NCAA Basketball Quiz: Name the six players in the rotation for the national champion North Carolina State Wolfpack, 1973-74, that defeated UCLA in the semis and Marquette in the final. Answer below.
March Madness
South vs. East
1 Florida 4 UCLA
2 Kansas 3 Syracuse
1 Virginia 4 Michigan State
2 Villanova 3 Iowa State
West vs. Midwest
1 Arizona 4 San Diego State
2 Wisconsin 3 Creighton
1 Wichita State 4 Louisville
2 Michigan 3 Duke
Needless to say, productivity across America is going to crash these next few days as we all work on our Quicken Loans – Yahoo Sports $1 billion bracket challenge (insured by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway). The odds of picking every winner are said to be one in nine quintillion.
But there are ways to reduce the odds, once you understand no 16-seed has ever won and just a handful of 15s have, that kind of thing.
Personally, I’ll reveal my exclusive Final Four next chat and I’ve decided I’m opting right away for the $500 million lump sum, rather than $25 million the next 40 years. I imagine if you were in my shoes you’d do the same thing. I’ll also hold a party for everyone at Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood, South Dakota sometime in the fall upon emerging victorious.
Actually, the Quicken Loans contest does have 20 prizes of $100,000 each, which would pay for a few electric bills, so good luck.
By the way, as the Washington Post’s John Feinstein notes in his column, Selection Sunday wasn’t a big deal until 1982. The year before, CBS “wrested the rights to the tournament away from NBC with a three-year, $48 million contract, a mind-blowing sum at the time that more than tripled what NBC had been paying for the rights.”
The next step was hiring Billy Packer, who, coupled with CBS’ Len DeLuca, came up with the phrase: “The Road to the Final Four.”
As Packer said, after the two looked at eight sub-regional sites, followed by four regionals, you had “Twelve cities. Everyone trying to get to one city.”
So some random notes on the games of the past few days…since last chat.
—Cal Poly defeated Cal State Northridge, 61-59, to win the Big West tournament championship and the automatic bid. Understand, Cal Poly is a whopping 13-19, having lost nine of their last 11 regular-season games before winning three straight in Anaheim to earn the school’s first NCAA bid. Cal State Northridge finished 17-18. Yup, that tournament was one screwed up event.
–First-year UCLA coach Steve Alford came through. The unranked Bruins upset fourth-ranked Arizona in the Pac-12 championship game, 75-71. The Alford selection to replace Ben Howland was panned big time, including by me, but Alford essentially took the same cast as last season and got them to play together.
–Meanwhile, the other guy in L.A., USC’s Andy Enfield, sure learned the grass is not always greener. Last season Enfield and his Florida Gulf Coast team were the darlings of the NCAA tournament. So he parlayed that into a big contract with USC, which then proceeded to go 11-21 in his first season at the helm. Advantage Alford.
—Rutgers lost to Louisville in an American Athletic Conference tournament contest, 92-31. Yes, 92-31.
As the Star-Ledger’s Steve Politi put it, “If the Cardinals decided not to score in the second half, they still would have won – by 27 points! The loss was so bad that Rutgers nearly had as many turnovers (26) as points (31), which is actually very hard to do….
“Teams do not get beaten like this in 2014. A 30-point loss is bad, a 40-point loss is unacceptable, a 50-point loss is rare. A 60-point loss is unthinkable, and Rutgers will have six months to try to explain one.
“And that, really, is the bigger issue. Forget the 12-21 record – everyone knew Rutgers would struggle. This was supposed to be about (Coach Eddie) Jordan establishing a new identity for the program, about resetting a standard.”
—Seton Hall defeated No. 3 Villanova 64-63 as ‘Nova was just 4 of 19 from three.
—Providence ended up defeating No. 14 Creighton in the Big East final, 65-58. Doug McDermott had 27 on 10-19 shooting (5-12 from 3), but Ethan Wragge hit just 1 of 7 from downtown when he was .473 for the season.
—Maryland’s 61-year history in the ACC ended with a 67-65 heartbreaking loss to Florida State.
—Wake Forest’s season ended dismally, 84-55 to Pitt as senior Travis McKie was 0 for 6 from the field in his final game. Very strong.
At least Wake’s fifth-year senior, Coron Williams, hit 16 of his last 27 attempts from downtown in the final five games. [The Deacs did win their first-round ACC tourney game against Notre Dame, 81-69, earning your editor a six-pack from Mark R. But then I lost one to my nephew in the Pitt game.]
—Pitt also beat No. 15 North Carolina 80-75, but then lost to No. 6 Virginia 51-48.
—North Carolina State defeated No. 11 Syracuse 66-63.
—Virginia then ended up defeating No. 7 Duke in the ACC final, 72-63, for its first ACC tournament championship since 1976.
–My “Pick to Click” VCU Rams defeated George Washington in the A-10 semis, 74-55, but lost key starter Melvin Johnson for the season to a knee injury. That’s huge.
—St. Bonaventure defeated No. 18 Saint Louis 71-68 in A-10 tourney play, as the Billikens continued their late-season slide into oblivion.
—VCU lost to Saint Joseph’s in the A-10 final 65-61.
—No. 20 New Mexico defeated No. 8 San Diego State in the Mountain West tournament final. So the Lobos took 2 of 3 this season from the Aztecs.
–It appears the ACC tournament is coming to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center for 2017 and 2018, and then will rotate with sites such as Greensboro in future years, if all goes according to plan. Heck, with Syracuse and Pittsburgh having come into the fold, and with Boston College and Notre Dame and (next season) Louisville, why not? They shouldn’t have a hard time packing the place, plus it’s New York.
–There’s only one story in New York these days. Well, make that two. The Knicks have won six in a row to get to 27-40 and give themselves a slight chance at the last playoff slot, 3 ½ games behind Atlanta.
But the bigger story is the news Zen Master Phil Jackson is taking over as team president on Tuesday. As noted before, his first step will be to figure out what to do with free-agent Carmelo Anthony. The second decision will involve the status of Coach Mike Woodson, though I have to believe Jackson brings in one of his trusted confidants. Jim Cleamons is being mentioned.
Jackson is getting high marks (not surprisingly) from his old Knicks teammates, including Walt “Clyde” Frazier, many of whom plan on being in attendance when Jackson makes his debut.
“I’m excited,” Frazier told the New York Post. “It has to help the organization, having a guy like Phil around with his knowledge of the game and as far as attracting other players to New York. Now, it gives them a lot of credibility.”
Another former teammate, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, told the Washington Post’s Mike Wise that he thinks Jackson is taking the Knicks position as a way of getting another shot at Pat Riley, the two not having a good relationship.
Monroe said: “There is an ego aspect. That’s just a fact. Pat Riley has won in L.A. and Miami, but he couldn’t quite get over the hump in New York. If Phil were to bring a championship to New York after all this time, it would be, in a sense, performing a miracle.”
As Wise writes: “Nothing ever felt more satisfying for Phil Jackson than beating Pat Riley.
“In the time since Jackson stepped down from coaching the Lakers in 2011, the Miami Heat has won two championships and been to three straight NBA Finals. It won because Riley convinced LeBron James and Chris Bosh to come to South Beach and play with Dwyane Wade.
“Since Riley ditched the Knicks for the Heat in 1995, the force of one man’s personality has built and rebuilt the organization.
“If Jackson’s vision ever culminated in a title in New York, he would supplant Riley as the game’s most successful executive and, by association, the NBA’s most effective recruiter of future Hall of Fame players.”
Heck, I’m beginning to get a little pumped. Can Jackson convince LeBron to come? Kevin Durant down the road? Kevin Love is available this summer (though he plays zero defense). [Word on James is that he may sign a one-year extension in the offseason and wait until 2015 to opt out.]
As for how Jackson will handle Knicks owner James Dolan, I think the Zen Master will know how to keep Dolan at bay.
–While there is all kinds of talk about the upcoming NBA draft being as strong as any in recent memory, as the New York Times’ Ben Detrick points out, drafts don’t always pan out like they’re supposed to. Case in point, the No. 1 overall selection from last year, Anthony Bennett, who has struggled mightily with Cleveland and is currently out with a knee injury. It didn’t help that he has never gotten in shape. The consensus front-runner for rookie of the year was way down at No. 11, point-guard Michael Carter-Williams of Philadelphia. The No. 2 overall pick, Victor Oladipo of the Orlando Magic, has had a solid season as well, 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists.
But others in the top ten, such as No. 3 Otto Porter of Washington and No. 5 Alex Len of Phoenix have been non-factors.
All that said, the likes of Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins are clearly can’t miss picks for 2014.
–The Nets suffered a bad loss to the Wizards in Washington on Saturday, 101-94, blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to fall to 33-31, but earlier in the week, Brooklyn beat Miami for the third time in as many tries this season, 96-95 in Miami.
–The 76ers lost their franchise-tying record 20th straight on Saturday, 103-77 to Memphis. The league record is 26 set by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers. After shockingly starting the season 3-0, they have gone 12-51 since. That’s strong…real strong.
Of course Philly is essentially tanking so they can load up on the draft, starting with the hoped for overall No. 1 this spring.
NFL Moves
–Cornerback Brandon Browner signed with New England. But Browner, 29, is slated to serve a four-game suspension at the start of the season for substance abuse, though when on the field he’s a Pro Bowler.
So Browner will pair with cornerback Darrelle Revis, who signed a one-year, $12 million deal to play for the Patriots, thus infuriating many a Jets fan. [New England needed to reload at the d-back position after corner Aqib Talib unexpectedly bolted for Denver.]
The New York Daily News’ Gary Myers said the relocation from Revis Island to New England has “got to make Rex Ryan and jets fans absolutely nauseous.”
Granted, there was little chance Revis was coming back.
–Denver bagged DeMarcus Ware and his 117 career sacks after Dallas released him.
*Very sorry…had Ware going to New England initially. My bad. Thanks to J. Mac for the catch.
–Wide receiver Golden Tate signed a five-year, $31 million deal ($13.25M guaranteed) with the Lions, where he joins Calvin Johnson et al for the best overall aerial show in the game.
–The Green Bay Packers signed eight-time Pro Bowler Julius Peppers to a three-year deal worth a reported $30 million, $16 million guaranteed once he makes this coming season’s roster. This move makes great sense. Peppers is reunited with his former line coach at Carolina, Mike Trgovac.
Peppers old team, the Chicago Bears, replaced him with Oakland defensive end Lamarr Houston.
–Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks agreed to a one-year deal with Indianapolis, betting that at age 26 he can resurrect his career and then parlay it into a big payday next offseason. The Giants clearly had no interest in keeping the guy, 24 hours after they let defensive lineman Justin Tuck sign with Oakland, a two-year deal worth $11 million. Tuck was miffed the Giants didn’t make a more sincere attempt to keep him after his solid years of service. [Supposedly the offer was just for half what he’s getting with Oakland. That’s what happens when you turn 30 in the NFL, actually, 31, shortly.]
But Tuck was immediately instrumental in convincing Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley to sign with Oakland, a two-year deal worth up to $12 million. The two will now combine to give Oakland a solid pass rush.
–New York is buzzing over the arrival of country star Jesse James….I mean the arrival of wide receiver Eric Decker, who is married to Jesse James. Decker’s wife will be a fixture on Page Six for years to come. This is good. Hopefully, her hubby catches 70+ passes a season as well.
–Longtime Carolina Panthers’ wideout Steve Smith signed a three-year contract with Baltimore. While 34, there is no reason why Smith can’t play at a high-level for years to come. He ranks 19th in the NFL in career receptions and had 64 for 746 yards last season.
–The Eagles landed a great player, all-everything running back/receiver Darren Sproles, acquired in a trade from New Orleans for just a fifth-round pick in May’s draft. A steal, though to be fair, the Saints were about to release Sproles for cap reasons and would have received nothing in return. In Chip Kelly’s offense, Sproles is likely to be more of a receiver.
–Tennessee released veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who would make for a great backup for a lot of franchises.
Ball Bits
–Huge blow for the Braves as it’s feared starting pitchers Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen will both need Tommy John surgery, the second for Beachy. Medlen was 15-12 with a 3.11 ERA last season and Beachy was slotted for the rotation this year.
–Baltimore’s Manny Machado is struggling after his serious knee surgery from last season and may not be ready for opening day.
—Derek Jeter’s spring is going well. While he’s not hitting, his mobility is good as he attempts to finish his career on a high note after wasting last season with his ankle and leg issues.
John Daly had the worst round of his PGA Tour career on Friday at the Valspar Championship, Innisbrook, as he carded a 90! Daly had a 12 on the par-4 16th hole, apparently at least the 16th time he has had a double-digit score in a PGA event. Daly blamed the round in part on his putting, specifically, “When you’ve got the yips, it’s no fun.” Uh oh. That’s not good. Daly had 37 putts in the round.
Back in 1998 at Arnie’s Bay Hill, Daly carded an 18 when he put six balls into the lake adjoining No. 6. His previous worst round was 89 during the second round of the 2008 British Open at Royal Birkdale.
As for the tournament itself, 42-year-old John Senden captured his second PGA Tour title, first in eight years after four runner-ups.
—Mikaela Shiffrin won her fifth World Cup slalom race on Saturday, the season finale, having clinched her second straight slalom title last week. It was her ninth WC victory overall, two days before her 19th birthday.
So now Shiffrin will start focusing on other disciplines as her preparations for 2016 have really already begun. She’ll be fun to follow the next four years.
As for American Ted Ligety, he won his fifth season-long giant slalom trophy, capturing his fifth World Cup race of the season and winning a tiebreaker with Marcel Hirscher, who won the overall World Cup title a third straight season; pretty awesome for the 25-year-old Austrian who had little success in Sochi.
Austria completed the overall World Cup title sweep when Anna Fenninger clinched her first women’s crown.
Hey, I did a pretty good job covering skiing this season, especially for a non-skier, don’t you think? I’m going to treat myself to a domestic for my efforts.
–ESPN announced that Chris Fowler will take over Brent Musburger’s lead seat alongside Kirk Herbstreit in ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” booth. The two will also call games in the first-ever College Football Playoff next year, as well as the national championship contest.
But Fowler will continue hosting ESPN’s “College GameDay.” Sometimes Herbstreit and Fowler will need to be in two cities in the same day. Everyone likes the guy. For starters he’s a professional, but supposedly he signed a nine-year extension for $35 million, which ain’t chopped liver.
Meanwhile, as for Musburger, he is going to be the lead on the new SEC Network, teaming with Jesse Palmer. Not a bad gig for Brent. He’ll get to see all the pretty SEC girls, for starters, and hopefully continue to comment on same. The football isn’t that shabby, either. The SEC Network’s games will remain a staple of ESPN, while Brent will continue as a play-by-play announcer for Big 12 basketball across ESPN networks.
–We note the passing of comedian David Brenner, who died of cancer at the age of 78. For many of us of a certain age, in the 1970s through the 80s, in particular, he was a ubiquitous presence on the talk show circuit, appearing over 150 times on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show,” for starters. Brenner recalled how Carson once explained why he was frequently asked to perform stand-up on the show: “He said, ‘Because I like to sit back, smoke a cigarette and laugh for six minutes.’”
Brenner was born in Philadelphia in 1936, graduated from Temple University with a communications degree, and started out as a writer and director of television documentaries before he decided to give comedy a try in the early 70s. His first performance on “The Tonight Show” was a hit and he was set from there. I remember him as much for his many appearances in the afternoon on “The Mike Douglas Show.”
According to a family spokesman, his tombstone will read: “If this is supposed to be a joke – then I don’t get it!”
Friend Joan Rivers tweeted, “Knowing David, he’s now making the devil laugh.”
–So I’m reading this USA TODAY piece on “regional foods worth traveling for,” such as Goetta in Cincinnati (a German-influenced sausage) or beignets in New Orleans.
But it mentions kolache and specifically Central Texas, “as well as parts of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota." Kolache is a Czech dish, semisweet dough filled with lots of stuff, though mostly it’s nut rolls for me. I’m just ticked off it doesn’t mention western Pennsylvania! That’s the real home of kolache. [I’m too lazy to add it to the Wiki page.]
Oh well, at least the article mentions the pork roll, New Jersey’s state meat. Nothing better than a Taylor ham breakfast in a Jersey diner.
Top 3 songs for the week 3/18/78: #1 “Night Fever” (Bee Gees…uh oh…not my favorite era) #2 “Stayin’ Alive” (Bee Gees…where’s my sword…) #3 “Emotion” (Samantha Sang…eh…) … and…#4 “Lay Down Sally” (Eric Clapton…easily his worst…) #5 “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” (Andy Gibb…whatever…) #6 “Can’t Smile Without You” (Barry Manilow…not his best…) #7 “I Go Crazy” (Paul Davis…not bad…) #8 “Sometimes When We Touch” (Dan Hill…don’t touch me unless you washed your hands first…) #9 “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” (Chic…ughhh…though Aliens turned back upon hearing this…) #10 “Just The Way You Are” (Billy Joel…saves the week…)
NCAA Basketball Quiz Answer: The six players in the Wolfpack’s 1973-74 rotation were David Thompson, Tom Burleson, Monte Towe, Tim Stoddard, Moe Rivers and Phil Spence.
N.C. State, coached by Norm Sloan, defeated Marquette for the national title, 76-64, Al McGuire’s Warriors being led by Maurice Lucas, Bo Ellis and Earl Tatum. But the semi-final was a thrilling 80-77 double-overtime win over UCLA, with Bill Walton being held to ‘only’ 29 points and 18 rebounds, while David Thompson had 28 and Burleson 20 for N.C. State.
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rain fall soft upon your fields and,
until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
