Wow! What a way to finish the NCAA basketball season! I must admit, I was skeptical at first that all four of the number one seeds reached the Final Four. I believe what makes the NCAA tournament great is the upsets and Cinderellas. While there were upsets, the only true Cinderella was Davidson, who couldn't quite take down Kansas in the Elite 8, which set up the Final Four with all four number one seeds for the first time in tournament history.
Each one of the Final Four games were exciting, but they weren't really close. UCLA kept it close against Memphis through the 1st half before running out of gas in the 2nd. They obviously aren't built or conditioned to run up and down the floor for 40 minutes. In the second game, Kansas jumped out on North Carolina by building a 28 point lead at one point in the 1st half before almost blowing it in the 2nd. The Jayhawks were able to fend off the Tar Heels down the stretch as both games ended in double digit margins.
Then came the championship. There wasn't much to dislike about any one of the teams. Kansas is a powerhouse, but they hadn't won a national title in 20 years, while Memphis hadn't been to a national championship game in 35 years. Both teams were loaded with talent and 1st round NBA draft potential, while both coaches had already achieved more than most can only dream of.
And the game didn't disappoint. In fact, the largest lead was 9 points, which was held by Memphis with 2:12 to go in regulation. Then it finally happened. The Tigers simply forgot how to shoot free throws. It really wasn't anything new. Memphis was one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the country entering the tournament averaging below 60 percent as a team from the line. However, they turned it up a notch in the tourney by shooting over 70 percent. Even their head coach, John Calipari guaranteed they'd make their free throws when it counted. But Calipari was wrong. The Tigers missed three of their final four down the stretch letting their 9 point lead evaporate as quickly as boiling water turns to gas when it's exposed to freezing temperatures. With 10 seconds left, down by 3, Kansas had to travel the full length of the court without a timeout. All Memphis needed to do was foul, but instead, they did what all of us at home were doing. They watched. Falling backwards, Mario Chalmers not only made the 3 point shot, but he hit nothing but net. That's when I knew Kansas would win it.
Of course, the Jayhawks did go on to earn their third national championship in school history, a 75-68 overtime victory that will have most of us Remembering the Alamo for some time to come.
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12 comments:
And then of course there is North Carolina. What happened to those pucks. It cost me my lunch money for an entire week. Even my girl friend thinks i'm a weeney. I should have listened to you. I guess you didn't get to be a sports caster without some playing time.....so my girlfried tells me. ok,ok enough already........
I guess I better start by saying I'm a girl and me and my friends watch you every night. You look like a football player but my friends said they saw you on TV coaching basketball. My friends and I love sports and we well like playing sports, mostly basketball. Your bio said you like music too so maybe you can do something on music too but probably your boss wouldn't like that. Anyway, thanks for taking time to give your opinions. You have a lot of girls watching
It is so frustrating to see the same teams keep winning. Unless of course you are from that school. I think every athlete should have to put their name in a great big hat and then every school pull a name from that hat. It would seem more fair.
There were no losers, regardless of the final tally. These two teams combined could redefine the "Dream Team."
If Kansas had looked that good before, Dorothy never would have gone to OZ! Nice job, Jays!
now all we have to look forward to is baseball-- 9 out of shape over weight dudes making too much money and taking too much time to go 9 innings. Bring the hoops and real sports back soon.
I'd give my left body part just to have my alum in the sweet 16.
What is a jayhawk anyway? Is it related to a buckeye? Do you know what you get when you cross a jayhawk with a buckeye?.....a Cougar on Steroids!
Too bad we don't have a "Carol College" style basketball team. As for me, I can't wait for football to start again. All of us in the dorm liked your piece on Bret Farve.
ditto on the Bret Farve blog. I am not a huge fan of Farve (although I do think he was a good QB) but you shared some stats I was totally unaware of. It was not only entertaining but informative. Maybe it was his supporting cast. Look at Eli Manning. It was the players around him that helped win the game. After all, football IS a TEAM sport. One of the bloggers said you played football, so you know what I mean.
That's what I love about college sports. It is soooooo unpredictable.
Jake - Any chance you plan on doing any articles on the upcoming NFL season and the release of the 2008 schedule? Wondering what your thoughts are on the prime time games and the fact that the Seahawks got snubbed from MNF?
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