No losers on this sunny day

It may not have been a coincidence that the gloom finally lifted Wednesday, the sun working on the accumulated snow and ice in a slushy harbinger of spring.

It was signing day, the one day on the college-football calendar where everyone's a winner - and given the fluidity of recruiting these days, the one day in that process when anything actually matters.

"There's relief when it's over, I'll tell you that," North Carolina coach Butch Davis said.

On signing day, every school is Lake Wobegon - where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the children are above average.

Never mind that of the 29 signees North Carolina announced on this day last year, only 20 ended up enrolling at the school and made it through the season.

Never mind that the back-to-back N.C. State recruiting classes under Chuck Amato that were ranked in the top 20 nationally by Scout.com - including a No. 7 rating in 2003 - contributed to a 23-25 record in Amato's final four seasons with the Wolfpack.

No, on signing day, everyone's happy. The big kids can all run, the fast kids can all play, the five-star kids are all future NFLers, everyone else is a coveted sleeper and no one has been caught breaking a law or plagiarizing a term paper - yet.

North Carolina landed 16 players ranked in the top 100 at their position by one of the big recruiting services, Duke landed 11 and N.C. State seven.

"I don't know about their guys," N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien said. "We're happy with our guys."

The Tar Heels profited from the turmoil in the coaching ranks, picking up a flurry of late additions, a few of whom had previously committed to other schools, to fill out their class. Altogether, the Tar Heels added speed, big linemen and placed a "major emphasis" on North Carolina with eight in-state recruits.

Down the road at Duke - nearly caught up in that same mess before coach David Cutcliffe turned down Tennessee to stick with the Blue Devils - the watchword was speed. And size on the line. And, "most importantly North Carolina," Cutcliffe said, with nine in-state recruits.

At N.C. State, the Pack added some size on the line, speed in the secondary and concentrated on North Carolina with seven in-state recruits - "our fair share," O'Brien said.

If it all seems a bit rote, even overblown, consider that when a recruit's signature finally emerges from the fax machine, that is the first time in a two-year process when he is actually held to his word. Kids these days commit, then de-commit, then change their minds entirely.

"We've created some new words," Cutcliffe said. " 'Soft verbal?' What is that, whispering? I'm going to start trying some soft offers."

In an era when coaches jump from school to school at the drop of a seven-figure check, Cutcliffe being the exception, it is only fair recruits should indulge in the same flexibility. Of course, that flexibility sometimes comes at the expense of common sense, but such is the state of college athletics, and football in particular, these days.

Barring the addition of an early signing day - a concept advanced by the ACC that has gotten nowhere - it will continue to be that way, with everything up in the air until the very end when everything is settled and everyone's happy. For one day, it's sunny in all three corners of the Triangle.