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5:29 p.m. Worst seat in the house - By noon tomorrow, 36 fans at the ACC tournament will learn the bad news.

Their expensive tickets have earned them the worst seats in the Greensboro Coliseum.

No, they’re not seated in some nose-bleed section in the upper deck.

They’re behind the basket — directly behind the basket.

Fans in seats 6, 7 and 8 in rows MM through SS in sections 101 and 117 have obstructed views of the basket at the far end of the court. Blame the shot clock atop the goal directly in front of them.

But the problem has an easy solution. Fans who can’t see the basket can watch the action on the overhead video board. - DON PATTERSON, Staff Writer

4:33 p.m. Jim Thacker honored - The Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association announced today that it would honor longtime basketball play-by-play voice with the 2010 “Skeeter” Francis Award during the ACC Tournament. From the release:

Jim Thacker, the play-by-play voice of ACC basketball for a gen-eration of television viewers and a generous benefactor to the conference, will be posthumously honored with the 2010 “Skeeter” Francis Award during the ACC Tournament. The Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association bestows the distinction annually on a media member or conference or institutional staffer for significant contributions to the coverage of ACC athletics. The citation, created in 1990, is named for Marvin “Skeeter” Francis, a former sports information director at Wake Forest University and the first administrator of the ACC’s media services division.

Thacker, a native West Virginian whose smooth voice described league games from 1965-81, was the front man for the ACC region’s first brand-name broadcasting duo. Billy Packer, winner of the Francis Award in 2005, began as the analyst in 1972, and the team was as consistent and revered as any of the basketball squads it covered.

“He was an important person in the development of the interest in the conference,” Packer said. “And he was obviously a close friend and a guy I admired a great deal because the game was not more important than himself.”

The Thacker-Packer pairing was memorable for reasons that transcended the announcers’ rhyming last names. ACC broadcasts under the auspices of Philadelphia TV pioneer Castleman De-Tolley Chesley were the only games many fans watched until the dawn of ESPN in the late 1970s.The ACC was also the first major conference to partner with television to ensure a regular schedule of game action that included every league member.

Thacker remained in the play-by-play job until ACC broadcast rights transferred from Chesley to Raycom in 1981. He was also sports director at WBT in Charlotte and at radio and TV stations in his native state. In the spring and summer, he was part of CBS’ golf coverage, which in-cluded The Masters.

Thacker died of a stroke in December 1994 at the age of 64. Shortly after his widow, Pat, passed away in May 2003, the estate established a scholarship fund to assist students seeking ad-vanced degrees at ACC institutions. The league awards the grants at a scholar-athlete luncheon every spring.

In February 2004, the University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Com-munication announced the creation of the Jim and Pat Thacker Internship in Sports Communication. The program provides $5,000 a year for a junior or senior at UNC to participate in a 10-week sum-mer internship with a professional sports team or organization.

Jim and Pat Thacker had no children. David Bishop, the attorney for the estate, will accept the award on behalf of the family. - STAFF REPORTS

3:50 p.m. How to score tickets - This may be the year for Greensboro residents to get a shot at buying tickets to the ACC tournament. For tips on how to score some tickets, we asked a few seasoned veterans for tips.

“Get out and ask questions,” said Jon Player, a bartender at The Blind Tiger who makes it out to games most years that the tournament is here.

He said he expects the ticket costs to be below face value due to a tough economy.

“Depending on the day and the teams playing, a two-game ticket might be $30 to $60 a game,” he said.

Waiting outside the Greensboro Coliseum for angry alumni of a losing team isn’t a bad idea, either. That’s a good way to get tickets for a song.

Either way, this will be a good year for locals to get tickets.

“All of us locals are usually shut out,” Player said. “It is frustrating to live a block or two from the coliseum and not be able to go.” - GERALD WITT, Staff Writer
 

11:15 a.m. Warming up - Today's practices are take-it-easy run up to the tournament that starts tomorrow. Right now Boston College is on the floor, TV production people are joking as they set up cameras and a few dozen people sit in the stands to get a glimpse of the players before the weekend games.

The tournament is back in Greensboro, and one can't help but feel like it's back home.

The Eagles players are slapping fives and cutting up as they run a lay-up drill.

Reggie Jackson took an alley-oop from Biko Paris. Some other guys shoot 3 pointers. Coaches joke with the players.

"I used to be able to dunk like that," said assistant coach Bonzie Colson.

Then head coach Al Skinner chimed in after one of his players carried the ball on a fast break. Part of the practice turned into a slam dunk session.

"Oh," Skinner said, "There's cameras in here."

Then, after a botched dunk, "If you can't dunk, lay it in."

Here's today's practice schedule. The sessions are free and open to the public.

Check back with Sports Extra today and through the weekend for more updates from players, fans, coaches and anyone else who with a story to tell from the 2010 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament. - GERALD WITT Staff Writer