
So who do you pick? Will it be Duke, with Coach K going for his fifth national title or Wisconsin, a big and strong team that always seems to be capable of handling tremendous pressure successfully. My choice isn't so much based upon who is best, I think both are superlative but in differing ways, but more upon sentiment. I mean I've got to tell you, having grown up in Virginia and watching ACC basketball as a kid, by now I'm kind of fed up with Duke. Don't get me wrong. They are good and Coach K is up there with the best of them, but Duke always seems to be the favorite of the press corps year in and year out along with their rival North Carolina. Good team or bad, they always seem to get rated high whether it is deserve or not, but that is just my opinion.
And then there's Wisconsin. The Badgers are a big brawling type of team with power and also the team that knocked off my school, Arizona, both this year and last in the Regional finals. My Wildcats are good, but Wisconsin just overpowered them and after watching them against Kentucky, well, I don't think selecting them is unreasonable. But basketball being the game that it is, in a pressure packed and loud crowd in basketball crazy Indiana, anything can happen. So whatever happens, I just hope it is a good, tough and clean game.
And before signing off, there is just one thing about the event and the venue that I must get off my chest. I hope the NCAA, Indianapolis and all of the business sponsors just get their noses out of political and social issues tonight and just let the game be played. In recent years football has been ruined by the NFL management team and now the NCAA seems to be doing just the same. Quit interjecting all of the commentary that creates more animosity and feeds on it. Get rid of the political correctness and focus on the game. The game is what people will be interested in tonight, not the social chatter by the mindless mainstream sports press and broadcasters.
Now, let the game begin.