San Antonio Sunset

The greatness that is March Madness culminated with the Final Four this past weekend. I have been fortunate enough to attend the last three cheering with my Bruin comrades. It has not been easy grinding through this bitter trifecta of defeat. Ben Howland’s Westside Boys have played hard but have gotten steamrolled each year with a double digit loss. Florida and Memphis were just more athletic than the Bruins on those April nights. The Bruin's season long brilliance was overshadowed by a previously undiagnosed shortcoming played out on national television. The surprise of that revelation does not mitigate the heartburn of its presence.

Saturday night, I hope some of you were able to catch the McGyver marathon on TBS. I was observing the methodical disintegration of the UCLA Bruins highlighted by the deafening explosion of offense by the Memphis back court. Tiger point guard Derrick Rose is a D. Wade starter kit with a bit more parallel universe stuff going on. Off guard Chris Douglass Roberts is a Magic Johnson like player who will be the one to watch in the NBA and hopefully soon. He is 6’7”, goes to the hole with every playground move that has made him a legend in Detroit. He hits the three with enough consistency to be a threat. He also missed two free throws when either one would have won Memphis their first National Championship. He will get over it with the guaranteed $3 million a year for three years he will be making starting next year. But I am sure Tuesday morning in San Antonio was not pleasant for CDR, the rest of the Tigers and Coach John Calipari.

After the EMT pulled the paddles from my chest following that game, it was cathartic to watch the vaunted Tar Heels get blitzed by the Kansas Jayhawks in the second game Saturday night. The Jayhawks gloriously blitzed UNC. It was an act that not only brought joy to the heartland but staved off an ugly stream of nonsensical calls from UNC yeawhos regarding UCLA’s loss. And at the Yard, we know when it is time to jump on a new band wagon!

Sunday was a dead day at the Final Four. The winners respectfully gloat and the losers wear street clothes and Ray Bans while attending daytime movies. And for the fans, I defy you to find something to do in San Antonio that does not require alcohol. The Alamo did not and it was the most amazing fifteen minutes of that weekend that I will never forget. Memphis hogged the ESPN air time and I did get sick of watching a smug John Calipari and the chuckling Memphis scholars on Sports Center. No one dissed my Jayhawks but they were not respecting them either.

It was relaxing on Monday night to attend the championship game without the pressure of winning. I gave my all on Saturday night and we came up short. Monday night, I did what I could for the Hawks but I was spent and dehydrated. I just did not have it in the pre-game and told Coach Self to only go to me if the game was on the line and calories counted for something important. I can Wave the Wheat and Rock Chalk..blah, blah..blah, KU love the spirit but I just can not buy that shirt.


Championship moments are mundanely practiced daily so they are performed blindly on the canvas of sudden adversity. Kansas coach Bill Self is scrappy and I gave him little Yard cred before the tournament. He is a stand up guy. He allowed his players to figure it out on Monday night when things got ugly. He was patient with timeouts when Memphis threatened to run the Jayhawks out of the building.

Kansas scrapped all year, lost games, got their nose bloodied and fought back. Down eight with 1:20 to go, down three with .102 to go, and then Mario Chalmers hits a three to tie the game with .02 left. Memphis did not see that coming and did not have Plan B and folded in the overtime. Kansas stayed the course with Plan A, Plan A 1.1 and Plan A 2.0. Jayhawks do not need no stinking plan B!

Coach Calipari proclaimed free throws did not matter and up until 26 seconds left in the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, he was correct. The Tigers shot a woeful 60% for the season but stepped it up with nearly 80% proficiency for the tournament. Calipari blasted the media's inquiries declaring that, “If I ranked 24 skills that a player I recruit must have, free throw shooting is 25.” So much was said about the Tigers free throws and so, so much refuted by their head coach that with 26 seconds left, the title on the line and the whole world watching, that rim started to look like a coffee cup for that seasoned back court. Los Tigres were 80% for the first 39 minutes and 25% for the last sixty seconds from the line. Three free throws were missed when just one would have given Memphis a new King.