SPORT
March Madness Blog: The Final Four
/ Adam Underhill
03.24.08
Some other thoughts…
• In the first half of the Davidson-Wisconsin game, I looked up Davidson College on Wikipedia, and it read: “The men have competed in 10 NCAA tournaments (1966, 1968-70, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006-08). Their last tournament victory was in 2008 over Georgetown University in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats moved onto the Sweet 16 where they will take on the University of Wisconsin Badgers. They lead 7-5 in the 1st half.” This is why I love the age in which I live.
• Davidson’s elimination did deprive us of a classic team with one guy who can take over a game and make any great team look bad (Stephen Curry). We’ve seen it before with guys like Allen Iverson at Georgetown or J.J. Reddick at Duke. But when Curry had a chance to beat Kansas at the end of the game, he got a little too greedy. Curry dribbled around the arc looking for a 3-point shot against a double team, until giving the ball up way too late to Jason Richards, whose shot never had a prayer. Curry missed an opportunity to pass to a wide open Thomas Sander at the top of the arc, who could have gotten off a trey with no one in his face, and possibly enough time for someone to rebound a miss for a tie. Sander isn’t a sharpshooter (.259 beyond the arc), but he had a much better chance of getting an open look at a game-winning shot. I admit, these things are easier to see from my living room, but Curry had to have seen him.
• Best Awkward Sportscasting Moment: When LeBron James was shown on the Jumbotron in Detroit, and the announcers started gushing over him, while the Detroit crowd booed him. I understand they probably didn’t want to embarrass the guy further, but your job as a sportscaster is to report what’s going on. There wasn’t even an acknowledgement of the boos, let alone why. I’m sure LeBron’s heart wasn’t broken, so you might as well just say, “Well Bob, I can tell the fans in the Motor City aren’t too thrilled with him, but this is Piston country.”
• Stephen Curry had a brilliant fake on Wisconsin’s Brian Butch before hitting a three-pointer. Curry caught the ball alone in the corner on a fast break, and, with Butch gathering a full head of steam, Curry barely faked (almost faking a fake), watch Butch sail past him and out of bounds, then drilled it. Everyone in the building knew the shot was going in. I think Butch kept running through the tunnel and out the door to get a seat in the emergency exit row on his plane.
• UCLA versus Xavier featured a showdown between a player named Love and a player named Lavender.
• ETrade can make a baby talk on its commercials, so why can’t CBS do the same with Shannon Sharpe?
• That stupid song from the iMac Air commercial is becoming 2008’s “This Is Our Country.” That’s not a good thing.
• In the first half of the Davidson-Wisconsin game, I looked up Davidson College on Wikipedia, and it read: “The men have competed in 10 NCAA tournaments (1966, 1968-70, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006-08). Their last tournament victory was in 2008 over Georgetown University in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats moved onto the Sweet 16 where they will take on the University of Wisconsin Badgers. They lead 7-5 in the 1st half.” This is why I love the age in which I live.
• Davidson’s elimination did deprive us of a classic team with one guy who can take over a game and make any great team look bad (Stephen Curry). We’ve seen it before with guys like Allen Iverson at Georgetown or J.J. Reddick at Duke. But when Curry had a chance to beat Kansas at the end of the game, he got a little too greedy. Curry dribbled around the arc looking for a 3-point shot against a double team, until giving the ball up way too late to Jason Richards, whose shot never had a prayer. Curry missed an opportunity to pass to a wide open Thomas Sander at the top of the arc, who could have gotten off a trey with no one in his face, and possibly enough time for someone to rebound a miss for a tie. Sander isn’t a sharpshooter (.259 beyond the arc), but he had a much better chance of getting an open look at a game-winning shot. I admit, these things are easier to see from my living room, but Curry had to have seen him.
• Best Awkward Sportscasting Moment: When LeBron James was shown on the Jumbotron in Detroit, and the announcers started gushing over him, while the Detroit crowd booed him. I understand they probably didn’t want to embarrass the guy further, but your job as a sportscaster is to report what’s going on. There wasn’t even an acknowledgement of the boos, let alone why. I’m sure LeBron’s heart wasn’t broken, so you might as well just say, “Well Bob, I can tell the fans in the Motor City aren’t too thrilled with him, but this is Piston country.”
• Stephen Curry had a brilliant fake on Wisconsin’s Brian Butch before hitting a three-pointer. Curry caught the ball alone in the corner on a fast break, and, with Butch gathering a full head of steam, Curry barely faked (almost faking a fake), watch Butch sail past him and out of bounds, then drilled it. Everyone in the building knew the shot was going in. I think Butch kept running through the tunnel and out the door to get a seat in the emergency exit row on his plane.
• UCLA versus Xavier featured a showdown between a player named Love and a player named Lavender.
• ETrade can make a baby talk on its commercials, so why can’t CBS do the same with Shannon Sharpe?
• That stupid song from the iMac Air commercial is becoming 2008’s “This Is Our Country.” That’s not a good thing.
