Sights, sounds and observations (updated throughout the day) from press row in Charlotte on the first and second days of the ACC Tournament:

The first day of the ACC Tournament is always colorful in the sense that the arena is divided visually into distinct stripes or "slices" — eight or nine in the old days, 12 after the most recent round of expansion — with various sections of the arena filled with fans wearing their school colors in large numbers. The format in recent years, with four games on Thursday as part of a four-day event, has watered down this effect to some degree.

On the first day of the tournament, four schools (North Carolina, Duke, Clemson and Virginia Tech this year) have byes and don't play, so many of their fans don't show up until the following day. That leaves large chunks of empty seats — the Wake Forest-Florida State opener on Thursday began with less than 50 percent of Bobcats Arena's 20,000-plus seats filled, and the arena never appeared to be more than two-thirds full — and more mixing of school colors in each section.

On the second day of the tournament in the modern format, the look of the arena depends heavily on (1) who lost Thursday, (2) how many of those schools' fans sell their tickets rather than hang around for the weekend, and (3) who's buying from the sellers. Judging from the look of Friday's crowd, a lot of yesterday's losers (Wake, N.C. State, Virginia, Maryland) sold their tickets, and a lot of UNC supporters were the buyers. At the start of the FSU-UNC game, the arena was about 80 percent full, about 50 percent of the crowd was wearing Carolina colors, and the Tar Heels' supporters appeared to some degree (again judging by colors) in every other school's assigned section of the arena. ...

During the UNC-FSU game, three rows of fans dressed in Duke gear held up letters that spelled out: "Go To Hell, Carolina." Later, the same group was shown doing the "Tomahawk Chop," in support of the Seminoles, on the big screens over the court the Bobcats Arena. The gesture generated the loudest boos of the day from the huge chunks of UNC fans in attendance. ...

ACC coordinator of officials John Clougherty sits courtside for every game, watching intently and occasionally jotting down notes on the men in stripes.

"These are important games for the players and coaches, and they're important games for us, too," Clougherty said. "When the games are over, (the players and coaches) sit down and evaluate and dissect what they did. It's the same way for the officials. We're always looking to improve. We need to be at our best at times like this." ...

In some years at the ACC Tournament, there are long rows of media along both sidelines, meaning that the writers on one side are located directly behind — and in very close proximity to — the teams' benches. With a tighter fit this year at Bobcats Arena, there are four rows of media opposite the team benches, but there are no writers located at floor level on the teams' side.

Why does this matter? Some coaches complained in previous years, when writers (including this one) located near the team benches relayed the tone and content of actual conversations (player-coach, coach-official, etc.) that were loud enough to be heard from press row. In this year's set-up, the first few rows of fans behind the teams' benches can hear those same things, but the writers on the other side of the court usually cannot. ...

There are rules for just about everything at the ACC Tournament (remember Roy Williams' Coke-Pepsi spat a few years ago?), including cheerleaders and dance teams. Each school can bring any combination of 12 individuals for sideline support.

FSU brought 11 dance team members and its mascot, for example. UNC had seven female cheerleaders, four male cheerleaders and the mascot Ramses in its contingent. Virginia Tech somehow had six female cheerleaders, six male cheerleaders and a mascot, for a total of 13. Miami brought eight dance team members and its mascot. ...

Most unusual moment of the weekend (personally) so far: Bumping into one of the Legends of this year's ACC Tournament, and having him act like he was excited to meet me.

Having covered the ACC for 22 years and having written extensively about the history of the league back to its origin in 1953, I can identify by sight the "Legends" from the nine schools that have been in the conference the longest: Kenny Anderson (Georgia Tech), Elden Campbell (Clemson), Len Chappell (Wake), Lorenzo Charles (NCSU), John Crotty (Virginia), Lefty Driesell (Maryland), Mike Gminski (Duke), Dean Smith (UNC) and Charlie Ward (FSU). I also remember Bill Curley (Boston College 1991-94) and Tim James (Miami 1996-99), even though they never played in the ACC, because their college careers overlapped with my time covering college basketball.

The only Legend (they're being honored with a brunch and a halftime ceremony Saturday) I didn't know before this week? Former Virginia Tech star Glen Combs (1966-68), the third 2008 Legend who never played or coached in the ACC. Sure enough, on Friday morning, an athletic-looking gentleman in Hokies gear stepped onto my elevator at the media hotel. It was just the two of us, and I had seen a small crowd around him earlier in the morning. Just as I was about to ask a potentially dumb question, he spoke to me.

"Hey, is that the ACC Sports Journal?" he asked, pointing to the stack of magazines under my arm. He then saw the media badge around my neck. "Are you the guy who runs that? That's great stuff. David? I'm Glen (Combs). It's a pleasure to meet you."

What were the odds of that encounter? The pleasure, of course, was mine. ...