Saturday, March 16, 2013

2 shows you should watch on Selection Sunday

You know that Sunday is Selection Sunday, and so undoubtedly if you are a college basketball fan you will be watching as the brackets get filled up and analyzed Sunday night starting at 6 p.m.

But here are a couple of other shows that you will enjoy if you like ACC basketball. Set your DVR or watch them live.

1) "Kings of the Court" (airs in Charlotte Sunday on WBTV at noon, right before coverage of the ACC tournament final). This excellent Raycom Sports syndicated series this time profiles paralyzed former Wake Forest star Rodney Rogers and former N.C. State center Tommy Burleson in a 30-minute episode. Both pieces are well done, but the Rogers story is particularly poignant.

Rogers, the 1993 ACC Player of the Year, was injured in a dirt-bike accident in 2008. Comments from his wife, former coach Dave Odom and former teammates and opponents add considerable depth to a superb piece.

In a similar vein, I wrote a story this past week on cowboy Jerome Davis, who was one of the world's best bull riders until he sustained a bull-riding accident in 1998. He has been in a wheelchair for 15 years, but has more mobility than Rogers (Davis can use his arms and hands). They have similarly positive outlooks on life.

2) "Survive and Advance" (airs nationwide on ESPN, 9 p.m. Sunday). This two-hour documentary of Jim Valvano's 1983 N.C. State national championship team, with Dereck Whittenburg playing a starring role as he tracks down old teammates, has garnered rave reviews in sneak previews in Raleigh this week. I haven't seen it yet, but knowing the high quality of ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary series, I will certainly be watching it.

Speaking of that 1983 team, I have a long story coming in Sunday's Charlotte Observer (it will be published in the Raleigh News & Observer as well) on Pam Valvano Strasser, who was Jim's wife during the 1983 title run and remains close to the State program (she has been at all of N.C. State's ACC tournament games this weekend). She remarried in 2003 to a Raleigh veterinarian. She has seen "Survive and Advance" and says it is both "gut-wrenching" and "beautiful."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Kings of the Court was on Saturday in Raleigh.