MADISON, Wis. – Notes from the edge of my cheesy Wisconsin seat…
First off, it strikes me that every team left in the NCAA Tournament is a true Team. Capital “T,” no “i.”
Example A is right here in the Midwest Region, where the feel-good team
of the young century is the Oregon Ducks and the runner-up is the Kansas Jayhawks.
If Oregon head coach Ernie Kent speaks the truth, then there is so much
chemistry on this team that the players practically run a high-school chem lab out of the locker room.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, Roy Williams has raved all
season about how this year’s Jayhawk team is closer than a brat to a bun. How this season’s team isn’t going to implode like Williams’ nuclear weapons of the past.
The rest of the remaining March Madness field is rounded out by Oklahoma and it’s cute superstitions (Sooner coach Kelvin Sampson wears the same shirt and tie to every game), Indiana and its cute stuttering coach, UConn and its cute winning streak (12 games), and Maryland, which lacks cuteness and therefore stands a good chance of loosing on Sunday.
Secondly, I’ll admit I was skeptical when I saw “Madison, Wis.” as the
potential second-weekend site for the Midwest Regional. Why have “Sweet” and “Elite” games in a 16,000-seat college arena when “64” and “32” games are played at big-venue pro arenas?
But they call Madison “Mad-town” for a reason. The town is mad, and they love their indoor sports (see: sub-30 degree temperatures in late March). So the Kohl Center was packed on Friday night with plain-old March Madness fans from Mad-town. Fans front row center with clown wigs who just rooted. For whoever.
Now, of course, Kent wants all those Wisconsin fans for himself. Before
Friday’s contest, Kent told media members that he wanted all the Wisconsin fans to show up to the Kohl Center with their best Green Bay Packer jackets.
It didn’t happen. Maybe Sunday.
On another note, Oklahoma and Indiana made it into the Final Four and
will face each other on Saturday in Atlanta. Don’t you hate it when teams with the same school colors play each other? You never know which fans are rooting for which schools, and the refs sometimes call fouls on the wrong team. Well, maybe not, but that would be funny, wouldn’t it?
And on a final note, I got an e-mail from an over-zealous Kansas fan
today, talking trash for tomorrow’s game. Why do you send this to me? I get too many trash-talking e-mails. I’m just a reporter. I don’t care who wins. If you want to talk trash, go to educk.com.
Seriously.
Email sports reporter Peter Hockaday at [email protected]