I was feeling very relaxed on my friend's couch, watching Kansas slowly chip away at Ohio State's lead. His dog, with whom I share a complicated relationship, had slipped comfortably under my arm, and there was a serenity about the basketball playing out in front of me. Unlike the blunt trauma of Louisville-Kentucky, the grating comeback and the harsh response and the brutal history hanging over it all, Kansas seemed to be sailing at a graceful tempo. They were bound to overtake Ohio State at just the right moment, like a drafting cyclist who had never faced the wind. I felt it, and I think the dog did too.
I wasn't having visions, or anything that riveting. I couldn't tell that Kansas would win until it was too late to feel prophetic. In fact, after the Kentucky win, the Jayhawks had seemed vulnerable enough that I boldly predicted an Ohio State championship Monday night. But the boldness soon seeped out of me, and even though the outcome didn't immediately materialize, the resolve with which Kansas chipped away at the lead — and all the missed shots from Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft — shadowed the game with a sense of steady inevitability.
I have a stupid theory about college basketball: The momentum a team carries with it into the locker room at halftime is more important to the final outcome than it should be. And I'm talking about the immediate momentum — what happens in the final minute, or the final 30 seconds. Last year, when Arizona beat my beloved Blue Devils in the Sweet 16, Duke held a 44-35 lead with five seconds left in the first half. Then Derrick Williams hit a ridiculous, lucky fall-away 3, and the margin was reduced to six. Arizona charged into the locker room on fire, and the Dukies shook their heads, thinking about all the bad luck the world has to offer. Am I crazy to think that there's some immeasurable energy exchange that takes place in those situations, a one-way transfusion that drains one team and infuses another over 15 long minutes?
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports over the weekend.
The NCAA men's basketball championship will be contested Monday between Kentucky and Kansas. The Wildcats defeated in-state rival Louisville 69-62 in the first game of Saturday's Final Four, and the Jayhawks used a second half comeback to beat Ohio State 64-62 in the nightcap. Also, the NIT championship was played on Thursday night. Florida Panhandle Tech beat Rocky Mountain East 53-47, and I defy anyone to care enough to prove me wrong.
Kentucky's Anthony Davis became the first Kentucky player to win the Naismith Player of the Year Award, while Kansas' Bill Self won Coach of the Year. Meanwhile, Harrison Barnes won Entrepreneur of the Year, an award he invented and strong-armed the Better Business Bureau into presenting at an Embassy Suites conference center in Atlanta.
We asked Mark Titus for five predictions before NCAA tournament games during March Madness this year. Here's what he had to say about the Final Four …
Kansas and Ohio State will be decided by a role player
I’m defining "role player" as someone who isn’t one of the four best guys for his team. So basically, someone other than Thomas Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor, Elijah Johnson, or Jeff Withey will be the difference in the game if Kansas wins. Someone other than Jared Sullinger, Deshaun Thomas, William Buford, or Aaron Craft will be the difference if Ohio State wins.
When these two teams met in December, Kansas’s Kevin Young came out of nowhere to score a season-high 14 points and play a huge role in a 78-67 Jayhawk win. I anticipate something similar happening this time around, because the top four players for each team will likely negate one another. This is why I say the outcome of the game will be determined by whomever among Young, Travis Releford, Conner Teahan, Lenzelle Smith Jr., Evan Ravenel, and Sam Thompson has an uncharacteristically great game. My money is on Releford, if only because I want to jinx Kansas as much as possible.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports over the weekend.
The Final Four is set. Louisville mounted a late comeback against Florida, Kansas pounded North Carolina in the closing minutes, Kentucky creamed Baylor, and Ohio State outlasted Syracuse. In related news, Rick Pitino's romantic life regularly involves three of those verbs, in sequence, but literally never the fourth.
Tiger Woods earned his first PGA Tour victory since the infamous 2009 sex scandal with a 2-under 70 on the final day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. "Two under 70? That's pretty tame by my standards!" Woods joked, before adding, "Still too soon?" And then Rick Pitino burst through the door and shouted, "There's no such thing as too soon!" before adding, "Inappropriate?"
You know it’s the day before the basketball starts because the banality hits high tide just after noon and doesn’t recede until they throw the ball up Thursday night. It so happens that Cincinnati and Ohio State have managed to play their way into the East Regional semifinal here in Boston. This is rather a big deal because: (a) the two teams played each other in consecutive national championship games in 1961 and ‘62, and (b) the two teams have played each other exactly once since those matchups 50 years ago — largely because the Bearcats got really good and therefore were disqualified from ever being scheduled by the Buckeyes again.
It's hard to really call Cincinnati a "college town," in the same way that you wouldn't think of schools like NYU or the University of Chicago having college vibes. Nevertheless, it is a city, and while it might not be the brightest star on the American urban landscape, I think we can all agree, without delving into insult or conjecture, that it beats out Columbus, Ohio.
We asked Mark Titus for five predictions before Thursday's March Madness games. Here's what he had to say about tonight's matchups …
A 1-seed will lose
I've already explained why I like the Wisconsin Buzzcuts to beat Syracuse tonight, but Michigan State should also be on upset alert. I like Louisville’s chances against the Spartans, if for no other reason than the Cardinals get after it on defense. As has been the case all year, the big concern with Louisville will be its ability to score — especially since Michigan State plays great defense themselves — which is why I think Syracuse is more likely to lose than Michigan State. But if Louisville’s pressure can keep the Spartans offense in check and create some easy baskets off turnovers, if Russ Smith and Kyle Kuric have their jumpers working, and if Peyton Siva continues to play within himself and control the offense, Louisville should be able to put up enough points to pull off the upset.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Wednesday.
President Barack Obama picked his official March Madness bracket, putting Kentucky, Ohio State, North Carolina, and Missouri in the Final Four, with the Tar Heels winning the championship. At least that's what ESPN is reporting; according to several Republican sources, Obama actually picked a Final Four of Harvard, Duke, Kim Jong-un, and the Nairobi Fake Birth Certificate Corporation, with Duke winning it all.
In the First Four in Dayton, South Florida took the fight to Cal early, running up a big lead and winning 65-54. That leaves just one team from the Pac-12 in the tournament, but conference officials are confident that Colorado will restore their honor by winning the national title.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports over the weekend.
Kobe Bryant, the Masked Mamba, scored 33 points as the Lakers avenged his broken nose with a 93-83 victory over Dwyane Wade and the Heat. "From this day forward, I shall never be seen without a mask," Kobe said after the game, "and it won't be this admittedly feminine Mardi Gras feather mask, either. I left my cool ones at home."
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports over the weekend.
Kevin Durant scored 36 points in an MVP performance as the West beat the East 152-149 in the NBA All-Star Game. The game's defensive MVP award was given to former NBA legend Bob "Dutch" Pettit.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports over the weekend.
Jeremy Lin had 28 points and 14 assists, and his teammate Steve Novak scored 14 fourth-quarter points as the Knicks beat the defending champion Dallas Mavericks 104-97. Hey-oh, looks like we need to hand out some Novak-olades, am I right?! Come on, let's spread it around! Novak-olades! The next big thing. It's going to be great, we just have to get Novak-climated! Wait, where's everyone going? Are we Novak-uating? Mom? Dad?
Kobe Bryant ripped Lakers management for the way they've handled the potential Pau Gasol trade, saying: "If they're going to do something, I wish they would just (expletive) do it." Bryant added that he felt the same way about war with China. "Let's get it on!" he shouted crazily.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports over the weekend.
Phil Mickelson out-dueled Tiger Woods by 11 shots in the final round to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. At the press conference, an angry Woods said that the only reason Mickelson beat him is that he was able to stabilize his putter by nestling it between his ample breasts.
The Yankees are in trade talks with the Pirates that may involve sending A.J. Burnett to Pittsburgh. It turns out the Yankees are on the lookout for a DH and a few young prospects, while the Pirates need someone who can belch redneck anthems and get arrested for cooking meth in a motel bathtub.
During the broadcast of Tuesday night's Florida-Kentucky game, which the no. 1 Wildcats won handily, Dick Vitale told a story about Ohio State sophomore Jared Sullinger. Both Vitale and Sullinger were at the Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year awards banquet this past April — Sullinger to receive the top prize, Vitale to receive a humanitarian award — when the announcer asked the star who would win next season.
"No doubt in my mind," Sullinger said. "Anthony Davis."
Vitale argued for Austin Rivers and other incoming freshmen, but Sullinger was adamant. Now, a year later, his prediction is a foregone conclusion. Anthony Davis is the freshman of the year, beyond any shadow of a doubt. With a wingspan captured in this poster released at Tuesday's game, he's dominated the interior to an almost unfair extent. And unless a virulent strain of anti-freshman bias runs through the various award committees, he's a contender to win every national player of the year award, too.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports over the weekend.
The New York Giants beat the New England Patriots 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI. And that's after viewers were inundated with patriotic propaganda, from the national anthem to a crazy Clint Eastwood ad, without ever seeing one commercial featuring actual giants. Not one!
Eli Manning, who threw for 296 yards and led the game-winning drive, was named the game's MVP for the second time in his career. "GEE WHIZ AND JEEZUM CROW!" he shouted, waving his hat around in excitement. "GOLLLLLY, THAT'S SWELL!" He then stared at the Chevrolet Corvette he won, and wondered when Peyton would take him for a ride to the dairy for some iced cream.
