A couple folks, sports minded gents, have asked why I have not been posting comments about the NCAA basketball tourney. I told them I did mention it some time back. That is about all you are going to get out of me during basketball season. It is not that I don’t like it…I just don’t take the time to look at it until this grandiose tournament goes on that..by the way…has paid an immeasurable amount of STUPID TAX given the semi-finals were on CABLE TV and not on over the air television like I think the Good Lord intended. I know..I know…the College Bowls were just as bad. In fact…worse.
I have been watching this tourney closely. I am shocked that Kentucky got put out by Wisconsin.
The McDonald’s All-Americans got knocked off by the Culver’s All-Americans. Four of the starters for Swissconsin are natives of the Cheesehead State.
I have been to Wisconsin. I could care less if I ever return. Much like many folks talk about Indiana. Or as one North Carolina newspaper columnist referred to Indianapolis as Indian-no-place. I drive through Raleigh the day that column ran. What has this guy been smokin’? That is what I wondered. While I love the Tar Heel Sate…probably more than my native soil because I can…I have been to both State Capitols. I have spent time in both Capitol cities. They are both better places to be than Wisconsin, in my puny opinion.
The Final Four. I hope I don’t get sued for using that term more than once in a speaktherights.com post.
I remember 1978 when Goose GIvens scored 41 points to lead UK over Duke in the final.
I remember the 1979 classic of Bird v. Magic. Indiana State vs. Michigan State. The Sycamores were undefeated going in to that game. How great would have that been if they would have won. Perhaps the term “mid-major” would have never seen the light of day had ISU beat MSU that day.
The next year Louisville, led by Darrell Griffith, won it all in Indian-no-place against…wasn’t it UCLA?
The next year Indiana won it…1981. The game was played in the Philadelphia Spectrum. Their opponent? I have no clue. I just know they won.
Those four years I was 10, 11, 12, and 13. I never enjoyed basketball more.
I think my affinity for basketball waned after I procured the ability to watch more TV channels. Cable and satellite came along. I was no longer relegated to three solid channels and an independent cheesy one. During the antiquated TV era, I watched more basketball.
My Dad and I even watched the NBA on Sunday afternoons when I was a kid. I caught the tale end of Celtic dominance with John Havlicek and Dave Cowens and Sidney Wicks and Jo Jo White. Good teams with Bird and those boys followed. I enjoyed the guys from the 1970s much more.
Of course my favorite team was the 76ers and my favorite player was Dr. J. He wore number 6. He was Walter Payton on the hardwood for me.
My Bracket for this year’s NCAA Tourney? For a guy that did not watch a game from tip to final horn until the tourney started, I did pretty good. I had 6 of the 8 in the Elite 8. Shame on you Iowa State and another I can’t remember. I had three teams in the final four. Two of those will be playing for the championship tonight. The other two I picked to be playing in the championship. I picked Kentucky to beat Louisville. Why? I suppose I wanted to see a game like that being played out. Tonight’s game will do.
Go Duke! After all they are from my adopted North Carolina and Millard Dunn went to school there.
Say no more…just…
Speak the rights.
Danny Johnson