Bilas, Shane Battier, and Jay Williams.

I had forgotten about this, until offered tickets at church this morning. Looking forward to it, and thought I would pass on the info since there may be some locals who weren't aware of what should be a great talk.

[brevity]

I had forgotten about this, until offered tickets at church this morning.

Tacky. The offering plate is not for you!

That sounds like a promising panel. Will there be a Q & A portion? I have a few suggestions:

1. "All of you work or have worked for ESPN. Is it a hostile work environment for Duke grads? We know they're watching, so it's okay to lie now and tell me the truth later. I'll be standing by the west staircase. Blink if you understand me."

2. "Coach K was supposed to be here today, but he's still recovering after a recent surgery. So the three of you are here to replace him. Is this a fair trade off? Coach K talks about 5 fingers making a fist, so aren't we missing 2 people? I guess what I'm asking is... can you call Nate James and Patrick Davidson and put them on speaker? Because I have so many questions for them."

3. "How do you approach the journalistic practice of trying to appear unbiased? Is it difficult sometimes? When forced to praise Carolina, does it bother you that some Duke fans start to think of you as the villain? Don't you want to smack some sense into them, and if not, would you mind if I did?"

[jv001]

Tacky. The offering plate is not for you!

That sounds like a promising panel. Will there be a Q & A portion? I have a few suggestions:

1. "All of you work or have worked for ESPN. Is it a hostile work environment for Duke grads? We know they're watching, so it's okay to lie now and tell me the truth later. I'll be standing by the west staircase. Blink if you understand me."

2. "Coach K was supposed to be here today, but he's still recovering after a recent surgery. So the three of you are here to replace him. Is this a fair trade off? Coach K talks about 5 fingers making a fist, so aren't we missing 2 people? I guess what I'm asking is... can you call Nate James and Patrick Davidson and put them on speaker? Because I have so many questions for them."

3. "How do you approach the journalistic practice of trying to appear unbiased? Is it difficult sometimes? When forced to praise Carolina, does it bother you that some Duke fans start to think of you as the villain? Don't you want to smack some sense into them, and if not, would you mind if I did?"

Good questions and I would add: Why have we heard 100 X more about Grayson Allen's tripping players than we've heard about the biggest academic fraud everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr down at Cheat U? Just wondering guys? Dean knew. GoDuke!

[weezie]

4. Is Coach K coming next year because weezie would love to come down the the beach to hear him speak.

[BeachBlueDevil]

The fourm is literally 10 minutes from my house. I really want to go, but I have such a full plate the next month that I just don't think I can swing it. Maybe I'll run into J.Will, Bilas and Battier while in town, atleast I hope.

[davidson]

6297

Fun night in Norfolk - really enjoyable hearing Shane, Jay Will, and Jay B. Bilas said that he texted Coach K between dinner and the speech about having three people sub for him, and K responded that it usually takes five.

Each spoke individually for 15-20 minutes - Shane went first followed by JWill, followed by Bilas. All were very good, but I would say JWill was the best, with Shane next, and Bilas not quite as strong - but I've heard him speak on multiple occasions, unlike Battier and Williams. However, Bilas got the most laughs as he just can work a room.

Next, they all sat together and asked each other questions, followed by pre-selected questions from the audience. Most notable was Bilas being asked about UNC. He said that he expected harsh punishment (JWill pulled out his phone at this point and said he was recording this), but disagreed with the punishment because he said the NCAA rules don't cover this sort of academic misconduct. He said the pressure is on the NCAA to punish UNC severely and that they will do so whether or not their rules allow it. I thought that was a bit newsworthy and a bit different from his previous tweets, public statements, etc.

Best story that I hadn't heard before was Bilas talking about K writing the areas of emphasis on a chalkboard prior to practice - except K misspelled rebound as "reboub". Billy King, as a freshman, asked Bilas if K did that on purpose to see if they were paying attention, and Bilas told Billy, "why don't you bring that up." Bilas and Alarie started yelling at each other to "reboub" starting that day.

Funny stories, tremendous respect and love for K, and mutual admiration among the three on stage made for a great night.

[brevity]

"Coach K was supposed to be here today, but he's still recovering after a recent surgery. So the three of you are here to replace him. Is this a fair trade off? Coach K talks about 5 fingers making a fist, so aren't we missing 2 people?..."


Bilas said that he texted Coach K between dinner and the speech about having three people sub for him, and K responded that it usually takes five.

There you have it. Proof that Coach K reads DBR. (And might be borrowing my material.)