A great site for sports fans is Statsheet.com, run by Robbie Allen. On the site, you can break down all sorts of stats from sports and see what is, or is not, true.

Here’s a good example involving fouls for and against Duke from some ACC basketball statistics provided by Allen

Duke averaged 19.5 fouls in ACC play last season and its opponents averaged 19.9 in league play. So there was little difference in the number of fouls called on the Blue Devils and their opponents.

Also interesting – Duke had eight players disqualified in ACC games and its opponents had only five players disqualified. The entire chart is below:

Fouls and Ejections

Given the build-up to the World Cup coming to the African continent for the first time, you would have expected the African teams to have success. After all, France won the Cup in 1998 with a home-soil boost.

But that hasn’t happened so far. The six African teams have combined for one win – by Ghana – going into Monday’s play. Cameroon and Nigeria are even 0-0-2. Overall, the African teams are 1-4-7 in through two matches, and homestanding South Africa is 0-1-1.

Dan Wiederer of The Fayetteville Observer is one of the best young reporters on ACC basketball and just did a book, “Blue Streak,” on UNC’s championship season. There’s a terrific excerpt from book about the “relationship” between Bobby Frasor and ESPN’s Erin Andrews.

Here’s the link from ACCSports.com.

The big story in college sports in recent days has been expansion, and ESPN clearly missed on this one Monday. The WWL’s Joe Schad reported that four schools, including Texas, were leaving for the Pac-10, which already had grabbed Colorado from the league.

“The departure of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the Pac-10 is imminent, four sources within the Big 12 said Monday,” ESPN reported.

“One source said commissioner Dan Beebe’s last-minute plan to save the conference has ‘zero’ chance to succeed. Another source said it is ‘very unlikely’ to succeed.”

Time for ESPN to get a new source, as Beebe had a better than zero chance after all. Later Monday, the Big 12 … er, 10? … announced that Texas and nine other schools were staying.

Capital Sports colleague Cliff Barnes touched on this in his comment about Brian Abernethy’s blog entry, but it bears repeating. If the score in most World Cup matches remains at or near nil, so, too, will the interest of the everyday American sports fan. Doesn’t matter who’s playing if the final score is zilch-zilch.

It’s different when the U.S. is playing, or, say, the Americans need Slovenia to tie the Brits (we might need to brush up on Slovenian dances later in group play). But when France and Uruguay tie, at zero, after 90-plus minutes, I’m seeking another can of Coke Zero or another segment of Colin Cowherd.

And I’m a soccer fan. I played as a kid, and I play now. But give me 6-5 in the Stanley Cup playoffs any day over nil-nil. And if I feel this way, imagine what a letdown all that scorelessness is for Andres Cantor.

Brian Abernethy is blogging on the World Cup for the Capital Sports Report

Rising from relative obscurity to the international soccer limelight in just a few short years, the United States men’s national soccer team now looks forward to its Saturday match against England with excitement rather than anxiety.

Falling victim to the ever-growing shadows of the NFL, MLB, NBA and college sports, United States soccer has had to battle adversity not only against its opponents on the pitch, but also vying for attention in the media. The lack of media attention and reward for their successes has made it very difficult for the Americans to continue to push themselves to succeed on behalf of the red, white, and blue.

When difficult victories are had in qualifying over smaller nations such as El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica, the nation feels ashamed that we haven’t demolished the opposition and therefore assumes that our team aren’t any good and aren’t worth supporting. The problem with this assumption is that, unlike the olympics, smaller nations are no longer obsolete in their experience and talent in soccer. Having soccer as their national sport, they prove to be difficult opponents for not only our national team, but national teams across the world. So how will a team that struggles with the Guatemalas and Trinidads step onto the field this month in South Africa and not only compete with, but get results against the likes of England, Slovenia, and Algeria?

The answer lies not in our players, our coach, our opponents, or our experience.

The answer lies in our heart.

Considered a “second-rate footballing nation” by the rest of the planet, we’ve proven time and time again that while we may not have the talent, we certainly have the heart.

Not convinced yet? Check out these results from the last year:

USA 3-0 Egypt: Needing a 3-0 victory as well as help from Brazil, the US did its part with a comprehensive smashing of African champion Egypt on goals from Davies, Bradley, and the all-important diving header from Clint Dempsey.

USA 2-0 Spain (Confederations Cup Semifinal): The biggest victory in the history of United States soccer. Spain was ranked #1 in the world, with the US barely squeaking into the semis. Goals from Altidore and Dempsey along with heroics from the backline and goalkeeper Tim Howard help the Americans shock the world.

USA 2-3 Brazil (Confederations Cup Final): Taking a 2-0 lead and watching it slip away has taught us a great lesson, and experiencing the pain of having victory snatched from our jaws will prove invaluable this month in South Africa

USA 2-2 El Salvador: US fights back and gets 2 goals in the last 10 minutes to salvage a draw and a crucial point on the road.

USA 2-1 Honduras: US goes down 1-0 early, but fights back as captain Carlos Bocanegra gets the game-winner in the second half.

USA 2-1 El Salvador: US again goes down 1-0 early, but grabs the lead before halftime on headers from superstars Altidore and Dempsey.

USA 3-2 Honduras: USA clinches their spot in the World Cup by going away to Honduras, where no team had won yet, and getting a victory.

USA 2-2 Costa Rica: After teammate and friend Charlie Davies is injured in a fatal car crash, Jonathan Bornstein heads in the equalizer from a Robbie Rogers corner in the 94th minute to make the US finish #1 in CONCACAF.

USA 2-1 Turkey: Falling behind 1-0 in the first half, the United States comes back and gets the victory via Altidore and Dempsey to secure a win in their final match in the USA before heading to South Africa.

These nine matches in the past 12 months where we proved that what skill we possess is supplemented by our heart and determination to give us results are no anomoly. Make no mistake, this team has what it takes to make a splash this summer.

The very same heart that gained us our Independence 234 years ago and makes this great nation what it is today will be worn on the sleeve of every American player for as long as they’re still breathing.

Open your eyes, England. You’re in for another surprise.

1776….1950….2010

One of the persistent rumors out there is that the Big Ten wants to add Maryland. But frankly, this isn’t going to happen.

First of all, Terps athletics director Debbie Yow recently told radio host David Glenn that the school isn’t moving.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a waste of time,” Yow told Glenn on the air. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Secondly, Maryland was a founding member of the ACC and benefits from being in the league. You’ll hear the Terps, and Gary Williams, groan about the ACC being too North Carolina-centric, but leaving for the Big Ten doesn’t solve any of Maryland’s problems. The Terps wouldn’t add any natural rivals, other than possibly Penn State, and would lose the traditional ties to ACC schools.

While it makes for interesting conjecture, it’s simply not going to happen.

N.C. State linebacker Nate Irving is almost 100 percent, he told WRAL’s Jason Jennings, and he can’t wait to return to the field.

Interesting note from Jennings’ piece – Irving loves to watch animals on the prowl.

“I’m just fascinated by animals and how lions, cheetahs and jaguars hunt. It’s intriguing to me,” Irving said.

Of course, State fans can’t wait to see Irving doing some hunting himself from the linebacker position.

The college landscape could change quickly, and soon. The Omaha, Neb., paper is reporting Nebraska is moving to the Big Ten, which delivers a huge blow to the already wobbly Big 12. You have to believe that means much-desired Texas will be evaluating its options.

It’s hard to imagine Texas playing in a conference with a school as far north as Minnesota, or Michigan playing in Austin in a conference game, but in this world, anything is possible. All this makes the ACC’s decision to act early and decisively look prescient, since part of John Swofford’s thinking at the time was the league wanted to be proactive on expansion, rather that reacting.

Still, any conference move has to have some sort of geographic tie. The ACC wasn’t looking to add Virginia Tech, but the Hokies have been a superb addition. Meanwhile, Boston College and Miami are in big markets but lack big fan bases. Ultimately, the ACC needs the Hurricanes to return to power in football.

The Colorado Rockies made Russell Wilson a fourth-round pick Tuesday, and as hard as it might be for Wolfpack fans to accept, the wise decision for him would be to turn pro.

Right now, Wilson is saying he plans to return.

“I know football camp starts August 3,” he told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “I haven’t talked to the Rockies and I haven’t gotten into a deep conversation with coach [Tom] O’Brien about that, either. We’ll figure all that out. The Lord has worked everything out for me so far. I expect him to continue to do the same for me. … Everything is going to work out just great.”

But remember, it’s common for prospect to use their options as leverage at this point. Wilson may love football, but if the Rockies offer significant dollars, all that can change.

Wilson accelerated his classwork to finish in three years, so he doesn’t have to return to school in the fall for academic reasons. Wilson always said he loved football and planned to return to State, but in talking to him, you got the sense that what was going on was much deeper than that.

First, the fact is there are few 5-foot-11 quarterbacks in the NFL. So his professional career in football was a longshot, at best.

He always seemed to be preparing himself for a shot at baseball – finishing in three years, playing last summer in Gastonia and then even trying pitching this year.

Wilson’s numbers aren’t spectacular – he hit .306 in 47 games, 25 of them starts, with two homers and nine steals. He took a shot as a pitcher and had an ERA of 5.84.
Wilson is listed as a center fielder in the baseball draft ,and that’s a telling bit of news. He played infield at State, but could easily project to outfield with his speed.

That Wilson went in the fourth round is surprising. Given his poor numbers in Gastonia, he didn’t project as a high prospect.

But the Rockies saw tools that they liked. And you can bet this – Colorado wasn’t making that pick unless it knew it had a chance to sign Wilson.

So Wilson may have fled the pocket one last time. And good for him – he’s a class act who deserves a professional chance.

As for N.C. State? Well, the Wolfpack is in good hands with Mike Glennon. But depth at quarterback, a luxury in college football, may have just vanished.