The college basketball season ended the way it began--with North Carolina #1 thanks to its national championship game victory over Michigan State. As Tar Heel Nation crowns its fifth champion (third in the last 17 years)...we move on to the offseason.
Is it true Roy Williams has as many national titles as Dean Smith? Yes, it's tough to believe the student has equalled the teacher in that regard--but let's take it a step further...both of Williams wins were relatively comfortable--the five-point victory over Illinois in 2005 wasn't as close as it appeared, while this years game was over after ten minutes (31-11). Both of Dean's championships came thanks to colossal gaffes by the other team: Georgetown's Fred Brown passing to James Worthy in '82 and Michigan's Chris Webber calling a timeout the Wolverines didn't have in '93.
Does the Tar Heel run erase the ACC's underachieving season...and what do we make of the Big East? After one weekend the Atlantic Coast Conference was 5-6 in the NCAA's...with just one win outside of Greensboro while the Big East had 5 sweet sixteen schools. Odds looked good for at least one Big East school to be playing on the final Monday of the season--and while one can explain each loss-(Michigan State better motivated to get to the title than Louisville or UConn, Villanova not as talented as UNC, Syracuse not as good as Oklahoma and Pitt not matching up well with Nova)...the end result is the ACC's best fared better than the Big East's best. But the second, third, fourth and fifth best in the Big East is better than what the ACC had to offer this winter.
Masters week at Augusta National has Tiger Woods pursuing a fifteenth major...plus a pair of farewells: Gary Player after his 52nd and final competitive round and Fuzzy Zoeller on the 30th anniversary of his Masters triumph. Player will always be the George Harrison of his generation--not as well-liked as Jack or Arnie, but more than deserving of his place in the sun. Zoeller was a fine competitor who came through in the clutch (both of his major championships came in extra holes).
My take on the Tiger Woods-Jack Nicklaus debate? Much has been written about how one would do in the other's era and how their respective eras differed competition-wise... I think the elite of Nicklaus' generation (Palmer, Player and Trevino--with the later addition of Watson) beats Tiger's competition (Els, Singh, Mickelson) hands-down...but the depth of the field today is much better--today's #30 is much more capable of winning on the tour and in a major than the #30 of Jack's day. A lot of that has to do with economics...fringe players can remain on the tour longer and improve their game easier than they could 30 and 40 years ago--when if you didn't make a lot of cuts...you were going to find another line of work.
Simply put--in Nicklaus' time golf was more of an inverted pyramid--top loaded with more than a few hall of famers. Tiger's world has a much more traditional pyramid--with only a few on or near Mr. Woods' level. That doesn't make me any less mad at Phil or Ernie for not being able to close a British or U.S. Open, but it does rationalize Rich Beem or Shawn Micheel rising from out of nowhere.
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