basketball

Chris Knight's avatar

 “Finally, payback for what Christian Laettner did to us.”

(Referring to the legendary 1990 east regional final during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and Laettner’s buzzer-beater that sent Duke past University of Connecticut by one point in overtime.)

Congrats UConn.  This was a legendary game too, and you played amazing.  I was rooting for Duke but I wanted to see a good game more than anything, no matter who was competing.  You deserve this win.

Best of wishes going on into the Final Four....

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Chris Knight's avatar

Okay, I’m going to get something off my chest and I believe it merits consideration.  Because we are in “the high holy days” as I call this time of March and it’s as good a time as any to bring this up.

I’m watching the NCAA basketball tournament.  Maybe it’s just me but it’s DISGUSTING watching so many young men, at the height of their sports careers, who are festooned with TOO MANY tattoos.  I’ve seen some of these guys who have both arms completely inked.  Some have tats on their necks.

WHY?!??  What is the purpose of all those tattoos??

These are healthy young specimens, in the prime of their lives, and they are completely destroying the symmetrical beauty of their bodies by marking them up.  It absolutely takes away from appreciation of their presence on the court.

Why would anyone do this to themselves?  Have they considered ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

So, Duke fell to North Carolina last night.  I now have no one to cheer for in this tournament.  Kansas always seemed too overhyped to me, and they beat Villanova yesterday.  Or maybe I’ll root for UNC tomorrow night just because they’re still from my neck of the woods.

Mike Krzyzewski made a mistake in announcing his retirement well before the season.  He should have waited until after the tournament.  Instead he made this entire season about himself and his ego.  When it should have been about the players and the program in general.  He fell victim to hubris, and I
really thought more of him.

Even so, let’s never forget that he
contributed a lot to the game. Mock him all one wants, but the man
deserves respect.

Okay, that’s everything substantive I have to say today.  Currently I’m enduring hay fever and all kinds of exotic antihistamines are ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

For the past six days we’ve been watching it like a hurricane, churning ever closer and gaining strength along the way.  It has become the perfect storm: nothing like this has happened before and nothing like it will ever happen again.  We are bracing for a collision of gargantuan proportions and no matter who wins it will be a battle for the ages.

Tonight, Duke plays North Carolina in the NCAA Basketball Tournament semifinal.

The two teams have never played each other in an NCAA tourney.  The last time Duke played Carolina was on their home court in Durham.  Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game and Carolina beat them by double digits.

Tonight could be Krzyzewski’s final game ever.

I hope not.

I want to see him in the final on Monday night, playing against either Kansas or Villanova.

I want to see the Duke team giving their coach one ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

 They are the team I now want to see take it all:

Go Peacocks!!

(And dude with Seventies mustache for the win!)

Amazing game Saint Peters played last night against Perdue.  Now hoping they’ll send North Carolina home tomorrow.  Either Saint Peters wins the tourney, or I want to see it come down to Duke and UNC… with Coach K leaving triumphant.

...

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Chris Knight's avatar

It’s been awhile since I really followed college basketball.  It’s still the sport dearest to my heart, mostly because I remember cheering on the ’83 “Cardiac Pack” team at North Carolina State as they won the national championship under coach Jim Valvano.  And on the twenty-fifth anniversary of that game, I paid a visit to Valvano’s grave to leave flowers.  In high school I thrilled to watching Duke win back to back national titles after so many tries by Mike Krzyzewski (hey, I finally spelled his name right!!).  One of these days maybe I’ll get to see my alma mater Elon University go to “the Big Dance”.  And then everyone will be asking “Elon?  Where’s THAT?” just like we did with Gonzaga.

One person who knows basketball… and I mean REALLY knows it… is my lifelong best friend Chad Austin.  He’s been finding some good stuff lately and sharing ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

“One Shining Moment” is the song that CBS uses in the final moments of their annual coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, to recap the highlights of the road to the championship.  All well and good… except that there won’t be an NCAA men’s basketball tournament this year because of the coronavirus epidemic.

So I, foolish I, took it upon myself to address this curious situation…

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Chris Knight's avatar

Now this fits the definition of “classy” to a tee…

Last month legendary basketball coach Dean Smith passed away.  He coached the Tar Heels of UNC-Chapel Hill from 1961 to 1997 and when he retired he was the coach with the most wins of any in collegiate basketball history.  He had two national titles to show for it.  Along the way he coached about 184 players.

And every one of them is getting $200 to enjoy a nice dinner out.

From the story at Fox 8:

 Each player who lettered under late North Carolina head men’s basketball coach Dean Smith is receiving a surprise gift from the coach himself: $200.

Smith, who died last month, willed the money to each former player in his trust. Tim Breedlove, who wrote the letters to the players, confirmed the gift to SI.com on Thursday. The letter from Miller McNeish & Breedlove, PA,

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