From season openers to tournament finales... from Tiger tracking to Skinsationalism... this week has been one for the sports ages.
Did Chitwood need a re-shoot? Those shots from Butler went in, right? Damn! Cinderella came oh so close to forcing a Hoosiers II-- this time it's Collegial... Gordon Hayward's miss kept the Bulldogs at bay-- and delivered a fourth national title in 20 years to Coach K and the Blue Devils. Hate them you may. Believe in conspiracies delivering an easy bracket to their feet if you must. Dislike their fan base, please. (a Maryland fan compared the Blue Devil and Tar Heel faithful by saying Dukies were obnoxious and in your face about how much better they were while UNCers were more assumed of their superiority-- like it was pre-ordained). But let the record show that Coach K graduates kids, runs a clean program and dominates the landscape.
Conference Call-- I grew up a Big East guy... and root for that league except in extreme situations (and even then I hoped for a mono outbreak at Duke-Georgetown). Just as I praise the Blue Devils, let me laud their league. The ACC has 5 of the last 10 national champions (Big East and SEC each have two while the Big 12 has one) and 8 of the last 20 titleists (SEC-5, Big East-2, Pac Ten-2 with one each for the Big 10 and 12). Despite watering down its product by bringing in football schools with little to offer on the court, the ACC shines again in March-- even though it's beginning to resemble Big Ten football from the 70's... with UNC and Duke in the upper tax bracket.
Shining Moment lacks polish-- Okay, so I sat through the Duke celebration (and Jim Nantz's "Duke is king!" pun-call) only to get a Syracuse-less "One Shining Moment". But the real disappointment was hearing not Luther Vandross but Jennifer Hudson. Hello? OSM is Luther's song... and if you're not going to play his version because he's deceased-- retire the song/his shining moment. Suggestion? "Win! In the End!" from Teenwolf.
Coaching Carousel-- the ACC didn't slow down once the offseason began; Oliver Purnell leaves Clemson for DePaul. While Purnell rebuilt the Tigers, they remained in the waiting room as opposed to breaking into the throne room. February fades and going bellyup in the NCAA's were as common as year by year improvement of the program as a whole. I'm surprised he left for a wasteland that is the Blue Demon program-- DePaul has poor facilities and is in a league it doesn't belong in... perhaps he can get them back into Conference USA (taking Marquette with them). Meanwhile, Dino Gaudio gets the axe at Wake Forest after winnign 61 games over three seasons... the kicker being the Demon Deacons were 1-5 in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Gaudio took over on an interim basis after the offseason passing of Skip Prosser in 2007... and it will be interesting to see who Wake chooses to guide their program from here...Butler's Brad Stevens? Since Dave Odom righted the Demon Deacons in the early 90's, it's been a good program. Boston College wraps up the trio of moves by hiring Steve Donahue away from Cornell after the Big Red reached the Sweet Sixteen. He should be able to fit in well and recruit the Northeast... as the Eagles continue to operate as the isolated outpost of the ACC-- part of me wishes they still called the Big East home.
Changing of the guard at quarterback-- Donovan McNabb met with the media Tuesday... telling everyone he's excited to be coming to DC and that he looks forward to working with Mike Shanahan and how he feels 22 instead of 33. Still to be determined-- who the Skins pick at #4... what happens to Jason Campbell and if they deal him or he signs elsewhere the draft choices they'll get (with only four picks now, extra selections would be huge)... and if they'll move any other pieces (aka Albert Haynesworth, Chris Cooley, Laron Landry) for picks.
The Nationals began 2010 pretty much the same way they began last year; an 11-1 loss to Philadelphia underscored porous pitching...ineffective offense and a ballpark dominated by visiting fans. At least the sausage machine gun wasn't operating.
Tiger Woods tees off Thursday as the Masters restricted media and patron access gives him some cover in his return to the tour. How will golf's best player respond to being on the shelf since November? How quickly can he shake the rust? And how much will his game be affected by the absence of his old lifestyle? The aging second tier triumvirate of Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh has been on the precipice of a magical fourth major (only 25 have won four while 43 have won three majors) since 2006... one would think the trio would have a handful of major runs remaining in their respective careers.
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