Inside of a minute to play with the national championship on the line, the ball was in the hands of No. 42 in the bright yellow jersey. The string bean kid, who stands 6 feet 11 inches but weighs just 165 pounds. He was running the court on a fast break. He was ahead of the defense, a cluster of spindly arms and legs.
Even the Duke haters have to admit Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski showed class when he stopped by the Mercer locker room to congratulate the Bears on their victory.
If you’re the guy who called the boss and left a long message using a French accent saying we had it wrong in the newspaper when we referred to the first round of March Madness as the second round, do not call and leave another message. Call NCAA headquarters.
If you were watching the smart guys from Stanford knock the one-and-dones from Kansas out of this year’s March Madness on Sunday, then you probably saw the #CryingKansasKid. The CBS cameras did, and the network is taking a bunch of flak for it on social media.
On Saturday, I filed a blog about the NCAA Tournament — the NCAA men’s tournament — that began thusly:
I have colleagues that cannot write about Steve Alford, now the coach at UCLA, formerly the coach at New Mexico, without mentioning that he likes to wear a basketball net as a fashion accessory. But he wasn’t the first.
The state of Indiana had 10 chances to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. It went 0-for-10. This is only the second time since 1973 the Hoosier State has not placed a team in the bracket.
Most sports writers won’t admit to cheering for certain teams at the NCAA Tournament. There shall be no cheering from the press box. But if you are watching the Madness unfold in a sports book, it’s OK to pull for certain teams.
UCLA vs. Arizona; New Mexico vs. San Diego State: SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt says Las Vegas was the place to be for the prelude to March Madness.
Amanda Marcum was a Maxim magazine cover girl before she met basketball coach Andy Enfield. Along with Florida Gulf Coast, she was one of the stars of last year’s NCAA Tournament. She won’t be going back after Colorado knocked Southern Cal out of the Pac-12 tournament.
