Everybody Loves George. It isn't so much that the swarms descended on George Mason at the practices today at the RCA Dome, it's that even with the other three schools accustomed to some levels of tournament success having fans come out in full force, the Mason fans still made their presences known. That'll be the topic of tomorrow's column in advance of the games that night. George Mason isn't going to get swallowed up by the big powers as far as support in the stands and around Indianapolis is concerned.

They might get swallowed up by floods and/or a tornado, though. The mid-afternoon clear skies and summery temperatures gave way disturbingly quickly to tornado warnings, and then to thunderstorms that began about a half-hour ago. That probably will cut down on the night-before revelry, but not by much. Organizers insist that the weather won't affect the free concert scheduled for Monument Circle, walking distance from pretty much every downtown hotel, on Sunday, featuring John Mellencamp, Carrie Underwood, Collective Soul, Michelle Branch, and the latest reminder of what a coot I am, Chris Brown. (The waitress at dinner last night exclaimed, "That's who I can't wait to see!'' I was too embarrassed to answer, ''Who's he?'')

Back at the Dome, the Mason players and coaches, and even school officials like president Alan Merten and Tom O'Connor, were far looser and seemed to be enjoying the crush more than any other team. In their locker room, when the school's public relations people started ordering reporters out because the availability session had ended and it was time to leave, the players weren't in any hurry to leave. They kept answering questions. Tony Skinn was entertaining such a large crowd in the doorway, the reporters being rushed out of the locker room had to squeeze by them.

And at the podium, when he and his teammates were done with their big interview sessions, Lamar Butler asked, "Can I keep the name tag?''

Posted by David Steele at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It's raining this morning in Indianapolis, and open practices at the RCA Dome for the four teams at the men's Final Four begin in a little over an hour. George Mason is first, and it's probably not an accident that they're going earliest, since it would be a shock to see any of the other teams get anywhere close to the overall media attention this weekend that George Mason will.

It's also a strong possibility that there are more media following coach Jim Larranaga, the players and school officials this weekend, then actual, real George Mason fans. Walking around downtown Indy - albeit two days before the game, and also on the night of a big Pacers game at which Reggie Miller had his number retired - there was not a strong Mason fan presence. At one bar, UCLA fans were making the most noise, and one observer said that this is the case at the very hotel at which your Sun correspondents are staying. LSU is also out in full force.

Meanwhile, at a team cap store on the concourse of the Indy airport, Final Four hats are on display. for LSU, UCLA and Florida, and hats with all four team logos on them - but no individual Mason hats. Yes, I'll continue to search the city today. It may just have been an oversight, or underestimation, by the one shop.

The plane from BWI was, pretty much, the state coaches' charter. At least two local head coaches (actually, one current and one former) were on board, with plenty of smaller school staffs as well. The NABC holds its annual convention at the Final Four; their meetings began early this morning at the convention center connected to the Dome. The head coaches: Jimmy Patsos of Loyola and Butch Beard, recently let go at Morgan State.

Overheard a couple of times in the boarding area and on the plane: "I wish I could hit both Final Fours and see the Maryland women.''

Posted by David Steele at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Blame my work ethic, or lack thereof. Comprehending what I saw at Verizon Center yesterday and last night - the entire weekend, actually - and trying to compress it into one column was draining, kept me at the arena late and pretty much killed any thought of staying an extra hour and blogging about it. Forgive me. But the thoughts are still fresh this morning.

* I didn't even come close on the Final Four, but as far as every No. 1 seed missing out, I nailed it. As for shaking up the elitist mentality of college basketball - saw that coming, too. But I'm not in this for credit or personal accolades; I'm a team player. Me and Alfonso Soriano.

* Seeing George Mason beat Connecticut in overtime to get to the Final Four might have surpassed what I had previously believed was the tell-my-grandkids-I-was-there moment of my career: Michael Jordan winning his sixth and last NBA championship on that shot in Utah, what was then believed to be the final shot of his career.

* George Mason actually winning it all would surpass that, though. I don't care what the guys on the team have been saying all weekend: nobody goes to George Mason thinking about winning the national championship. That's like going to Morgan State expecting to play in the Rose Bowl.

* The enormity of the difference between George Mason winning, and losing a heartbreaker at the buzzer after fighting UConn and the odds the entire game, can't be overstated. It's the difference between "Hoosiers'' and "Rocky.''

* On the other side, this loss is going to stick with Connecticut more than those two national titles will. Those titles will now be forever linked with losing to George Mason - as in, "How does a school with two championships lose to George Mason?'' Something tells me that in Storrs from now on, the team that beat them will be referred to as "George F. Mason.''

* Billy Packer had better bring his extra-thick skin to Indy this weekend.

* Refreshing sight: UConn players, incredibly dejected, pausing to shake hands with the Mason players, then walking very slowly off the court and to their locker room where, presumably, they let the tearful anguish flow. Refreshing because they didn't let it all out on the final possession when they had (and got) a great chance to tie or win it after all - unlike the stunningly un-composed, non-poised Adam Morrison. There's something to be said for pulling oneself together when the pressure, emotions and tension are at their peaks. UConn saved its season twice in three days, forcing overtime two games in a row at the buzzer. Can you imagine if Rashad Anderson or Denham Brown had been walking around bawling uncontrollably on the last plays of regulation in those games?

* How many "greatest'' lists does this belong on, if not at the top of? Greatest upset ever in the tournament. Greatest upset ever in college basketball (all things considered, it gives Chaminade over Virginia a run for its money). Greatest tournament game, or at least greatest tournament regional final (remember, there were three classics just last season, and the Duke-Kentucky Christian Laettner game would be tough to beat). Greatest upsets, period (lots of talk the last 18 hours about Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson, Rulon Gardner over Alexander Karelin in Olympic wrestling, Mets over Orioles, Jets over Colts, and the Miracle on Ice).

* Personal near-miss tale: I was with several dozen reporters in Sydney in 2000 watching the U.S. baseball team shock Cuba to win the gold medal, when cell phones started ringing off the hook from reporters who were at the Gardner match downtown. We all sprinted to the nearby media center for Gardner's emotional press conference, with his parents and wife, then sprinted back to the baseball stadium for the end of the game, the celebration and an equally-emotional press conference, starring manager Tommy Lasorda.

* Speaking of the above examples, isn't it a relief that Baltimore is on the right side of a historic upset for once? Thanks, Will Thomas.

* With all due respect to Kimmie Meissner winning a world championship at age 16, the chances of that happening were not even remotely as great as a team like George Mason beating a team like Connecticut to get to the Final Four. I'm not entirely convinced that what Thomas, Aberdeen's Jai Lewis and the rest of them did wasn't a bigger accomplishment. I'm getting the sense that a Baltimore basketball player reaching the pinnacle of his sport at a young age is taken for granted. Besides (again, no disrespect intended), the Connecticut players didn't fall down at midcourt and open the door for them to win. There has to have been a major final in which Sasha Cohen didn't fall down, but it's hard to remember when it was.

* Never mind whether the Patriots should have gotten into the field - they won with a starter who, it could be argued, shouldn't even have been allowed to play. Suspending Tony Skinn even longer than one tournament game for that groin punch in the CAA tournament wouldn't have been out of line. (Truthfully, I didn't include that as a commentary, but as a means to mention that a buddy of mine has dubbed Skinn "Buster Groin-dexter.'') Nevertheless, George Mason's once-suspended guard got the better of UConn's once-suspended guard, Marcus Williams.

* Teams have reached the Final Four with starting lineups composed entirely of players from one state before (I'm assuming. LSU, for one, is big on that sort of thing). But has any gotten there with a lineup entirely from a state other than its own? The research begins.

* I really hope Washington fans aren't whining as much as it appears they are. The George Mason game should have slapped some sense into them; instead of saying, "The refs stole the UConn game from us,'' they should be saying, "We had a chance to beat UConn at the end of regulation and in overtime - we blew it, and George Mason didn't.'' Do they put double-shots of paranoia in the grandes at the Seattle Starbucks or something? First the crying over the Super Bowl, now this. Quit thinking about conspiracy theories and grow some ... guts.

* The subject has been beaten into the ground, but let's give it one more hit: Gary Williams, Pat Kennedy at Towson, Jimmy Patsos at Loyola and a bunch of other coaches probably haven't slept well in two weeks, and this week won't be any better. And if Brenda Frese gets the Terp women to the Final Four tonight, it'll make for even more tossing and turning for one of those coaches.

Posted by David Steele at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

LSU 62, Duke 54. Told you to watch out for the Big Baby.

A couple more observations from the couch as the second half wore on (the first half was spent mostly on New York Avenue, partly on the parkway):

* It's now second nature for every announcer doing Duke games, even in the NCAA tournament, to describe the Blue Devils as a win waiting to happen, and their opponents as eventually on their way to a loss. Sure enough, with eight minutes left and Duke up by five after having just taken its first lead since the first half, J.J. Redick squared up for a three, and as it was in the air, Dick Enberg said, "It could be the dagger if it falls!'' (Or something like that; forgive me, I wasn't taking notes, I leave that to the Medium Well blogger.) It would have given Duke an eight-point lead with eight minutes left. What group of mortals could possibly be expected to overcome that?

Later, when Redick hit his third (and final) basket of the game, with about three minutes left, Enberg broke out another one: "That could be the shot that gets him on track!'' He was something like 3 for 16 at that point.

Not that this sort of thinking is limited to Duke broadcasts. It infected NBA game calls throughout the Lakers' run earlier in the decade, including (or especially) the '04 Finals which they lost to Detroit. It took most people until the fifth and final game to realize that the Lakers actually were not the better team and were not destined to win. It's lazy more than anything else.

* Enberg is a certified play-by-play legend, but this was not a Hall of Fame performance. He shot about 40 percent overall on play stoppages (fouls, who they were called on, changes of possession, that sort of thing). Meanwhile, Jay Bilas might be better on games than he is in the studio. Oops, creeping into someone else's territory again.

* Redick hitting a wall at the end of each of his four seasons isn't necessarily a bad omen for his pro career, but it's not exactly a good one. Habitually running out of gas around game 32 tends to be looked upon unfavorably in an 82-game season, not including exhibitions and playoffs. In other words, regardless of what Dick Vitale says, NBA teams won't automatically be blind or stupid for not taking him in the top 5.

* Maybe Coach K could have offered the close-up fatherly advice and walked off the court arm-in-arm with Shelden Williams. Isn't he a senior, too, and didn't he do a little bit for the program, including show up in the last game of the season?

* OK, if you thought both Tyrus Thomas and Glen Davis would finish the game after picking up their third fouls so quickly in the second half, raise your hand. Now, if you had a feeling Williams wouldn't foul out after getting his fourth, raise your hand.

*It probably means absolutely nothing in terms of what Duke will be like next season, but Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts looked a lot like freshmen in a big game, again. Speaking of which, wasn't it easy to forget that if things had gone differently, Duke could have had Luol Deng (now with the Bulls), Shaun Livingston (Clippers) and Shavlik Randolph (76ers, and actually healthy) this season? If all they had was Deng, they might be going to their third straight Final Four instead of going out in their second straight Sweet 16. Kind of puts that whole John Gilchrist-Chris McCray thing into perspective.

* May we all live long enough to see Duke lose another game in which the other team shoots 12 of 23 from the line. Of course, if you can't rebound those misses, wins are harder to come by.

* Boston College is the last ACC school left. One of them football schools. Uh-oh. If they do win it all, some old-liners are going to have some mixed feelings.

Posted by David Steele at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

If Jim Larranaga of George Mason brought the sizzle, Jim Calhoun brought the steak. Writers who felt well-fed by Larranaga as the feisty underdog, gorged on Calhoun as the beleaguered favorite, lamenting the inconsistent, sometimes uninspired play of his second-ranked, top-seeded team. He was asked about an earlier comment by Washington's Brandon Roy - "We just hope that they do have that lapse during the game where they are a little unfocused'' - and he ran with it.

UConn, Calhoun said, not only has had lapses, it has "probably had five complete games all year.'' It's his team's nature, he said, to not be consistent - and, he added later, "Forget the chronological ages of the players, this by nature has not been quite as mature a team as I would like.'' UConn, he said, "needs to ... have a bust-out game.''

At least he's not ranting at the media for manufacturing a perception that the team is struggling, the way certain ACC coaches with multiple championships and multiple commercials airing during the tournament have done from time to time. If anyone wondered where the idea started that UConn was underachieving, he or she could point right to the head coach - which actually is a good thing.

Meanwhile, question of the day came from a radio reporter who asked Lorenzo Romar if there was an advantage for the University of Washington (the state) to play in Washington (the district). "Is this a trick question?'' Romar replied.

Reason why you might not want to lay the mortgage on Wichita State: the first words out of coach Mark Turgeon's mouth at his press conference were, "We're just happy to be here.''

Tipoff for Game 1, George Mason-Wichita State, is 7:27 tomorrow night; UConn-Washington is roughly 10 p.m. Calhoun understandably wasn't crazy about the start time, but not only understood it, but understood that his players probably aren't stressed about it. He recalled one of his players telling him, "I went to bed early, I was in bed by 1:15.'' Oh, those zany kids.

Posted by David Steele at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The practices and press conferences for the four teams playing in D.C., are underway. George Mason coach Jim Larranaga just finished his standup routine from the podium, cracking wise about the Bracket-Buster game last month against Wichita State being a preview of their Sweet 16 matchup tomorrow. "It's almost as if  you couldn't have foreseen it!'' he mugged. He was on fire, soaking up every minute of his time in the spotlight.

Practices are open to the public, and with Mason taking the floor first, there was a pretty good turnout from the locals. Students clearly blew off class today, much as they did much of the week as they lined up for tickets.

At this time, I'd like to thank my wonderful hometown for continuing its tradition of sending road crews to block off major portions of New York Avenue on the day of a big event at the downtown arena. The trip here today was almost a carbon copy of last year's trip for the ACC tournament. There were, of course, flashing signs asking commuters to avoid the congestion and take Metro to the games, which I would gladly do if there was a Red Line stop at, say, Fayette and Charles.

I'd also like to thank Verizon for the fact that once again, their cell phones don't work in most areas of the arena that bears its corporate name. If anyone of you readers are wandering by the Sun building, stop by and let my editors know that I got here.

Posted by David Steele at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Add the entire state of California to the movement against canonizing Paul Tagliabue, if this column on CBS Sportsline is any indication. That's a former colleague in San Fran writing that, and I can vouch for all of it, certainly the part about city after city and stadium after stadium in Cali being neglected. One could make a case for the stadiums for the 49ers, Raiders and Chargers as being the worst, most decrepit, most obsolete in the NFL, and that doesn't count team-less L.A., whose best stadium is still the Coliseum. How does that happen in California, of all places? Nashville gets a new stadium but no place in California can? It's hard to make a case for Tagliabue's greatness on the stadium issue with a gap that big in the resume.

Look at the facilities for all the other sports that have come into being the past decade and a half, while the NFL has abandoned California. The former Pac Bell Park for the S.F. Giants. Staples Center for the Lakers and Clippers. A renovated Oakland Arena for the Warriors. The former San Jose Arena for the Sharks (also several NCAA men's and women's basketball regionals). The Pond in Anaheim for the Mighty Ducks. Even the old Anaheim Stadium has gotten a major makeover recently for the Angels. And a new arena for the Sacramento Kings is being debated (even though Vegas might end up being the destination). But nothing anywhere for the biggest, baddest sports league in the land. That's just weird.

But enough about him. It is my sad duty to report that the Sun is among many media outlets that were apparently punked by the infamous March Madness-lost productivity report. Slate magazine is only the latest outlet to out the fake math used to reach that figure and the agenda behind it. The original report, that America suffered lost workplace productivity to the tune of $3.8 billion, always sounded suspicious. I figured a similar number, at least, would apply to productivity lost to playing computer solitaire. Note, in particular, the fact that the same company spreading this around, raised the cost nearly $3 billion from last year's estimate.

Posted by David Steele at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Guess what, Baltimore? You're not alone. St. Louis has a major beef with Paul Tagliabue and the glimmering legacy being spun for him, and for virtually the same reason Baltimore did: the 1992-93 expansion, specifically Jacksonville, as this St. Louis Post-Dispatch web column points out. And yes, both cities got teams back the same way, within a year of each other: by stealing them from other cities. So the Tags bandwagon isn't all that full after all.

FYI: the Maryland basketball women are sweating it out in the second round of the NCAAs: just over six minutes left, they're down by one to ... St. John's? I keep looking for Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson and Walter "The Truth'' Berry as some explanation how this is happening, but they're not around, just the St. John's women who have never gone this far before.

Posted by David Steele at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I don't know if I could put it any better than Ken Murray did on the front of this morning's Sun, or John Eisenberg on the front of the sports section. I'm not even from here (yeah, you all know where I'm from), and had I been completely detached from the impact it had on Baltimore, the announcement of Paul Tagliabue's resignation this summer as NFL commissioner still would have left me cold. But throw in the utter disrespect he showed this city, the hypocrisy in dealing with other cities, the overall legacy of franchise free-agency and his generally pompous demeanor, and it's hard to work up much of a glowing testimonial.

OK, give him the nearly 20 years without having lost a game to a labor stoppage; even that little tussle a few weeks ago over the collective bargaining agreement extension was nothing compared to what baseball, the NBA and the NHL went through. And football came back to town on his watch, whereas it had left under Pete Rozelle's watch.

But also consider this:

* Cleveland had to get jerked around in order for Baltimore to get a team  back.

* Cleveland was allowed to keep its team name, colors and history, something that never happened with Baltimore.

* Also deserted callously: Los Angeles (the second-biggest market in the country) and Houston (how do you let Texas lose a pro football team?). L.A. remains unresolved, while Houston got a team back almost immediately, as had Cleveland - again, a reward Baltimore never was offered or considered for. It's all thanks to stadium roulette, which reached its peak under Tagliabue and shows no signs of stopping. Garbage franchises with inept ownership and management get to twist the arms of cities and states for stadiums, with Super Bowls dangled before them by the distinguished commissioner as a carrot. Not to mention Detroit specifically, of course.

* Charlotte and Jacksonville got the expansion teams. No one needs to go into that story again. But Jacksonville is proving more and more every day to be a mistake, no matter how much Tagliabue would like to selfishly convince everyone it wasn't. Meanwhile, Baltimore has been a huge success in every way, even managing one of the smoother owner-transfers ever done. Which, again, highlights the fact that Tagliabue isn't exactly the type to ever admit he was wrong. We've already pointed out here that he's not always on the best of terms with the truth, at least not in public.

Sports Illustrated gave him the big-feature treatment in January; you can see an excerpt here, although the entire story is accessible only to subscribers. His putdown line about baseball is worth the price of a subscription alone, although he (rather weakly) backtracked on it in a letter to the editor in a later issue. It seems to sum his persona up pretty well.

As for the other commissioners: if David Stern resigned today, his legacy would be that he truly saved his league. Gary Bettman nearly ruined his. Bud Selig has presided over so many dizzying highs and disgraceful lows, his reputation will be all over the place.

Tagliabue's somehow has a nice glow on it. It's undeserved. Be happy that while he was in charge, you saw a full slate of games every weekend. Be justifiably angry that, here in Baltimore, you had to wait too long to see games in person.

Posted by David Steele at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

95 South will be calling pretty soon, but here are a few final observations from the weekend in College Park and Philadelphia:

Connecticut should be booking its flight to Indianapolis, because it's almost impossible to imagine losing to Washington, George Mason or Wichita State. Of course, Illinois, North Carolina and Tennessee probably couldn't imagine it either, but Connecticut simply should not lose to any of the teams coming to D.C. Then again, as I wrote for tomorrow, Connecticut shouldn't have had to sweat out Albany and a Kentucky team that didn't exactly bring back memories of the Goose Givens days, or even Jeff Shephard. I'm pretty sure the guys who played for the Kentucky team depicted in "Glory Road'' could handle their counterparts today, in their 60s. But UConn needed a huge finish by Marcus Williams, an insane three straight offensive rebounds of missed free throws by Hilton Armstrong, and one very questionable out-of-bounds call down the stretch to hold onto what was a 13-point second-half lead.

Patrick Sparks went crazy for Kentucky: 28 points, 19 in the second half. Of course, someone in the post-game press conference prefaced a question about him by saying, "He's not the most athletic player out there ...'' Three guesses what color Sparks is. Please don't get me started. Jim Calhoun eventually pointed out to the questioner, he's probably more athletic than you.

Villlanova-Boston College and Gonzaga-UCLA (in that order) are far and away the most appealing matchups in the next round, although it would make a lot of people happy if Duke-LSU was at least close.

Bonus for the growing legion of disgruntled Terp fans: Shane Clark, 17 minutes, two points, four fouls. Not a big impact as far as I could tell, but I can't say I watched every minute of that game.

So, you ask, how's the bracket? Eight of the final 16, that's how. I wrapped yellow police tape around the D.C. side of it. I had Alabama-Birmingham, Illinois, North Carolina and Seton Hall. Three of four are alive in Minneapolis, three in Atlanta, two in Oakland. Half of my Final Four is DOA (North Carolina and Kansas, leaving Texas and BC).

Conference call: Big East 4, Missouri Valley 2, ACC 2, Pac 10 2, SEC 2, then Conference USA, Big 12, West Coast and the mighty, mighty Colonial. G'night, thanks for coming, stay sober: the Big Ten, six and out.

One final thought swirling around the UConn locker room yesterday: after all the effort all season to get the top seed in the region they wanted, they might end up playing for the Final Four against George Mason in front of their home crowd.

Posted by David Steele at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

... as Stuart Scott calls it. I'm in Philly for today's NCAA doubleheader: UConn-Kentucky for a berth in D.C., Villanova-Arizona in the Minneapolis region. It will help to get a taste of quality basketball back in my mouth. Apparently, many respondents to yesterday's blogs from the Maryland NIT game agree. The natives are very restless, with lots of fierce debate about exactly what should be done to turn this around (including a stunning number of dump-Gary suggestions).

Here, though, the interest in these two games, even with Villanova playing, pales in comparison to the T.O.-to-Dallas reaction. Listening to callers on WIP as I entered town, and reading the news story and Stephen A. Smith's column in this morning's Inquirer, indicate that Eagles fans are not only not saying "Good riddance,'' they're saying, "You screwed up, Eagles.'' Even after being so embittered with him after he engineered his own exile from the Eagles, they're enraged that less than a year after T.O. helped them to the Super Bowl, the Eagles have mishandled everything and are approaching rock-bottom, if not already there. Angry bunch.

Maybe Eagles fans and Terps fans should have a scream-off, to see who can vent the most about what's happened the last couple of days.

Tipoff here for UConn-Kentucky is about a half-hour away. At least this won't end in a draw, like certain heavyweight title fights we've seen. I didn't see a single punch thrown last night (hopefully HBO will be replaying it soon), but anytime there's a draw in a boxing title bout, it leaves a little bit of a stench in the air.

Speaking of stenches, I missed the fight broadcast because I went to see "V For Vendetta.'' A better title would have been "S For Shoulda-Been-Bettah.''

Posted by David Steele at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Gary Williams had a lot to say at the end of the NIT game, and Maryland's season, and the players had some even more interesting things to say (unfortunately, you'll have to pay for most of them tomorrow morning). Williams did say this about the disgrace - regardless of the final score - against Manhattan: "I'm surprised. I expect my teams to play well in every game. You can feel sorry for yourself (but) no other school in the country cares whether we're in this game or not.''

In other words: not wanting to play in this game and pining away for the NCAAs gets you nowhere. Obviously.

Running themes in the locker room: we were listless, we should have beaten this team, this can't happen again. "We can't continue to go through this. We've got to change things,'' D.J. Strawberry said. If he wasn't named a captain for next season before he even changed out of his uniform yesterday, then that's a further sign of the program's decline. There were times when it seemed he was the only truly inspired and inspiring player all season. Yet he had as bad a game yesterday as anyone.

Signature moments: the little groove that Jeff Xavier was wearing into the spot on the right wing where he kept launching his three-pointers, with Maryland leaving him open each time ... the scattered boos when Kenny Minor - all 5-8 of him - slithered through the lane for the layup that gave Manhattan its biggest lead at 61-47 early in the second half ... Xavier completing a three-point play to halt a Maryland surge, then picking off an inbounds pass, having a player fall on him in the scramble, him getting up slowly but staying in the game ... Manhattan calling its last timeout with four minutes left to control a loose ball under its basket with five seconds left on the shot clock, then getting a layup off the inbound ... Maryland coming out of the next timeout down by 10 and Strawberry immediately turning it over ... Caner-Medley having to commit his fifth and last foul when no teammate is able to catch up to the ballhandlers off an inbound in the final two minutes ... Xavier's dive into the Maryland bench to intercept and save it on a huge Terps possession with 57 seconds left and the lead down to three.

And, of course, the silence (from the announced crowd of 4,761) as the final buzzer sounded. All things considered, you wonder if they wouldn't have been better off turning down the bid after all.

Oh, one more thing to clear up. Jason Wingate didn't hit five three-pointers in the first half either. I've only been reading stat sheets for 25 years, give me a break.

Posted by David Steele at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
                    

Manhattan 87, Maryland 84.

In his postgame radio interview, Gary Williams was asked about the first half, and he said, "The way we came into it -'' He paused, and continued, "They outworked us.''

He'll surely have more to say in a few minutes. Stay tuned.

Brief correction: Jeff Xavier did not have five threes in the first half. He did end up with a career high 31 points. And Manhattan did have four players foul out, but still won.

Posted by David Steele at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Just goes to show you, you can't spell "humiliation'' without U-M or N-I-T.

Manhattan 47, Terps 37 at halftime. After about the fourth straight bad shot or turnover was converted into points in the final minute of the half, the sparse crowd started booing and cursing at the court. Barely-used walk-on Gini Chukura was inserted with 34 seconds left, as Manhattan was pushing its lead to 12. Gary Williams left the floor debating (to put it mildly) with an official, most likely about one of his heady seniors, Nik Caner-Medley, picked up a technical after his third personal foul with 4:01 left, giving the Jaspers a four-point play.

Twelve Maryland turnovers leading to 19 Manhattan points. Seven three-pointers by Manhattan, five by Jason Wingate. Mike Jones, one point.

But it's only halftime.

Posted by David Steele at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

It's 15 minutes to tipoff here at Comcast Center, Maryland plays Manhattan in its NIT opener, and there's plenty of parking and tickets available. By the way, if you have an urge to make a last-second run to College Park from Baltimore, go some other way than the B-W Parkway, unless you like sitting in traffic waiting for fallen trees to be cleared from the road just past the 197 exit. It's 41 degrees, headed toward the low 50s. Your next traffic and weather together in 10 minutes.

Early indications are that the fans here will be paying attention to a certain NCAA game as closely as they will be the game in front of them. There's tremendous interest in Duke-George Washington in the Atlanta Region second round at Greensboro. It tips off around 1 and will be shown here, so don't be surprised at a mass exodus, even if the NIT game is close. As much talk as there is about the ACC's 4-0 record in the opening round (and glee over pratfalls by the Big Ten, SEC, Big East and Missouri Valley), this clearly is an ACC loss they can stomach.

Posted by David Steele at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

So ... they blow a double-digit lead in the final minutes of regulation. Their best player, big man Craig Smith, decides to dribble upcourt with the score tied in the closing seconds, travels and gives Pacific the ball with four seconds left. They give up back to back 3s to begin the first overtime, and at the end of it, they leave UOP's leading scorer, Christian Maraker, open under the basket (but barely recover in time to disrupt his game-winning layup attempt). Then they get their act together and wrap it up in double OT. Over the No. 13 seed, the champion of the vaunted Big West Conference.

Yup, I'm feeling good about that BC pick to win the national championship.

Meanwhile, buh-bye, Seton Hall: Wichita State by 20. Told you they didn't belong in the field. And Wisconsin-Milwaukee 82, Oklahoma 74. Three hours in, and we came within a layup of having two double-digit seeds pull it off.

And the scare in San Diego appears to be over; the arena was evacuated earlier today. Tipoff of that opening game was pushed back about an hour.

Posted by David Steele at 3:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

That's what a former colleague annually labels his baseball predictions in the paper, and it's as perfect a description as anyone has ever come up with for this tortuous tradition. And nowhere does it fit better than in the NCAA Tournament. With that in mind, I direct you to my tournament predictions from this morning's Sun. As if to focus particular attention to my ineptitude, Channel 13 is scheduled to air my national champ, Boston College, right out of the box this afternoon.

Except that on my TV right now, on Channel 13, I'm seeing Wichita State-Seton Hall, from Greensboro. Not to worry - it appears to be filling up the 20 minutes between the start of CBS's programming and the tipoff of BC-Pacific (or, as we called it in my days out West, UOP) from Salt Lake City. We'll see. For what it's worth, after ridiculing its selection to the tournament in Monday's paper, I have Seton Hall going to the Sweet 16, knocking off Tennessee, in the bracket I filled out that gets BC into the title game.

At the first TV timeout: Wichita State 12, Seton Hall 4. I refer you again to the title of this post.

Posted by David Steele at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I saw the report on ESPN last night about Dwight Gooden getting busted again on a cocaine-related offense, as I was talking to a younger colleague on the phone. My reaction: "Oh damn, Doc Gooden, not again.'' The younger colleague's reaction to that: "Doc Gooden - Doc Gooden - OK, I should know who that is - who is he?''

Wow.

That's how far Gooden has fallen, from phenom, legend and sure Hall of Famer, to cautionary tale, to unrecognizable. Well, that is proof that he still works as a cautionary tale. It just means that his story requires an introduction now. And it's only been 20 years since he blew up huge, and 10 years since he threw a no-hitter and won a World Series ring. I thought Kirby Puckett's time on stage had passed quickly. More time has passed for Doc, yet it still seems as if Gooden's comet rose faster, blazed brighter and burned out faster than nearly anyone of his magnitude I can remember.

More proof of how far he's fallen off the radar: the New York papers could barely squeeze the story in amidst everything else going on; once upon a time, anything that happened with Doc and Darryl (Strawberry, that is, whose life took a disturbingly identical turn) merited not just the back pages, but the front. The online versions of the Times and Post don't even have stories about it. The Daily News and Newsday do.

Of course, if you're of the demographic that reads blogs, you might be wondering, "Well ... why are we supposed to know who he is?'' Here's as good an explanation as any I've seen, by ESPN.com's Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, from last summer. I knew at some point I'd have to say "You had to see him to believe him,'' a phrase that drove me crazy when I was younger (I heard it most often about Jim Brown and Oscar Robertson), but now I say it, and it's tough to describe what a spectacle it was when Dwight Gooden pitched for the Mets in the mid-80s, before it started falling apart.

The photos - mug shots - that accompany these stories are painful and depressing. Doc looks like a 41-year-old addict who can't stay out of jail. That's not what he was, but that's what he is now. In case you didn't recognize the name.

Posted by David Steele at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Man, I'm feeling way out of the mainstream today. I see that Maryland got left out of the NCAA tournament so that the second-place team in the Mountain West could get a berth, and I think that's wrong. I see that Jamal Lewis re-signs with the Ravens and I think that's good. And nobody agrees with me. I'm hurt. Of course, I loved "Arrested Development'' and can't stand "American Idol.'' Maybe I'm just anti-social.

The bizarre picks in the field of 65 is a bigger issue than Maryland. I get the sense that around here, people have overdosed on Maryland so much that they focus solely on how disappointing and underwhelming they've been, don't have them in any perspective with the rest of the country - which, I have to repeat once again, ain't all that impressive - and automatically believe that there have to be 34 at-large teams more deserving than those clowns that got smoked by BC.

Actually, there probably are 34 at-large teams more deserving, except that a bunch of them didn't get in the field, either. Cincinnati deserved it more. So did Florida State. So did Hofstra. They got screwed, too. Of course, once you've seen George Washington go from sixth in the nation to eighth in its region (with potentially two games against North Carolina teams in Greensboro, including the No. 1 overall seed) by losing one tournament game while its best big man is TEMPORARILY sidelined, then you figure the picks were way more random than the committee and the bracketologists would have you believe.

At some point, someone should just come out and say, "We want the smaller schools better represented this year, so you bigger conferences are being held to a higher standard, OK?'' Nothing wrong with that. It's honest. Or say, "We're tired of being hit over the head with the ACC by Billy Packer and Dickie V and Jay Bilas.'' God knows that's the truth. Or say, "We have an irrational love for the SEC, so we're getting Alabama in no matter what.'' All the talk about RPI and strength of schedule and out of conference play and conference rankings - please. The members had reasons to pick who they wanted and leave out who they didn't, and everyone's fooling themselves if they think the picks were 100 percent objective.

Gotta admit, though, that was a priceless scene at Comcast last night. It