The ACC’s Operation Basketball is in Charlotte this year, and there are four letters for that. If you guessed ESPN, you are correct. ESPNU is actually based in Charlotte, and having the event here allows the league to shuttle coaches and players to ESPNU for all sorts of interviews – television, radio, internet … you get the idea.

It has turned out well for the ACC, though. The league gave out 197 media passes for this year, about 25 more than last year in Greensboro. Numbers have trended down in recent years as media outlets have reduced staff and cut travel.

Players were interviewed by the rest of the media and coaches come in Wednesday afternoon. By the way, your Capital Sports reporter did make one faux pas. I went into what I thought was the lunch room for the media and, with no one else there, got a big plate of salmon and other yummy stuff.

Oops – turns out that was the lunch for the coaches. Back in the regular press room were, uh, hamburgers. …

More ahead …

Our Dane Huffman will be providing live updates today from Operation ACC Basketball in Charlotte and will be voting with the other ACC basketball writers on the following categories. Prior to the official voting by the sportswriters in attendance, I thought I’d weigh in on preseason honors.

Predicted Order
Duke
Virginia Tech
UNC
NC State
Florida State
Maryland
Clemson
Miami
Boston College
Georgia Tech
Virginia
Wake Forest

First team All-ACC
Kyle Singler, Duke
Nolan Smith, Duke
Malcolm Delaney Va. Tech
Tracy Smith, NC State
Harrison Barnes, UNC

Second team All-ACC
Dorenzo Hudson, Va. Tech
John Henson, UNC
Chris Singleton, Florida State
Kyrie Irving, Duke
Jordan Williams, Maryland

Third team All-ACC
Jeff Allen, Va. Tech
Seth Curry, Duke
Tyler Zeller, UNC
Demontez Stitt, Clemson
Durand Scott, Miami

All-Freshman team
Harrison Barnes, UNC
CJ Leslie, NC State
Ryan Harrow, NC State
Kyrie Irving, Duke
Reggie Bullock, UNC

All-ACC Defensive team
Chris Singleton, Florida State
Iman Shumpert, Ga. Tech
Jordan Williams, Maryland
John Henson, UNC
Soloman Alabi, Florida State

At the beginning of the season, Duke fans dreamed that Sean Renfree would live up to his potential as quarterback and sneak the Blue Devils into a bowl game. He hasn’t, they won’t.

Renfree even threw five interceptions last week against Miami before being lifted for freshman Brandon Connette, who moved the ball better. But Duke coach David Cutcliffe says he will start Renfree and that he and the team have confidence in him.

“He understands the responsibility, and out squad has confidence in him,” Cutcliffe said. “I can’t make that happen, nor can he. Ultimately what it comes down to is performance on game day. He can’t fix this in one day, but rather one play at a time.”

Those plays this week come against heavily favored Virginia Tech.

“The quarterback has had a little bit of a problem here lately, but I think he’s got a tremendous upside,” VT coach Frank Beamer said.

He pointed out that Duke averages about 400 yards per game, of which 278 are passing yards, and that Renfree completes 57 percent of his passes. And, to be fair, several of the interceptions were tipped passes.

Cutcliffe said that the team is depending on Renfree to be prepared mentally and physically. “He is a big boy and he is taking that challenge on. He is not running away from it,” he said.

Too bad the first opportunity to atone for those five interceptions comes at Virginia Tech.

The Carolina Hurricanes aren’t complaining about a brutal opening schedule that has them playing two games in Finland and then heading to the West Coast, but to be honest, this is outrageous.

Making sports schedules is difficult, but anyone in the NHL office could see that a team slated to be in Finland shouldn’t be sent to the other side of North America shortly after its return.

The Canes had an exhibition game in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Oct. 4. Then they played regular-season games in Helsinki on Oct. 7 and 8 and won both.

Back in the States, they lost at Washington 3-2 on Oct. 14. Then Sunday, they started a four-game West Coast swing with a predictable 5-1 loss at Vancouver. Think about that – right after you play in Finland, you are on the road for five straight games.

Does that make sense? Uh, no. Now come games Tuesday in San Jose, Wednesday in Los Angeles and Saturday in Phoenix. By the time the home opener comes Wednesday, Carolina will have played seven games.

The good news is the Canes have nine home games in March, when they are pushing to make the playoffs. They may need those home games, given the tough start they’ve been handed.

James Madison

Should the North Carolina football program be allowed to ban tweeting by its players? The team made that decision recently, which went almost without comment in the local media, but The Daily Tar Heel has raised an interesting question about that decision.

The DTH, in an editorial, denounced that move on first amendment grounds, arguing that the players have a right to free speech.

“Student athletes are under more media scrutiny and play a larger role in the University’s PR strategy, but they are still citizens who have the same first amendment rights as any other student,” The Daily Tar Heel wrote.

Frankly, that’s a great point, and one the University, and media, should have recognized sooner.

Carolina Panthers coach John Fox released a statement today saying that Matt Moore will return to replace Danny Clausen as quarterback.

This “quarterback controversy” isn’t exactly Montana vs. Young or Jurgensen vs. Kilmer. Whatever Fox’ gut tells him to do is ok I guess. Whomever practices better probably should start. But the franchise needs to decide if Clausen is the future or Moore is the future.

“We have struggled on offense since the beginning of the season and sometimes it helps to step back and watch and Matt has had a chance to do that,” Fox said today.

Somehow I think the Panthers intended to stick with Clausen when he took over, not merely give Moore a break to observe. Perhaps both quarterbacks have a future in the NFL but it doesn’t appear that this season will be good for either. It probably doesn’t matter which guy is quarterbacking as far as wins but it might as far as developing the future.

The Panthers, who play 1-5 San Francisco Sunday, stand at 0-5 and are one of two teams who are winless – the Bills are the other.

NFL Note: At FedEx Field Sunday night, about 50 Washington Redskins alumni were introduced including former Duke and Wilmington product Sonny Jurgensen. When the new HD television screen showed Jurgensen, his name was misspelled as “Jurgenson.” You’d think that a five-time all-pro who threw for more than 32,000 yards and was proclaimed by legendary coach Vince Lombardi as the best quarterback he’d ever seen, could have his name spelled correctly by his own team.

North Carolina senior Zack Pianalto is one of the best tight ends the Tar Heels have ever had – Alge Crumpler and Charles Waddell come to mind as two of the school’s best ever – and the fact that he fractured his right fibula in Saturday’s win at Virginia puts renewed pressure on Carolina’s offense.

Pianalto is one of the team leaders, a tough kid who doesn’t complain and a senior who committed early to Butch Davis. His loss will put pressure on offensive coordinator John Shoop, who has used him creatively, and T.J. Yates, who has gone to Pianalto in clutch situations. There’s a reason why Pianalto leads the Tar Heels with 30 receptions for 311 yards and one touchdown. He already has the school record for career receptions by a tight end at 94.

Carolina’s receivers, though young, have been strong, and continue to find ways to make plays. Dwight Jones went nuts at Virginia, and Erik Highsmith and Jheranie Boyd give the Heels a talented threesome there. The challenge for Yates, and Shoop, will be finding the confidence in a receiver to match what they had in Pianalto.

Pianalto was out five games last year, suffering an injury at Connecticut and missing the next five contests. The receiver who flourished in that span was Greg Little, who had 23 catches over those five games .Of course, Little is not an option this season. Erik Highsmith snatched six balls per game in the first two after Pianalto went down, but only three total in the three games following. Boyd (seven catches) and Jones (two) were no factors with Pianalto out.

Of course, those receivers are all more experienced this season, and UNC will need them in a tough stretch ahead.

North Carolina started this season 0-2 on the field and a heavy underdog to the NCAA investigators, but you have to give credit to Butch Davis, his staff and players for the way they have turned around this season.

First of all, the Tar Heels have played with fire and emotion in every game. They lost to LSU when Zack Pianalto couldn’t hold an endzone pass because he was fouled, but Pianalto had the grace to refuse to blame the officials. Looking back, that was a remarkable effort by UNC, which went on television facing national humilation but nearly rallied to beat a team that is now undefeated and ranked No. 7 in the BCS.

Carolina really should have beaten Georgia Tech after that, but an inexperienced secondary let it down. That left the Tar Heels 0-2, with the future of many of its best players uncertain.

Four straight wins have followed, all of them impressive. The Heels won at Rutgers, beat East Carolina and Clemson at home and then crushed Virginia on the road for the first time since 1981. There are a number of reasons for the record. T.J. Yates has had a steady hand, Johnny White is sixth in the ACC in rushing at 77.3 yards per game, the offenisve line is improved with a true freshman at left tackle, the receivers have grown up and the depth on defense has minimized the exceptional losses there.

The stretch ahead is brutal, except for a home game with William & Mary Oct. 30. But regardless of how this plays out, Carolina has righted itself, at least on the field, despite tough circumstances.