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No Foolin' The Final Four is set, and I'm sure everybody had Louisville, Michigan, Syracuse and Wichita State headed to ATL three weeks ago, right? The tournament has given us some fun stories like Florida Gulf Coast and the rash of double-digit seeds ruining everybody's brackets. But I'm going to tell you that I can't remember a worse collection of regional finals. Every game turned into a blowout in some shape, way or form. The only close score was Wichita State/Ohio State in the West Regional, but that was because the 9th seeded Shockers had the #2 seeded Buckeyes down 20 before a late comeback made it closer than it should have been. Syracuse and their vaunted 2-3 zone frustrated Marquette in one of the worst "big-time games" that I've ever seen in person. 'Cuse held Buzz Williams' guys to 39 points. It capped off a truly forgettable week of basketball in DC....every game was pathetic.....Indiana and Miami were awful in defeats. By the time I landed in Charlotte and turned on the tube on Sunday.....Michigan led Florida 13-zip. The lead would soon reach 24, and my TV was off until the start of the Duke-Louisville game. There's no way that the Cards-Blue Devils game could be bad, right? After a gruesome injury to Kevin Ware that was reminiscent of Joe Theismann's broken leg...Rick Pitino's top seeded squad proceeded to beat the crap out Duke. The score was tied at 42, and then just like that....Duke was down and out. Louisville won by 22, and were very impressive in the process. I hope the Final Four gives us some drama and quality games. What the Final Four will not produce this year is a team from the ACC.....and this marks the 3rd straight year the "basketball league" is a no-show at the biggest hoops weekend of the year. The last time the ACC went 3 consecutive years without an appearance was 1958-'59-'60 & '61. That should put things into perspective. Of course, some ACC fans are claiming that Louisville and Syracuse should count. Sorry.....that's next year. The Major League Baseball season gets underway and we all know that there is only one team that is defending the World Series title.....yep, the San Francisco Giants. After spending 5 days in Washington, DC last week, I got my fill of baseball stories surrounding the Washington Nationals. The Nats are the trendy pick to dethrone my guys this season, and I can understand why. They are young, talented and loaded with great pitching.....but they also have the cloud of doubt of one of the great choke jobs in playoff baseball last season. There is no doubt that the Nats are a legitimate threat to win it all in 2013. But it will be cool to have baseball on the tube again....I still enjoy the game and I love going to the ballpark. I might try to squeeze a game in my busy schedule this week in Atlanta.....believe it or not, the Cubs will be in town. That should mean the Braves will get off to a great start.....and they are going to need it. Final Four, MLB...and next week the Masters. April is a damn good sports month. I have to say that I hated the Miami Heat's streak getting snapped last week by the Chicago Bulls. I wanted it to last a little bit longer. The streak gave the NBA some much added juice as the regular season winds down.....the season is too long...like most pro sports leagues. I was kinda hoping that the Charlotte Bobcats would be the ones taking down LeBron & Co. I know what you're thinking.....I'm on crack. You're probably right. But either way, it was an awesome winning streak by the Heat, despite coming up short against the '72-'73 Lakers. I really thought they were going to do it.....but it's time to move on to the playoffs. I still can't see anybody taking down Miami in the East.....and out West, the playoff series should be great with three or four teams in the hunt. Unlike the NCAA Tournament which has given me reasons to think we should bring back the peach basket, the NBA post season will deliver the goods. I know NASCAR doesn't race on Easter weekend.....but I was looking forward to the next round of animosity between Joey Logano, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. I know Hamlin is injured and out of the car for a while, but the end of the California race was fantastic......I'll get my wish this week in Martinsville. Small track, the paperclip.....banging....and tempers flaring. Perfect. Just make sure Danica stays out of the way....and for the record, she's done a damn good job staying lapped this season. If you are headed down to the Final Four in Atlanta this weekend, I will be broadcasting my SiriusXM show from Radio Row on Thursday.....and then Friday thru Monday, I will be live at the Bracket-Town Fanfest for the shows. You can catch all the fun from 3-6, ET on SiriusXM Channel 91. I will have our rotating collection of basketball co-hosts and great guests. In addition to the national stuff, I will be doing my "Packman on Sports" commentaries on WRFX-FM in Charlotte with Jeff Kent in the afternoons on Monday & Friday and I'll also be heard on the syndicated John Boy & Billy "Big Show" on Tuesday at 9:05am. |
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