BY RODERICK BOONE
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Before he started talking about North Carolina's 108-77 pasting of Arkansas in the East Regional, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams went off on the NCAA.
Hitting the nail on the head, Williams called out Big Brother because his players kept slipping. The NCAA is too hands-on as usual, making anyone who has a drink put it in a cup with the NCAA and Dasani logos on it. The arena's usual advertising logos are covered with black sheets. There's even a John Deer tractor in the concourse that was covered with black sheets. Yeah, I know.
The NCAA goes out of its way to promote, well itself, and its buddy-buddy sponsors.
"You guys write a little bittty note in your columns that the NCAA," Williams said, "that can say I can't bring a Coca-Cola cup up here, that can say everything in the world. Stop putting those stupid logos on the floor where kids slip and slide around and somebody is going to get hurt. And I've said that for years, and years, and years. Every coach here at this site said that it's a mistake to have that."
He was asked about it again later.
"Two years from now," Williams said, "we have been asked to play in a tournament and I'm refusing to play in the tournament if we have to put logos on our floor. They are slick. I've said this for five or six years. Somebody is going to get hurt. Lane Kennedy and the people here have done a great job of trying to do everything they could. They washed it with amonia; they wahed it with Wendy's super burger whatever. And they did everything you possibly -- they need to rip the daggum things up. It's just a fact."
You're right Roy. So here's the little bitty note, although this isn't a column. Just for you Roy, my man.