Before we get to the ACC and NCAAs....

No, Wally has not fallen out of the blogosphere. Before we talk about this past weekend's ACC Tournament and the upcoming religious holiday Wally calls March Madness, let's take a minute to congratulate the UNC Tar Heels for their hard-fought win at Cameron on Saturday, March 4.

Cameron is almost always a challenging environment for an opposing team, particularly a young one such as Carolina. It was especially so on Senior Night, when Duke's four captains were honored. Two of them, JJ Redick and Shelden "The Landlord" Williams, are widely acclaimed and should have their jersey retired following this season.

Carolina stood tall in the face of Duke's opening spurt and kept it close, even under adversity. In the end, they were the better team and a deserving victor. They're playing well and will be a team to be reckoned with in the NCAAs.

That does, not, however, mean that Wallly will be rooting for them.

Larry wins for Brokeback Mountain!

Yes, Wally's been under a rock. Before he blogs about Carolina's impressive win over Duke Saturday night, he'd like to send props out to Larry McMurtry, who won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay. Unless you too have been under a rock, you know he co-wrote the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain.

Here's the text of Larry's Oscar speech, according to Oscar.com:

Since somehow I unaccountably failed to thank my brilliant partner Diana at the Golden Globes, I'm going to rattle off all the attributes I was going to thank her for at the Golden Globes. Smarts, guts, drive, good judgment, tenacity, loyalty, and generosity. That's the kind of virtues you need in the rough strife of movie making. I'd like to thank also James and Curtis, my son and grandson, with love and pride. I thank our loyal lawyers, Robert Thorne and Greg Redlitz. And finally I'm going to thank all the booksellers of the world. Remember, "Brokeback Mountain" was a book before it was a movie. From the humblest paperback exchange to the masters of the great bookshops of the world. All are contributors to the survival of the culture of the book. A wonderful culture, which we mustn't lose. Thank you.

http://www.oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/bestadaptedscreenplaycategory.html

Amen, Larry. Wally could not have said it better himself, and he won't try.

And thanks for blazing a trail for casual dress, too:

The quirky Texan who is building one of the largest used book store complexes in the world in a rural town in his home Lone Star state wore jeans along with a tuxedo jacket to the Academy Awards.
"I always wear jeans," he explained.