ACC Nation Heading For Florida for the ACC Tournament

Here's a plug for my buddies Patrick and Chris at ACC Nation, where I appear when they can't find anyone else (kidding, I hope). These guys aren't just two clowns with a podcast. They are both award-winning journalists and appear on several radio stations throughout Virginia:

The web portal covering Atlantic Coast Conference sports features an over-the-air radio broadcast, weekly podcasts, and stories, columns and blogs on the ACC. And cohosts and ACCNation.com editors Chris Graham and Patrick Hite are taking their show and coverage on the road - bringing you the latest from the Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball tournament in Tampa March 8-11.

Graham and Hite will be blogging live from press row at the St. Pete Times Forum - and providing detailed wrapups of all 11 games. They will also offer up eight podcasts throughout the tournament - with interviews, postgame press conferences, commentaries and more.

The 2007 tournament will mark the first appearance of "ACC Nation" and ACCNation.com courtside at the premier college-basketball postseason conference event.

"We are looking forward to being able to provide in-depth coverage and analysis of this year's tournament to our readers and listeners," said Hite, who will be making his first trip to an ACC Tournament with this year's event.

"It promises to be exciting - as wide-open as this year's regular-season race is shaping up to be, the tournament should be even more so," said Graham, who has covered two ACC Tournaments in the past, in 1996 and 1998.

"ACC Nation" - a production of the Waynesboro, Va.,-based Q-Munications of Virginia LLC - broadcasts on the Internet (podcasts of the show can be accessed at www.accnation.com) and over-the-air on four radio stations in Virginia.

The show debuted in 2006 and recently celebrated its one-year anniversary.

ACCNation.com just went through a website redesign - and features news and commentaries updated daily.

ACCNation.com also features live game blogs that allow readers to join Graham and Hite to share their views on games as they unfold.

Graham and Hite are both members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association - and are both multiple-time winners of excellence-in-journalism awards from the Virginia Press Association.

The two also collaborated on their first sports book - Mad About U: Four Decades of Basketball at University Hall, a chronicle of the history of basketball played at University Hall at the University of Virginia, which closed in 2006.

The book - a publication of the Waynesboro, Va.,-based Augusta Free Press Publishing - was released in September 2006, and is available at www.madaboutu.net.