Let's get one thing straight from the start. It's time to get rid of the dopey idea that anyone not named J.J. Redick might be the best player in college basketball this season.
Hold on, Alex. Dopey? Gonzaga's Adam Morrison is a fraction of a point behind Redick in points per game and he's actually shooting a higher percentage. How could calling him the best player in America be dopey? And how can you not give him bonus points for that 'stache?
Bonus points? For that wispy thing? America's love affair with Adam Morrison has gone too far.
It's time for the rest of the nation to admit what those of us on The Train (U.S. Patent No. B3946006 Pending) have known all year: Morrison's game is not nearly as impressive as Redick's, and his mustache is not nearly as impressive as Sean Dockery's.
(Seriously. If you want to see the best mustache in college basketball, check out Dockery. It's perfectly pencil-thin and coats his upper lip nicely. You've got to appreciate a man with a good solid mustache.)
Anyway, Morrison is no J.J. Redick-Coach K even says so.
"What he is doing is remarkable," Krzyzewski said of Redick. "What Adam is doing is remarkable too, but we are in the ACC.... There is a differential between the leading scorer and the next leading scorer [in the ACC] of like nine points or whatever it is-that's incredible."
Let's put Redick's season in perspective. Name the last ACC player to lead the nation in scoring. Antawn Jamison? No. Christian Laettner? Nope. Jason Williams? No way Jose. Len Bias, Michael Jordan, David Thompson? No, no, no.
It was a trick question-if the season ended today, Redick would be the first ACC player since 1948 when the NCAA started keeping track of this stuff to lead the nation in scoring.
Even if Morrison passes him and he doesn't win the scoring title, Redick would still become the first ACC player since Buzz Wilkinson in 1955 to finish in the top two. And his 28.9 points per game would be more than any ACC player since Len Chappel averaged 30.1 in 1962.
So when Coach K says what Redick's doing is remarkable, he means virtually unprecedented (at least by a guy wearing shorts longer than mid-thigh-length).
The second reason is that Redick has dealt with far more pressure this year than Morrison. He's chasing the ACC's all-time scoring record. He's currently challenging Laettner for Most-Hated-College-Basketball-Player-Ever status. And he's still scoring almost 29 points per game.
Is your J.J. Redick love-fest ever going to end? Seriously, you praised him yesterday and then you come back today with more? Why don't you ask him to be your Valentine? Is there anything your boy J.J. isn't the best at?
Sure. The pressure Redick faces pales in comparison to the stress The Train is under (even if J.J. has a much better jumper, plays to larger audiences and has many more women chasing after him).
The Train has to help save New Orleans.
Two weeks ago, Evy Kory and Alexis Vaughan-seniors in a social activism class-sent me an e-mail saying they wanted to sell The Train-themed t-shirts to benefit Common Ground Relief, a charity helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
I said yes, so they made the shirts.
But now I'm feeling the heat. If I write a bad column, everyone will get off The Train. And if no one is on The Train, no one will buy the shirts. And if no one buys the shirts, the two students won't be able raise money to help save New Orleans.
Forget the Comcast Center, that's real pressure.
Choo, choo. (Gulp.)
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