Legends of the Pen: Bidding Farewell To March Madness
4/7/2011 1:49:13 PM | Men's Basketball
March 17: Memories off the court, a few on, John Wooden and Mrs. Naismith | Feb. 24: Basketball's Regular Season Winds Down | Feb. 3 Basketball Home Courts | Jan. Numbers and Letters | Dec. 23 Bowlitis| Dec. 12 A Bowl Awaits | Nov. 11 Nothing Comes Easy | Oct. 20 1970 Squad Had Great Turnaround | Oct. 1 The 1984 Team Was Special | Sept. 9 College Football Time At SU
One person's thoughts as we bid farewell to March Madness:
It was a foregone conclusion that Connecticut would win the NCAA Division I basketball championship. Talk about as close a guarantee of the outcome of a sporting event as there is, this was it.
Well, Connecticut won but there was a slight change to the script--it was the men who grabbed the title, not those women who seem to have won it all for so long that no one else drew any consideration.
Well, Connecticut won but there was a slight change to the script--it was the men who grabbed the title, not those women who seem to have won it all for so long that no one else drew any consideration.
Yup, those Huskies, the male version that is. Those Huskies who lost four of their last five conference games and finished ninth in the regular season.
Those Huskies who didn't even receive a pre-season vote in the polls. Those Huskies who had to play in a Tuesday opening round of the Big East Conference championship in Madison Square Garden.
Well, those Huskies won those five games (including an overtime nod over SU). Now it is those Huskies who just finished winning six more games and gave Jim Calhoun his third national championship.
Yes, the Big East had a record-setting 11 selections for the Big Dance, i.e. March Madness but 10 of them left rather quietly. Georgetown, Louisville, St. John's and Villanova were all 0-1. Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia went 1-1. Only Marquette managed a second win.
Oh, yeah, Connecticut managed a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth victory and other than the Arizona game, never was in much danger of losing.
"Improbable", "implausible", "unthinkable", and "unimaginable" were some of the words tossed around by the media for this year's edition of the Madness game that takes over the delightful, merry month of March.
Now a few of one man's overall thoughts:
Now a few of one man's overall thoughts:
...has NFL parity come front and center to the NCAA's? Two mid-major clubs made it to the Final Four (wonderful). Since the seedings began in 1979, this year no one or two seeds made it to the April dates. VCU got in because this year the field added four more spots. Had VCU beaten Butler in the semis, they would have been playing in their seventh tournement game.
...the average ticket price for the Final Four games was $526. Just who can afford these prices?
....Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun are 66 and 68 respectively. The Butler and VCU coaches were 34 and 32. JB was on his way to his third 20-win season when these two were crawling around the floor.
...are Boeheim and Calhoun going to be the basketball version of Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden? Bowden retired but Joe will start the fall campaign at the age of 84.
...tough luck Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas (unhappy over certain selections).
...congratulations to Pat Driscoll, former park commissioner for Syracuse, on working the Butler-VCU game. Pat is becoming one of the top college officials.
...and congratulations to Bill Raftery, voted as best game analyst in poll by USA Today. Bill didn't have great success as Seton Hall coach when the Big East started back in 1979-80 but he always brings a cheery, thoughtful bunch of comments when announcing a game.
...it was interesting to see the salaries listed for the head coaches. Football and basketball are mind-blowing for some. The Wall Street Journal ran a story the other day on college wrestling. The average salary for a head coach? Less than $70,000.
Time to say farewell. It has been fun dusting off the memory cap on Orange football and basketsball. Where have the years gone? Hope there are a few more.
Syracuse Men's Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, March 07
Adrian Autry postgame vs. Pittsburgh
Saturday, March 07
Highlights | Syracuse vs. Pitt
Saturday, March 07
Adrian Autry Show
Thursday, March 05
