Monday, March 24, 2008

Basketball, basketball, basketball!

Man! Ever since Thursday at noon I’ve had eyes or ears pinned to the TV or radio checking out scores to whatever games are on at the time. Surprisingly, my bracket is still in pretty good shape. I had Duke going farther (one more) and of course Pitt and Georgetown (mild shockers), but I still have 10 out of the last 16 still alive, including ALL of my final four. I love this time of year. Some people are crazy about baseball, some football, but even as a kid basketball has always been my thing, especially Tarheel basketball and they absolutely did not disappoint this weekend, stomping a mudhole in the asses of both, albeit inferior opponents. We’ll see if they continue to score in the 100’s as the competition gets tougher. I doubt it.
I was watching Tyler “Has been” (as Scott from Nine Pound Hammer calls him, I call him Tyler Handsfull cause that’s what opposing defenses have, their hands FULL!) this weekend and seriously wondering if he was my favorite Tarheel ever. I started thinking back to all of the players I had watched over the last 30 years and came to the conclusion that he was REAL close but not #1. That goes to Antawn Jamison. That dude was already shooting the ball before it reached his hands. It was always amazing to me how fast he could score. The defense would turn around to guard him and the ball would be falling through the net. It was ridiculous! Tyler Hansbrough would be #2, just on work ethic alone. He’s also dropped in more “circus shots” than anyone I’ve ever seen. After him it would be James Worthy. Dean and the rest of us always felt safe with the ball in his hands. Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan follow, for obvious reasons. Hubert Davis made it rain 3’s. George Lynch was the SECOND hardest working Tarheel ever. Jerry Stackhouse had the greatest dunk EVER, including ANY slam dunk contest or any other game. It came one Saturday afternoon before Va.Tech had joined the ACC. The ball bounced off of the back of the rim (“Iron Unkind!” as that hack Tim Brando would say) and Stack went up and with one hand, reached WAAAAY behind his head and slammed it down right in the face of the Va. Tech defender. It was UN-BE-LEEVE-ABLE! Whenever he gets interviewed on the radio to this day, the hosts always STILL ask him about that dunk! Ray Felton and Phil Ford complete my list.
Just think of the team I could build with that bunch.
Think about it! Damnit!

Man! That preacher across the street was yelling at them folks yesterday! Whew! I don’t know what they did but he sure sounded mad about SOMETHING! I could hear him from out in my yard. I really don’t know why he was yelling at THEM, hell, they came to church on a beautiful, cold Easter Sunday morning. He should’a be over here yelling at me for NOT coming. Who knows. Maybe they like being yelled at.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great time of year alright! Days are getting pleasantly warm, japanese maples are showing the new growth, and the Heels are kicking ass. I like your list of favorites. Two players I'd add, Al Wood (yes you are old enough you should remember him) and (The) Donald Williams. That 3 point bomber gave us a national title!

Anonymous said...

College hoops is the best. I follow two teams that sucked monkey balls this year, Depaul (I live 3 miles from their arena, so I adopted them) and the Illini, my die-hard affiliation. Since my teams were crap, I've been determined to enjoy this tournament 'cause the regular season was tough to endure. There have been some great games this opening weekend. I actually picked W KY to beat San Diego in my brackets which makes me look like Carnac, but then I lost Georgetown from my Final Four, Doh!

Since my teams aren't in the tourney, I've also found myself drawn to rooting against enemies of the Illini. It was great to see Indiana go down in the first round. Let the sanctions begin! Gotta see Tennessee and Bruce Pearl take it in rear next. And Bill Self has to choke again with them Jayhawks.

I'd like to see my Big Ten brethern go as far as they can, but I'll just enjoy the great games.

Vegas is awesome for the opening rounds. I've done that four times. I would've gone again this year, but I couldn't pull it off with Easter opening weekend. Darn family obligations. But I am getting my posse lined up for 2009 in Sin City. It's hoops heaven.

Tom in Chicago