Reason Number 1,482,966 for NCAA Fans to Root Against Duke Basketball

If you needed another reason to hate Duke, and you probably have plenty, you just got another fresh one over the weekend.  In the closing seconds of another North Carolina victory over the Blue Devils, Gerald Henderson elbowed the Tar Heel’s star big man, Tyler Hansbrough, in the face, fracturing his nose. 
 

The resulting waterfall of blood from Hansbrough’s nose flowed down into the mouth of “Psycho T,” who was restrained from charging at the Duke gang.  The image will probably be one of the most memorable from recent Duke-UNC games, and one of the most recognizable replays in NCAA basketball from this year.  
 

As for damage control, Coach K (K for Klass-Act) blamed Heels coach Roy Williams. Said the catty Coach K, “That’s unfortunate, too, that those people were in the game in that play. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened. We should have probably both had our walk-ons in.”
 

There’s a few problems with Coach K’s moral/logical hindsight.
 

  1. Is Gerald Henderson a walk-on?  I forgot.  Is he?
  2. Coach K was still calling timeouts with less than a minute to play in another blowout loss. Yeah, time for the walk-ons.  Don’t be too hard on your own player, now.
  3. Even supposing Williams ought to have taken Hansbrough out of the game earlier, how does that justify Henderson elbowing Hansbrough?  Hansbrough deserved it? For continuing to play, or for just being there, or as a message to Williams?  Which, because I fail to see the logic, much less the ethics.
  4. So if it hadn’t been the Heel’s star player- if it were a walk-on, as Coach K suggests- that would make it okay?

 

Hopefully, Coach K and the Dukies get what they deserve- a quick exit from the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.  To root for whomever the Blue Devils face in their next games, check out StubHub.com for NCAA basketball tickets.   


 

Permalink - Posted in General on March 5, 2007 - Post a comment

NCAA Bubble Teams to Cheer on Gonzaga

Gonzaga, one of the top bubble teams heading down the stretch run of NCAA regular season of basketball, will have a lot more fans outside of Spokane than usual this year.
 

If the Bulldogs can pull off a WCC Tournament win, the rest of the bubble field will see their windows into the NCAA Tournament open just a bit wider.  Being that Santa Clara isn’t high on the Dance invite list, Gonzaga looks to be the only representative of the West Coast Conference- if they can win in Portland.
 

Conferences like the Colonial Athletic Association will be rooting for a Bulldog sweep of the WCC Tournament, and will be hoping to take another invitation to March Madness from the WCC.  But if the ‘Zags falter and Santa Clara wins, there’s one less invitation that gets handed out.
 

If you like the ‘Zags, ‘shrooms, or bubbles in general, check out the WCC Tournament by getting NCAA Basketball tickets at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on March 5, 2007 - Post a comment