Armchair Weekend in Review (March 16-18, 2007)
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by user JB82
Obvious lead-off topic this week: March Madness. Let's get to it!
Round 1, Day 2
- Okay, Virginia Commonwealth, an 11-seed, knocked off Duke in the first round thanks to a layup on Thursday night. But that type of upset was nothing compared to what happened the following afternoon in Spokane, Washington. The Eagles of tiny Winthrop University were down as much as seven points, but managed to build a sizeable lead (by Big South Conference standards) and withstand a Notre Dame rally to pull off a 74-64 upset over the sixth-seeded Fighting Irish. It was safe to say that Irish eyes were crying and millions of pints of Guinness were guzzled as ND fans drowned the sorrow of an unexpected first-round exit.
- The Memphis Tigers survived a very early scare from 15th-seeded North Texas to advance, 73-58. Meanwhile, in Chicago, the Wisconsin Badgers overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to beat the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 76-63. It was TAMU-CC's first NCAA tournament appearance, BTW.
- The Oregon Ducks held off an almost relentless attack by the Miami (Ohio) Redskins, 56-53. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant and the Texas Longhorns held off rallies by Reggie Theus' New Mexico State Aggies, 79-76.
- It looked as though an upset of not-so-epic proportions was about to happen in Columbus, Ohio. The 12th-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini led the whole game over Virginia Tech. But, thanks to Deron Washington's bank shot, the Hokies moved on to the second round, 54-52.
Round 2
- The game of the day was in Lexington, Kentucky. Thad Matta and his Ohio State Buckeyes needed overtime to erase an 11-point deficit to defeat the Xavier Musketeers, Matta's old charges, 78-71. The Bucks did it without the services of star player Greg Oden, who fouled out after giving XU's Justin Cage a hard push in the closing minutes of regulation.
- Butler's magic carpet ride continues thanks to an upset win over fourth-seeded Maryland, 62-59. A.J. Graves made the victory possible thanks to a three-pointer with over two minutes left; the Bulldogs will play in the Sweet 16 for the second time since 2003.
- In the South regional, Duke got the last laugh as the VCU Rams got beat in overtime by the Pittsburgh Panthers, 84-79. The next day in Columbus, Tennessee rallied to edge Virginia, 77-74, doing the same to my (hopefully) graduate alma mater, the University at Albany, who were massacared at the hands of the Cavaliers two days earlier.
- Vanderbilt needed double overtime to upset third-seeded Washington State, 84-78, in the East regional. Good luck next weekend against Georgetown...
- Speaking of the Hoyas, they moved on to the Sweet 16 thanks to a 62-55 win over former Big East rival Boston College.
- Defending their national title from last year hasn't been an easy task for the Florida Gators. Further edification came with surviving a tight battle with Purdue, 71-69, on Sunday, and doing the same against bottom-feeder Jackson State on Friday.
- Texas never had a real fighting chance aganst USC, falling 87-68 to the Trojans. Maybe a certain NBA franchise had a hand in it, talking with Durant before the game (and getting in trouble for it, too. More on the pro later...)
- Also moving on: Oregon, UNLV (there goes my bracket; had the Badgers in the Elite Eight), Kansas, Southern Illinois, UCLA, North Carolina, USC, Texas A&M and Nevada.
NBA Highlights (and one Lowlight)
- Kobe Bryant was at it again on Friday; the Los Angeles Lakers' star player dropped 65 points in a 116-111 OT win over the Portland Trail Blazers. This was Bryant's second-highest career single-game scoring output. He followed it up with half a hundie two nights later against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
- The following night, Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson scored 44 points in their 137-101 blowout of the Phoenix Suns. AI had help from Carmelo Anthony, who added 29 points.
- In what was billed as a preview of this year's NBA Finals, the Detroit Pistons came home from a very successful West Coast road swing to find the Dallas Mavericks waiting for them. The Mavs, led by Dirk Nowitzki's 28 points, beat up on the Pistons 92-88.
- You know that story about Kevin Durant re: the NBA from earlier? Well, before Texas' NCAA tourney game with USC, the Boston Celtics contacted Durant about putting him on their payroll next season. The league fined the Celts $ 30,000 (US) for their actions.
Fast Track
- Jimmie Johnson passed Tony Stewart to take the checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Kobalt Tools 500, his second win in a row. Ex-Formula One superstar Juan Pablo Montoya finished 16th.
- Speaking of F1, their 2007 season began with the 2007 Australian Grand Prix. Life after Michael Schumacher kicked off with Kimi Raikonnen taking the victory in Melbourne. There was a surprise on the podium, with British driver Lewis Hamilton coming home in third. Even more notable is that the 22-year-old is the first African-Briton ever to participate in F1 competition.
- One other note that I was completely unaware of since I had college hoops on the brain last week: The MotoGP began its '07 campaign in Qatar on March 10, with Australian Casey Stoner taking the win. Valentino Rossi followed behind him, while defending champion Nicky Hayden (Hern hern) finished in eighth place.
Unbelievable feats of the weekend (not involving college basketball)
- There were times in the past when NHL goalies scored goals on their own – the Philadelphia Flyers' Ron Hextall being the prime example, doing it twice during his career. But the Premier League in the UK had never seen anything like this until Saturday at White Hart Lane. Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson had just booted what seemed to be your typical free kick. The unusual part came when it took a bad hop, went past Watford counterpart (and England national teammate) Ben Foster, and landed in the back of the net – some 80 feet away. 80 FEET, JERRY!! Robinson became only the third goalkeep ever to score in Premiership history. Everyone in the UK is probably thinking, "That should be the Goal of the Season!" BTW, Spurs took the win, 3-1, over their London rivals.
- PBA bowler Ryan Schafer became only the 18th bowler in tour history to bowl a perfect game (300), accomplishing the feat during the semifinals of the Pepsi Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana.
That's all for this week
The madness that is the AWIR continues next week. Until then, let's all be good sports...
