N.C. House member Donny C. Lambeth of Forsyth County gave this update last week about his grandson, Taylor, who went for his kindergarten screening in preparation for entering school next fall.

Teachers evaluate the children by asking a host of questions. Apparently, young Taylor, to his grandfather’s delight, muffed one of the queries.

“The question was to name the seasons. Taylor’s response was: ‘Football season, basketball season, and baseball season.’”

The boy just might qualify for the academically gifted and talented classroom.

• • • • •

The recent death of former Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith has prompted a lot of praise for the old coach, none more grand than sports writer Brent Lancaster of the Burlington Times-News.

He proposed his own Mount Rushmore of North Carolina greats. His mountain would include Andy Griffith, Billy Graham, Dean Smith, Michael Jordan and Richard Petty.

But wait, that’s five.

Of course, that means snubbing Daniel Boone, Dale Earnhardt and Doc Watson.

We’re going to need a big mountain to etch all those faces.

• • • • •

For awhile Saturday night it looked as if Carolina would waltz to yet another Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament. The Tarheels seemed to have control of the game — up by 10 with about 10 minutes to go.

Then the tides shifted.

Notre Dame went on a scoring tear while Carolina found an invisible lid over its basket. The conference newcomers took control and claimed the championship, refusing to observe the long-standing rule that North Carolina teams  traditionally win the tournament. Not this time.

Tradition counted for nothing. The team with the most points wins, and this time it was the Irish.

• • • • •

The outcome was still in doubt Tuesday as Israelis voted for their prime minister. Incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu’s career was in doubt according to opinion polls. He was given a hero’s greeting two weeks ago when he spoke to our Congress, warning of the dangers of President Obama’s attempt to hatch an agreement with Iran over nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu was often compared to Britain’s Winston Churchill who led his country through World War II. That comparison may not give Netanyahu much comfort as he faced the voters.

While regarded as one of history’s pivotal leaders, voters turned Churchill out to pasture quickly after the war. He had an 83 percent approval rating at the end of the war, but the old warrior was no longer what Britain wanted after peace had been secured.

Clement Richard Attlee was elected prime minister instead. Does anyone remember anything he did?

The United States was kinder to its war heroes. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected to two terms as president here.

As old politicians often learn, voters can grow weary of them and vote for a fresh, untested and little-known face. That’s why a lot of venom is being directed at both Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush in their bids to be the next president.

— Dwight Sparks