Yes, DoctorJ, my old man, a lifelong Wildcat fan, called me after the game, and he was apparently happy to see the Blue Devils go down.
I find myself in the incongrous position of hoping Kentucky will win, not because I have anything against Maryland, but because I would love to see the Hoosiers get a shot at revenge in an NCAA title game.
I know Kentucky smoked IU earlier in the year, but I think the Hoosiers are much better now that Coach Davis has found the right lineup.
IU vs. Kentucky for the NCAA championship. God, the basketball fan’s mind boggles at such an event.
Mixed feelings-- as a sort of IU grad, I am happy. However, my pool pick was Duke, so now unless U of O wins another game all my teams are out.
Go hoosiers. Nice to see them doing well without the frikkin General, too.
I’m not exactly a big Terps fan: while I’ve lived in Maryland the entire time I’ve been on these boards, I’d spent most of the preceding four decades in Virginia. But being mildly pro-Terps when they’re not playing Virginia, and having always disliked U. of Kentucky (don’t ask me why; I just do), I’ll be rooting for the Terrapins tonight.
It’s been pleasant to see Indiana go deep into the tourney while Bobby Knight’s team left the dance early, I’ll admit.
Go Hoosiers! I’ve been a fan for years and even went to IU for a couple year before transferring out. Was a frosh in '87, got stomped on in Showalter fountain celebrating the win over Syracuse that year as NCAA champs.
Great second half comeback. We controlled the turnovers, rebounded (especially offensively) and just wanted it more. What about Moye’s “block” of Boozer! Ha!
I’ve watched the last sequence about ten time now, and Fife’s “foul” on Jason Williams’ 3-pointer was incidental at best. Williams really initiated the contact there by throwing his feet forward and looked like he was falling even before Fife brushed by him, so it was a flop-acting job. Still though, Fife should have known better to get so close.
Go IU, revenge on Kent State next for a trip to Atlanta!
Hi to all, this is my first post since the board is back.
Predicted SIU-C would beat Knight’s team.* The mid-major teams don’t get enough credit. Butler should have been in this tournament. Not Boston College. Kent State should have been seeded higher. So should have Gonzaga, even though they happened to lose early in this tournament. Gonzaga should have been seeded higher than Georgia, IMO.
Until the majors start playing the mid-majors in the fall, we’ll never know how truly close the talent gap is. Unfortunately, there’s no incentive for majors to play mid-majors outside of the tournament. And, it’s safer for the selection committee to seed a major higher, or choose a major over a mid-major.
(Sorry for the highjack.)
*Won’t tell you, however, how many of my other picks were actually correct. [ul]
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Funny joke. Why do people roll their car windows up while driving through Charlottesville? They are afraid someone will throw a UVa diploma in the car. Just as funny, just as untrue.
US News and World Report is a recognized publication for ranking colleges and universities. Go here and see Duke at #8. Scroll down, …… down a little further, …… almost there…. OK, #21. Tied with Vandy, another fine school (no sarcasm about either UVa or Vandy, they ARE great schools.) If you could look at the archives you’d not see Duke below #10 Nationally for at least the last 15 years, IIRC.
Be very proud of Virginia, but don’t talk smack.
And RT, I’m fairly sure Strom was 127 at that time.
Back to the OP . . . Has Duke ever been called for a foul in the last minute of a close game? That phantom foul on the steal call sent me reeling into the Bizarro World. It is so nice to see Duke get a taste of how the other half lives.
Duke sure has the ref’s side of a lot of calls, I will readily admit. In their day, so did UNC, Georgetown, and Michigan. Goes with the territory, I guess. I think especially Jason Williams attracts (attracted) phantom fouls at times, and gets away with things.
I know Dave has it in for the Terps, but I like respect that team, and even though both Kentucky AND Maryland fans hate Duke with a venomous fever, I’ll stick with the ACC here.
Not that it made or broke the game, but I would have liked to see the opposite camera angle on Boozer’s fumbled layup after Williams flubbed the free throw. He could have lost the ball all by himself, or it could have been a clean hit on the ball.
Someone e-mailed me a picture today of the Duke team crying in the UK home locker room. While I’m surprised they let the Blue Devils use the home lockers (despite being the nominal home team), that made it worth it.
Actually, I have great respect for Duke basketball, especially Coach K. I could probably be a Duke fan, were it not for That One Game That No One Will Let Us Forget. (You know, the one where Laettner should have been ejected but wasn’t? You know the rest. It will be a long time before I can feel bad about a bullshit call going against Duke. )
If Indiana can beat Duke, then Kentucky can beat Maryland. That isn’t to say that they will, but they can. Hopefully it will be a good game. Pandemonium will break out around here if we win, and I happen to live on the famed Celebration Corner, so I’m battening down the hatches as we speak.
Well, just to put a coda to this thread: the Terps prevailed over all comers–great programs like Kentucky, Kansas, Uconn, and Indiana.
As a Terps fan, I would have liked to see them beat Duke or Oklahoma in the NCAAs–just for payback; but it worked out without those match ups.
I was in Atlanta and it was nice to see that the Terp fan griping about how Coach K and Duke get favoritism isn’t restricted the UM fans. It’s not just UM/ ACC fans, but the IU fans also were like “Duke gets all the calls”. It might be a national thing; ask Arizona last year.
Congrats to the Terps–the first team to win without a high school McDonalds All Americans on the roster. As back-up Ryan Randle said: “Maybe we have to be Burger King All Americans”.
Nobody wanted Juan Dixon or Lonny Baxter out of high school and people questioned why Gary Williams would waste a scholarship on them but they cut down the nets in the Georgia Dome.
Whether you like Maryland or not, it was nice to see the unwanted guys prevail. Especially in this era of college stars playing only a year or two before they feel entitled to NBA $millions.
The whole thing was bittersweet for me. It was good to see Maryland win: it was sad to see IU lose: it was maddening that Mississippi State lost so daggone early.
