North Carolina, an excellent basketball team but one getting its road to a title “paved” won fairly decisively vs Notre Dame to advance to the national semi-final/Final Four next Saturday.
The problem with long shot teams like Notre Dame and Syracuse continuing to advance is that so often it creates an easy road for a higher seeded team. This has happened before, will again and this is not the first time for North Carolina.
However, Virginia had its chance vs 10 seed Syracuse and failed so the top seeds do not always take advantage.
Now North Carolina gets its chance and based on the fact they have the “on paper” far easier game than Villanova and Oklahoma, which face each other, are roughly even money favorites to win the title.
In two regional final games in which all four teams were from the Atlantic Coast Conference, favorite North Carolina and stunning underdog Syracuse emerged victorious and will meet in a national semi-final/Final Four game next Saturday.
Syracuse, aided immensely by Middle Tennessee’s upset win vs Michigan State was a 40 to 1 underdog, at least to win the South Region but did so giving them their 6th Final Four appearance and 5th under coach Jim Boeheim.
In the last two wins, Syracuse dispatched 4 plus point favorite Gonzaga and the region’s top seed, 8 point favorite Virginia.
More on North Carolina, an early nine plus point favorite vs Syracuse, in the next post.
This will be the fifth national semi-final/Final Four appearance for Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim, pictured above.
It was great fun and highly inspirational to read “Wildflower” by Drew Barrymore.
The book (published by Dutton Penguin Random House) is about Ms. Barrymore’s incredible life as a mother, wife, actress and “Do Things” woman, feeding those without among those endeavors.
She talks about her life as part of the Barrymore acting legacy, her grandfather was John , her great uncle Lionel and great aunt Ethel. Her father John was not around much and Drew became an emancipated teenager at age 14.
In the book Ms. Barrymore talks of and recounts adventures with friends among them, Cameron Diaz and Steven Spielberg.
Trips to many places including India were recalled and in each Drew grew emotionally and spiritually, perhaps culminating in the penultimate chapter of the relatively short book.
It takes us to Africa and Drew ultimately working with the United Nations and The World Food Council in establishing “The Barrymore Learning Academy.” Truly inspirational!
Finally, I was so glad to see Drew’s mom Jade, still by all accounts not close to Drew, acknowledged in a positive away as was her late father John.
Remember all that ridiculous ESPN/ABC hype surrounding what I knew was a meaningless regular season game between the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors last week.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who had done this before, rested 5 star players and his team was routed by the Oklahoma City Thunder last night.
I applaud Popovich’s decision as he knows his team will be the NBA West 2 seed no higher, no lower hence the game vs the one seed Warriors last week meant little, if anything.
Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich, pictured above, has guided the team to 5 NBA titles.
Yesterday the long shot long shot winner, 1985 NCAA basketball title winning school, Villanova defeated the 1988 long shot winner, Kansas to reach the national semi-finals to be held in Houston,Texas next week.
Their opponent is from the Texas neighboring state of Oklahoma, the University of Oklahoma Sooners. They were denied by Kansas in the 1988 title tilt.
Oklahoma defeated Oregon yesterday to also reach the national semi-final game.
Villanova is an early two point favorite in that tilt which as with tonight’s regional finals (Syracuse vs Virginia and Notre Dame vs North Carolina) and the other national semi-final next week are on TBS and NOT over the air CBS.
My American League East predictions are ready.
Their splendid play in the spring plus the fact that their great play was just for a half season, I think the Toronto Blue Jays will start strong and hold on to win the American League East this season.
I do not think the Boston Red Sox will be as strong as most forecasters think.
The New York Yankees are my pick to finish just ahead of Boston for second place.
Neither the Tampa Bay Rays nor the Baltimore Orioles will make that much positive noise in the division this season.
Some random notes from television watching will follow.
I offer no formal remembrance but Ken Howard and Garry Shandling, each of whom died too soon this past week, so often entertained on television.
Watching Mr.Shandling’s first appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, which aired as a tribute to Mr.Shandling on Antenna TV last night, guests actor/director Richard Benjamin and golfer Jan Stephenson and not Shandling were seated next to Johnny and Ed McMahon when the 1981 show ended.
However, Shandling surely impressed Carson and was asked back on numerous occasions.
Later as a stretch in the “Quantum Leap” credits for an episode in which series star,Scott Bakula’s (along with Dean Stockwell) character “leaps” back to 1964, include Fran Ryan.
Add a “k” to Fran’s first name and it is Frank Ryan the quarterback of the last Cleveland Browns’ title team in 1964.
Finally you can’t go wrong watching the great television series, “The Fugitive” on “The Decades binge” all weekend long on the Decades channel.
The A.C.C. (Atlantic Coast Conference) teams’ play has been great in the current NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Both regional finals tomorrow match ACC teams, top seed Virginia vs 10 seed Syracuse in the South and top seed North Carolina vs 6th seed Notre Dame in the East.
The A.C.C. teams have a (16-3) record in this tournament and have made “mucho dinero” for the conference
Since the winners of the East and South regions will meet in a national semi-final/Final Four game next week, it is definite there will be an A.C.C. team in the championship game.
All four top seeds (North Carolina, Virginia, Kansas and Oregon) are in the regional finals of the 2016 NCAA Basketball Tournament.
The two regional final games today match the top two seeds in both the West and Midwest Regions.
Oregon, the top seed is a 1 point favorite vs Oklahoma in the West Regional Final. The schools have enjoyed football success of late, Oregon winning the first college playoff game before losing in the title tilt after the 2014 season while Oklahoma made last season’s 4 team playoff, losing to Clemson in one semi-final game.
The Midwest Regional final also pits the top two seeds vs each other. The top seed Kansas is a two plus point favorite vs the two seed, Villanova.
Virginia University is on to the South Regional Final after defeating Iowa State tonight.
They are the third one seed to advance to the so called “Elite Eight” and may well be joined by North Carolina University which plays Indiana.
If Indiana prevails, they and Virginia will be in the final eight some 32 years after each made it in 1984.
Indiana was an upset winner in the regional semi-finals that year, something they hope to duplicate tonight. In 1984,Virginia defeated Indiana by two points in the East Regional Final.
Andy B Sports 