Having to watch “The Decision” was bad enough. And, I’m not talking about Harrison Barnes’ college announcement either. I’m talking about the massive build up by the four-letter network that does little these days accept hype up their own programming unnecessarily. Luckily, I was smart enough not to sit through the hour-long spectacle that was Lebron’s destination announcement, but it still has affected me as a college basketball fan. More specifically a Duke Blue Devils’ fan.
The third week in August is typically when the ACC Men’s Basketball Schedule is released and a day many look forward to on Tobacco Road as it begins to put into perspective how the Fall, Winter, and early Spring nights will be spent. Poker Night schedules are planned around the dates in this release. ACC Basketball is a way of life for me and many others, it’s not just a passing habit. So, when something gets in the way of it (I’m looking at you to-do list), it pisses some people off.
Enter Lebron James. According to this article by Robbie Pickeral from the News and Observer, the delay in the schedule release is due to the Summer of NBA Free Agency, spearheaded by “The King”.
The ACC men’s basketball schedule is finally set to be released today (or Thursday), seven days (at least) later than last year. What took so long?
Blame the NBA.
Because of the more-star-studded-than-usual pro free-agency period, the regional networks took about a week longer to pick which NBA games they would televise – pushing back those networks’ ACC selection process by a week.
“They’re not going to make their [NBA] schedule until they know where their stars are going to be – so they can feature those games,” said Karl Hicks, the ACC’s associate commissioner for men’s basketball operations. “… So that just created a ripple effect for us, and it added another wrinkle.”
Like I needed another reason to dislike King James. At least you won’t have to wait too long to decide whether or not to enroll your kids in that soccer league that practices on Wednesday nights, or if you want to join that church basketball league that plays on Sunday nights. According to multiple sources, the schedule will be released tomorrow at around 3 PM.
