Being a sportswriter for off and on 30 years, one becomes a Swiss neutral of sorts. Who wins isn't really as important as seeing a good game.

So, a Carolina victory is not a requirement for enjoying a college event.

This is especially true for anything in the Greensboro Coliseum.

Over the years, after a myriad of events in Greensboro, the Coliseum has become a familiar, even comfortable venue for many Chapel Hillians.

For years, Carolina considered the Coliseum to be home court away from home; the Tar Heels made it a point to schedule at least one game most years in both Greensboro and Charlotte, showing Carolina's colors across the state and pleasing sizeable alumni chapters in those two greater metropolitan areas.

But for many Chapel Hillians, Greensboro has taken on its own comfortable feeling, something like a familiar beach house a family might rent summer after summer.

For me, having been paid to see everything there from two Chapel Hill High School state championships, to Eric Clapton and The Who, to a B.A.S.S. Masters national fishing tournament (a surprisingly fun event,) the Greensboro Coliseum holds many fond memories for me.

Practice rounds at the ACC Tournament in many ways are as much like a family reunion as a sporting event.

Sportswriters are lucky that way, unlike most of our brethren in news or editorial departments. We see each other at annual events like the tournament, or the annual ACC kickoff or this weekend's NCHSAA basketball championships in the Smith Center. We often pick up conversations interrupted months before, as if nothing ever intervened.

This year, for example, I ran into Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs, who, as readers of his ACC Fans' Guide or his work in the N.Y. Times know, is one of the most respected basketball writers in the nation. Since I used to work in the N.C. Secretary of State's office, Barry and I have operated on the same parallel tracks of government and athletics for years.

Wednesday, we spent more time talking about the upcoming U.S. Senate race in North Carolina than we did about basketball.

Former basketball player and coach Dick Grubar was among those strolling along the interior corridors of the Greensboro Coliseum on practice day. A former four-term city councilman in Greensboro, he's been a leader on the Greensboro Sports Commission and the War Memorial Commission; he helps oversee operations at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.

Many people remember Grubar as the superb point guard of Carolina's basketball teams in the late-60s. With players like Charlie Scott on the team, Grubar was never the Tar Heels' leading scorer, and he averaged just 10 point a game for his career.

Immensely popular in this area, the former New Yorker made a home in the Piedmont. He was head basketball coach of Chapel Hill High School, 1971-72.

"Yeah, I was there just long enough to get kicked out of the conference tournament," Grubar said Wednesday, smiling.

Adored by young women who swooned over his looks, Grubar was equally hated by many high school officials, who seemed resentful of his basketball pedigree, and perhaps envious of his charms.

As a witness to his ejection in 1972, your humble correspondent will testify that Mr. Grubar did little more than shrug and look questioningly at the official who tossed him. His only comment to the official was: "Huh?" Really.

At least one more former resident of Orange County will be mentioned prominently this weekend in Greensboro. Former Orange High all-star Tere Williams will be among the 12 women honored as "ACC Legends" during the tournament.

Williams, the daughter of Veronica and Mahlon Williams of Chapel Hill, graduated from Orange in 1997 and played four years for Virginia Tech.

She finished her college career with 1,750 points, ranking her second on Va. Tech's all-time scoring list, and she earned All-Big East honors and honorable mention on the AP All-America team.

Williams was the first player from Blacksburg ever drafted by the WNBA, going in the third round to the Phoenix Mercury. She opted to play professionally in Austria, Ecuador, Israel, Russia and Spain before retiring from full-time sports to work for MSR, a manufacturer of stages for live events. She's also pursuing a career as a professional singer, and has auditioned for American Idol.

Tere's father, Mahlon, coached high school football at both Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill with Bill Hodgin. Mahlon and Veronica still live here, and they remain Tar Heel fans despite encouraging their children to check out other places in the world. Daughter Joy is currently in Brazil on a church mission trip.

"We wanted our kids to experience what life has to offer," Mahlon says. "But we still love Carolina and all it has to offer."