Armchair Weekend in Review (March 23-25, 2007)
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by user JB82
And then there were four...
The NCAA Division I Final Four is all set; let's lead off with how they got there.
- UCLA is hoping that its second consecutive Final Four run will be more successful than last year. The Bruins are headed to Atlanta thanks to a 68-55 win over first seed Kansas in the West Regional final. Aaron Afflalo scored 24 in the win for Ben Howland's team.
- Meanwhile in San Antonio, Texas, Greg Oden helped save his team from elimination as the Buckeyes punched their ticket to the Final Four for the first time in eight years, 92-76, over Memphis. The win extended the Bucks' winning streak to 21 games, while the Tigers saw their 25-game run of luck come to an end.
- Could Billy Donovan's gang "Gator done" again? We won't find out until next week, but Florida became the first defending champion in seven years to return to the Final Four with a decisive 85-77 win over Oregon in the Midwest Regional final. Two nights earlier, my pick for the national title almost got waxed by Butler in the Sweet 16.
- 25 years ago this coming Thursday (3/29), Dean Smith's North Carolina Tar Heels and John Thompson's Georgetown Hoyas did battle for the NCAA championship. It was a star-studded affair, with a number of future NBA stars participating in the game, including Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing. The man who would become the greatest player of all time gave the Heels a 63-62 lead via a mid-range jumper with 15 seconds to go, and Fred Brown sealed the victory with an errant pass to James Worthy.
- In 2007, a new generation of talent took the court in East Rutherford, New Jersey to decide the fourth and final entrant into the Biggest of the Big Dance. Just like the 1982 title tilt, it will pretty much go down as a classic – if it were just played in regulation. UNC's Tyler Hansbrough led the world with 26 points, but Patrick Ewing, Jr. and his Hoyas, now led by John Thompson III, needed a 15-3 overtime rout to clinch their first FF appearance since 1985, 96-84, and to bust up my bracket for darn sure, as I had UNC to win.
- There was also excitement in the Division II championship game. Winona State came in riding a D2 record 57-game winning streak. Barton College's Anthony Atkinson soon ended the game on a rampage, pouring 10 points in the final 45 seconds (or so), including the game-winning buzzer-beater layup that snapped the Warriors' streak, 77-75.
- On the women's front, Marist's bid to become the female George Mason ended with a 65-46 loss to Pat Summit's Tennessee Lady Vols. But let's give a tip of the AWIR hat to the Lady Foxes for their run. Meanwhile, the Ldy Knights of Rutgers upset Duke 53-52 thanks to two missed free throws from Lindsey Harding near the end.
NHL New York Battle
The rivalry between the New York Islanders and the New York Rangers has had periods of animocity since the Isles were founded back in 1972, but Chris Simon's sick work on Ryan Hollweg on March 8 took the intensity to a new level. The two teams went at it again at the Nassau Coliseum on Sunday, and with Simon himself in attendance, cooler heads prevailed as Michael Nylander socred a power-play goal in overtime to give the Blueshirts a 2-1 win, while both goaltenders (Henrik Lundqvist for the Rangers, Rick DiPietro for the Isles) turned in magnificent performances. The Rangers now stand in sixth place in the Eastern Conference playoff push, while the one point put the Isles in a three-way tie for the eighth and last playoff berth.
Mama, there that man again!
Kobe Bryant continues to single-handedly carry the Los Angeles Lakers down the stretch. Further edification comes with a 50-point performance against the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in N'awlins, 111-105. This coming on the heels of 60 against the Memphis Grizzlies the night before. Methinks that Kobe will wind up on the injured list soon because he'll have a bad case of traction from carrying every last one of Phil Jackson's gang. ;-)
Fast Track
- NASCAR debuted its much ballyhooed "Car of Tomorrow" at Bristol Motor Speedway, and Kyle Busch got the first one across to win the Food City 500 on the high-banked short track. Busch gave his car manufacturer, Chevrolet, their 600th win despite his opinions on the CoT. Polesitter Jeff Gordon, fellow member of the Bowtie Brigade and Hendrick Motorsports teammate, came home third.
- The IRL IndyCar Series opened its 2007 campaign with eine kleine nachtracing, as the series went under the lights for the first time ever at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Dan Wheldon, who finished runner-up to Sam Hornish, Jr. in the championship last year, took the first checkered flag of 2007 in the XM Satellite Radio Indy 300.
- The AWIR is getting behind the Valentino Rossi bandwagon, as the Italian driver took the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, as well as the points lead. American Nicky Hayden sits in sixth in the drivers' standings.
CWC intrigue (not the positive kind, though)
- While England's cricket team have made it to this tournament's version of the Elite Eight, the intrigue surrounding the Cricket World Cup still lies on the murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer last weekend after his Pakistani team were upset by Ireland. The authorities in Jamaica announced Woolmer's death as a murder via asphyxiation, and pretty much fingered the Pakistani team, thinking that one of the players or a group thereof had a hand in the plot.
- Hearing this news gave this reporter a shock, and I have read the the murder has given cricket a bad rap, even in the States. Actually, the sports world in general should be appalled. What if A-Rod has another one of his clutch slumps and takes out his frustrations by knocking off Joe Torre? Or maybe what if Latrell Spreewell took his choking act on P.J. Carlesimo years ago one step further, giving him the same end as Woolmer? That would be a hundred – NAY, a thousand times more gruesome than what happened in the Carribean.
It's surprising that the games are still being played down there.
There, I've vented my spleen
The first year of the AWIR comes to an end next week. Join us for the send-off, won't you? Until then, let's all be good sports (emphasis on "good")...
