Running shotgun with Jim Nance.

The Yard would have loved to have been running shot gun with Jim Nance this week. The venerable sportscaster from CBS called the NCAA Basketball Championship on Monday night in Detroit. Then he high tailed it to Augusta, Georgia to anchor CBS’s coverage of the Masters Golf tournament. Gentleman Jim is among the best in business with a story to tell that never interferes with the one that we read with our eyes.

The Michigan State Spartans played the North Carolina Tar Heels last Monday night with the hopes on an entire state pining for an escape. On a cold dreary night in Detroit, with 60,000 State fans among the record 72,000, the Spartans hoped to lead this city, even for just one night, away from the other story being lived outside the stadium.

The Spartans were an excellent story radiating the hard scrabble veneer of their coach Tim Izzo and the hopes of their state. They grinded down USC and then boat raced #1 Louisville back to Lou’a’ville or so the name goes in Kentucky. With cautious hope, the Spartans faced the heavily favored UNC Tar heels. On this night, the Spartan would cave like a car executive before a senate sub-committee. They were down 14 with five minutes gone. It was the last game of this outstanding tournament and possibly the worst. The Yard takes no solace in choosing the dastardly Tar Heels to win. But finishing in the chips for the first time in our brief pool history was kind of nice.

We lost out to Spuddy in the Yard pool. We would have felt better if Spuddy had not signed up for the pool nine minutes before the cut off. The last person to join the Yard pool wins?! The first guy to join the pool finished 52nd. This is just another tidbit from the Yard. You can add it to the mix while co-relating your Ouija Boards, tea leaves, and tournament blogs to make those picks. Spuddy also picked Angel Cabrera and Kenny Perry in the Masters so we are going to Vegas with him in the near term.

Masters coverage dominates the weekend at the Yard. The pageantry, the bigotry, and the Azalea’s make the Masters a unique blend of historic golf played under the canopy of southern discrimination. Augusta National is happily ensconced in the south of the 1800’s while hosting the most prestigious golf event of this or any era. The Yard does not support Augusta National Country Club’s social mores but we watch this golf event every year with vigilance and hope to attend the event before the dirt nap.

This event has melted many hopes and dreams during the back nine on Sunday. There are no other nine holes of television viewing that will define a career with the outcome. Larry Mize holed out from 140 ft on the second play off hole to beat Norman in the 1987 Masters. Larry Mize never made another shot like that or won another Major but every golfer remembers that shot. Raymond Floyd was cruising towards golf history in 1990. Raymond was trying to become the only golfer to win a major in four decades. With the ghosts of Amen corner holding services, Floyd faded and lost in the playoff to Nick Faldo. History called on Ray that day but Nick answered. Greg Norman’s melt down in the 1996 will be studied by sports psychologists for decades more. Many will not remember that Nick Faldo won his second green jacket that afternoon in Georgia. We all knew remember who lost in his last real chance. Easter Sunday was no exception as everyone tried to lose the event everyone wants to win.

College Basketball is over except for the early declarations to the NBA. This is the NCAA Sanction period in College football. College football between the end spring football and August 1 is really quiet. If your school is in the news at this time, it is never good news and will usually include the words “alleged violation” and “We can not comment at this time”. The NCAA gave USC a two-fer when they combined the Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo’s investigations into one circus this past week. It should be an interesting off-season at the U in the hood.

With four games left in the regular season, NBA hoops is still six weeks from being relevant. The Lakers will not earn the best record, it does not matter. The Cavaliers should clinch home court throughout the playoffs this weekend. The Lakers need home court against the Celtics which they have already earned if they were to meet them in the finals. The Cavaliers are 38-1 at home but that one loss was Kobe and Company during the last game of a 6-0 road trip. Possible MVP LeBron James was 5 for 20 in that game at home. Boston Garden has enough demons from our youths that it can suffocate the entire Laker nation. Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, not so much.

Manny Ramirez is the most exciting personality in Los Angeles. Every one stops what they are doing when they are able to watch him hit. The intensity that Manny displays at the plate is completely invisible in most other aspects of his game. He is a hitter pure and simple. Manny’s practice habits are amazing and well documented. It is all about hitting. We have never heard of Manny shagging extra fly balls or practicing hitting cut off throws. LA needs a sports personality that has a real personality. Whatever personality Kobe had, was sodomized in a hotel room in Denver several years back. Manny has captured our attention. Manny could be a car crash waiting to happen but in LA, we watch car crashes like no other city in the nation. Manny being Manny is way more fun than Kobe being Kobe.

The Yard is trying to find a ticket stub from the Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Clippers game last Friday in Sacramento. It was the Blake Griffin sweepstakes. Score one for the Kings losing to the Clips by 31 at home.

If at first you don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything. William Lyon Phelps