Certainly, Duke is Duke...

This time the Butler didn’t do it! Itwas the little Devils from Duke that have once again climbed to the top of the Mountain, but it wasn’t without a lot of drama. It came down to the wire and down to the last 3.6 seconds and a Hail Mary half court shot that just rimmed out and was mere inches from rattling in and taking over the video of "The Shot" that CBS would play every March of Christian Laettner taking that in bound pass from Grant Hill in the 1992 NCAA Tournament vs Kentucky.

The National Championship game was one of the best finals that has been played in recent memory. Not only was it a close game but it was also a well played game. There was offence, defence and grit. If you look at the game from just a seedings point of view this was a mismatch but Butler came into the game with a win streak in the high 20’s and were the hottest team in the nation..Butler. The coach looked younger then half the players on his team, he makes a respectable $400,000 a year but put up vs Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s $4.4 Million there is a slight discrepancy. In that same light Duke spends $400k per player on the basketball team, Butler spends $400k for their entire team. I think coach may be in for a bit of a raise in the very near future. The good thing for Butler going as far as they did is all the good coaching vacancy’s are filled so they shouldn’t have to worry about loosing theirs...at least this season. I am guessing a 33 year old who just took a "Small" school to the finals would and will be in high demand.

Kyle Singler was the difference in the game offensively and it was the contributions that Zoubek gave as the big man in the middle for Duke that clogged things up and changed the game in Duke’s favour. What Butler has going for it is that they can return a majority of their team and if Hayward stays they may be even better next year. A scary thought even if the tournament expands to the proposed 96 teams next season.

I guess that there now has to be a question to the average fan: What will you remember the national title game for? Duke winning their 4th title or Butler losing?

Either way this was one of the best tournaments in recent memory. It is always great but this one seemed to be a bit of a topper. This is why it is the greatest self contained tournament/sporting event.

On the 'Heels

The Tar Heels are looking to cut down the nets for a second straight season as winners of the post season tournament. Unfortunately for them this one is not the one that they want, this year they are in the finals for the NIT tournament (the dirty red headed stepchild of the NCAA post season). Last year they won the National Championship but for the most part the team either graduated or moved to the next level, leaving the team more "green" then baby blue.

Thursday night North Carolina will face off versus the Dayton Flyers in the finals of the NIT. Dayton reached the finals after taking down Ole Miss for the right to face the Heels. It may sound like a big miss match with the big bad Tar Heels versus the little Flyers but NC has struggled (obviously they are in the NIT) all season but also in this tournament. Just to save face NC needs this win. Should be an interesting game and serves as a good Thursday appetizer for the grand daddy- The Final Four on Saturday.

Arguments That NCAA Basketball is better then NBA Basketball

Basketball is basketball....not always. Both the NCAA brand and the NBA brand have their pros and cons and their own features and benefits. Sure beauty is in the eye of the Beer-holder but it is the subtle differences that give each their own unique feeling. It all comes down to personal preference.

The regular season is very comparable. Both are anti-climatic for most of the good teams where they are just going through the motions because they are assured of being involved in the "post season" of their respective leagues. Tor the lesser known smaller schools every game could become a do or die game if they hope to move to the big dance. Invites are few and far between if you are a mid major or a small school. Same thing in the NBA The Lakers and Cav’s just need to do enough to stay on top of the league or division and try to be healthy enough going into the playoffs, and the weak inconsistent teams like the Raptors need to scratch and claw for everything just to squeak in.

In the NBA they have "Professional Dancers" that do a good job and are very attractive for the most part but that is all they are, dancers. Sure they can shake to Pump It but that is about it.

In the Collage game they have actual cheerleaders. Cheers and pom-poms and all that good stuff. Again personal preference but there is something more wholesome and entertaining about a cheerleader then a dancer.

The NBA plays Pop, R&B and Rock music blasted over the speakers.

The NCAA has school bands that play the fight songs and popular music with the collegiate touch with trombones, trumpets and big drums. When you hear the sounds of the live bands you can feel that collegiate atmosphere which is pretty cool.

NBA Playoffs last some 2+ months and sometimes seem to drag a bit towards the end when you hit late May and games still don’t have an end in sight. The plus at that time is the games are now intense and for the most part the cream has risen to the top and the game is now a showcase for the top tier talent.

The NCAA and the March Madness Tournament is the greatest self contained annual sporting event in the nation. Not only are the games for the most part entertaining but you are assured an 5-12 upset, a Cinderella team or two that comes out of nowhere to win a few games. Shocking last minute shots...some that go in and some that don’t and that is half the fun.

The NBA you see the playoff schedule and it is what it is, you never know when games are going to happen, dates times and locations are all a crap-shoot. It all comes down to the TV networks on how the games are slotted. There could be back to back games or there could be 8 days in-between. It is hard to hold viewers interest in cases like that. Even for the avid fan it can be tough to stay super jazzed.

The NCAA you know the first 2 rounds are the first weekend noon-midnight...wall to wall madness. Sweet 16 and Elite 8 take up Thursday-Sunday. The Final 4 and National Championship games take week 3. You know when and where to find it, you can plan for it, you can just sit back and enjoy it.

The NBA has "playoffs"

The NCAA has cool catch names that draw in fans like The Sweet 16, Elite 8 and Final Four. They just fall a little short with The National Championship Game.

Upsets-A-Plenty

With the first 2 rounds in the book and all the tickets punched to to Sweet 16, this years NCAA tournament may be one of the best ever. There are so many upsets that have happened over the last 4 days of play. There is only one number 1 that has been ousted (Kansas) but there are a lot of mid seeded teams that have been involved in some of the best games best finishes and biggest upsets. If you had a bracket it is likely good for nothing better then a coaster for your beer, but that is good thing.

If your bracket is busted you can just enjoy the greatest self-contained sporting even in the world. You can enjoy the best games for the games themselves regardless of the teams involved. It doesn't matter that you you don't know that Robert Morris and Sam Houston aren't players on one of the teams but actually schools that were actually in the tournament.

The beauty of this tournament is that part of the fun is to root for the underdog or the Cinderella Story. Usually that happens when the low seed faces one of the big boys like Kentucky or Duke. Granted the way this is shaking down there may be other big seeds to fall and if it comes to the point where there is a match up, lets say in the final 4 with 2 teams where there are 2 underdogs facing each other will that affect peoples viewing? can 2 good guys put on a show that people want to watch or does there need to be a Goliath to root against?

The great thing is there is plenty of more games left to find out...Let the Madness continue!!

Opening Games

WOW, if this is any indicatoin of the way the tournament is going to go it is going to be exciting.
Last year thre were 2 overtime games. Out of the first 3 games today 2 games went to overtime.

Villenova, a 2 seed almost was upset by a 15 seed Robert Morris. Nova's Scottie Reynolds was 2for 15 for 20 points....good thing he was able to hit his free throws.

Notre Dame ios upset and out. St. Pats is officially over, no luck for the Fighing Irish on this day.

Madness Baby!!

On The Verge of Madness

Ok tip off is only moments away with 3 12:30 games

FLORIDA 10 vs BYU 7
OLD DOMINION 11 vs Notre Dame 6
ROBERT MORRIS 15 vs VILLINOVA 2

Gotts my fries cooked, Pepsi chilled, couple pints cold(if need be). Good for a start anyway.
TV is ready, March Madness on Demand is hooked up on the computer for the games that are not on the local CBS channels or on The Score for the live streaming.

This will be no sprint it is a marathon. Pace is the way to go. When Greg Gumble rests so will I. There are always a little time between games, going to have to make an effort to use that brief time wisely.

Ok! lets do this thing!

Sweet Carolina - NC Is Playing For Another Title

Game two is on and has North Carolina taking on Villanova. Carolina has come out firing and getting makes and have stretched the lead to as much as 17 points. Right on cue with most basketball games (I don’t know what it is but there is so often a comeback when teams fall far behind in basketball) Villanova has started to make a push and have closed the gap to under 10 at the half. Anything under double digits is good both realistically as well as optically. Double digits look bad just look at cases of cola at $7.99...looks a lot better then $8 or gas at 79.9 rather then 80.0.

The game is now over and the match is set North Carolina is victorious with a 83-69 victory. Villanova just couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half. they kept shooting 3’s and they wouldn’t fall, they would get looks close to the basket and they wouldn’t fall. North Carolina in turn just filled the basket and had three’s falling like raindrops. That is exactly what NC is going to need come Monday when they face Michigan State in the finals on Monday night.

Looks like there will be a great Finals Monday in a rematch that these teams played in December. NC won big that day, don’t expect them to walk over the Spartans again, this has the potential to be a big nail biter!

If you are watching the game Monday take notice of the court it seems to be raised and the benches are set well below the floor along with press row. It looks way different then a traditional court. I am sure that it has something to do with the fact that it is set on a football field but it is very distinctive, I like it. Perhaps more arena's should adopt this it is a sharp look.
Enjoy the finals!

Michigan State Wins..But Don't Call It An Upset

Game 1 of the final 4 is over and It was Michigan State taking over late in the second half after a closely contested match until the 14 minute mark. At that time it was 49-49. The Spartans were just too strong down the stretch and managed to pull away from the UCONN Huskies and ended the game 82-73. Not even the 7 foot 3 inch Thabeet wasn’t enough to save this one. What I found kind of funny was looking on some websites after the game that had headlines like “State of Shock” and calling it an upset. Just because it was a #2 beating a #1 doesn’t make it an upset...especially when you factor in the fact that they are playing in Ford Field in Detroit MICHIGAN. Yeah maybe they might have the edge as far as being the hometown darling. In basketball more then any other sport it seems like home court/field advantage is very important. Also, as in both Final 4 games they are all evenly matched and all the teams have a legitimate chance, rest assured that this was not an upset.

It was a great game to watch and set the bar for the North Carolina vs Villanova game pretty high to live up too, but I am sure it won’t disappoint.I am not pleased that State won but a good game is always ok in my books...I just hope whoever comes out of the second game prevails in the finals. Only time will tell.

The Road To The Final Four

We are almost to that magical time in NCAA Basketball. It is April and the Madness is over and now we are on the Road to the Final Four.

Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans will take on Jim Calhoon and UCONN Huskies in one match up and Roy Williams and his North Carolina Tar Heals will take on Jay Wright and the Villlenova Wildcats. That makes 3 #1 seeds and a #2 seed that have made it through. Last year all 4 #1’s marched the road to the Final Four.

In my bracket I had 3 of the 4 correct with the exception of Michigan State.
The beauty of this tournament is that you don’t need to follow it all season to enjoy it at this time of year.

Both UCONN and North Carolina have a ton of talent and potential NBA players they are the 2 1 seeds and both favorites. Michigan State has the potential for an upset but the chances that they can knock of both look to be slim. If there is going to be an upset that likely pick will be Villlenova. Coach Wright is not only one of the best coaches in the nation but an upstanding person and an asset in the autograph department.

I am going to stay true to my pick and hope that Ty Lawson can take the Tar Heals to the top, but if they go down I'll be rooting for Villlenova.

So if you are looking for some good games and some good drama Saturday’s games followed by the National Championship game on April 6th.

Road to the Sweet 16

Round 2 of the tournament is in mid swing and the first line up of games were just like the seedings would predict and that made for some games that were never close. The Villanova game for example falls in that category.it wasn’t until the 5pm games that things started to get interesting. The North Carolina Tar Heals had more then their hands full with LSU and may have been forced to use their star guard Lawson more then they would have wanted. I had that game streaming as I have UNC to will it all in my brackets and it is way to early for them to be upset and blow things up for me. The other game that I had streaming was MY Michigan Wolverines. Sure I knew that they were going to loose but as a true fan it is my duty to watch and cheer. They were right there for 3/4 of the game and offered a glimmer of hope for an upset. Unfortunately in the end they fell to the #2 seed Oklahoma. The 3rd game that I had up on the stream was Purdue-Washington..I had Washington in the bracket and that one was the true down to the wire game that screwed up my perfect West region that I had going...jerks.

While all this was going on I managed to have the Ottawa Senators-NY Islanders hockey game audio on and the Toronto Maple Leafs-Montreal Canadiens Game on the TV. Nice to have multi games available on a Saturday night!!

Lakers-Bulls and Vancouver-Coyotes game for the tv and the 12 seeded W. Kentucky-4 seeded Gonzaga and Duke-Texas streamed on the computer. Texas looked like they may have put themselves into a position to become an upset in the making but Duke being Duke managed to beat Texas and sent them home...more times then Leave it to Beaver, reruns. The Gonzaga game was more tournament like...wow that was a wild finish. It is crazy that some of these kids have the mental make-up to execute in some of the pressure situations that they are put into. W. Kentucky was clearly seeded wrong as they may have been one of the best #12 team I have seen in a long time.

Second Half of Day 2 of the Madness

WOW, apparently the Friday’s special was upsets with a side of overtimes.

Cleveland State-Wake Forest was one of the biggest upsets, not only because it was a 13 defeating a 4 but it was the way that it happened and just how bad of a blowout the 84-69 Final really was. Wisconsin-Florida State 61-59 OT Final was crazy right down to the last play in overtime with yet another 5-12 upset. Siena-Ohio State 74-72 2OT Final came down to a “three-for-all”, as Siena nailed a 3 with 4 seconds left in the 2nd overtime to seal the 8-9 upset.

Once again both games were back and forth and it was all that The Score to do to keep up with each game flipping back and forth between the two during whistles and time outs. EVEN MORE MADNESS!

This is why the NCAA tournament is what it is, memorable games, exciting finishes overtimes and buzzer beaters! Bring on the next round of games, but it will be tough to top what has already happened!

March Madness- Time To Bust the Bracket

It is almost that time of the year again when the world of pro sports takes a backseat to the college ranks. Much like New Years day is known for all the college bowl games March is here and it is time to unleash the MADNESS...March Madness that is.

The fun will all start with Selection Sunday only a few days away when we find out who is in, who is out, who got the number 1 seeds and find out where Weber State is. I looked on a map of the US and A and did not see the state of Weber, maybe it is hidden under part of Texas, Texas is pretty big you know.

This is a time for the under dog and the Cinderella team to shine and put their tiny school on the map even if it is only for a few weeks in March. A time where a number 5 seed will fall to that number 12 seed. A time where some unknown kid becomes a household name, where his 15 minutes of fame may be a basket with 0.4 seconds on the clock. A time when we hear things like Sweet 16 Elite 8 and Final Four

It is a time when knowing absolutely nothing about sports or basketball is the best. I know it sounds weird to say but you know it is a fact that the secretary in your office will fill out her (or his) bracket with no idea anything about anything and wind up winning the thing because she likes the colour Baby Blue (this is not an endorsement for the North Carolina Tar Heals, even if there is a good chance they may take it).

It is also that time when those who are die-hard Young and the Restless fans have to suffer through the show to end all shows getting pre-empted for basketball coverage. Sorry to be the barer of bad news but please don’t shoot the messenger. I do feel your pain, but it is only a couple of days and I am sure you can make it few days without finding what is really going to happen between Jack and Victor and the triumphant return of Danny Romalotti and Snapper Foster!

So come Sunday get that bracket printed and engage in the fun of “Busting the Bracket!” it is one of the best events in all of sports.