In the clubhouse before yesterday's game, utility player Freddie Bynum was having a conversation with teammate Luke Scott when he was asked by an Orioles public-relations official if he would address the pack of reporters waiting for him.

They wanted to know whether Bynum had decided to have knee surgery, but he clearly had other ideas.

"You guys want to talk about North Carolina-Duke?" Bynum asked.

Bynum was born in North Carolina and still lives there, and he was fired up about last night's men's college basketball game. He hung a Tar Heels shirt behind him as he spoke.