It's April Now

Not only does April signify the beginning of many rainy days, but it also means the end of "March Madness." The NCAA Championship tournament crowned its new champion and the college season if officially over. I filled out my brackets back on March 3rd and boy did I do bad. I had Stanford winning but that was a long-shot. This years tournament had a lot of upsets and some teams either surpassed their potential or totally blew it.

Davidson, a number 10 seed, was an under-dog through its whole tournament run. They were dubbed the "Cinderella" team this year. First they beat number 7 Gonzaga, then number 2 Georgetown, then they beat number 3 Wisconsin making it to the Elite Eight. There they would meet number 1 seeded Kansas where they would lose by 2 points.

History was made in this years tournament. For the first time ever, all four number 1 seeds from each region made the Final Four. North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, and Memphis dominated their respective regions. Both games were supposed to be very good and close but that wasn't the case. The first semi-final pitted UCLA against Memphis. Memphis won by a considerable margin by using their speed and high-flying abilities. The second game was almost the same. Kansas built up a 28 point lead but North Carolina fought back to cut it to 8. Kansas would eventually regroup and would win the game by 16.

The championship was between Memphis and Kansas. Nobody knew who was going to win but a national poll showed 58% of America thought that Memphis would win. The game was close throughout. Memphis had a 9 point lead with 1:24 seconds left but that lead would relinquish to 3 with just 8 seconds left. Memphis could not hit a free throw which gave Kansas a chance to tie the game. And of course they did. In overtime Kansas dominated the game and would eventually win. I was pretty upset but there was nothing I could do obviously.

This years tournament was one of my favorite tournaments ever because I knew three guys playing in it. I used to play against them in leagues throughout Staten Island when I was younger. Steven Rossiter of Davidson used to play for Farrell in high school and his brother Ryan who played for Sienna also went to Farrell. The biggest star in college to come from Staten Island is Kyle McClarney from Notre Dame. He actually lives around the block from me and went to Moore Catholic High School. They will all be playing again next year and I cannot wait to see them play. Only 6 more months until the season starts up again.

Kansas University Jayhawks 2008 NCAA National Champions