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<\/a>The intensity of the Butler Bulldogs, in the dark jerseys.<\/p><\/div>\n
Those teams are VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Butler.\u00a0 As amazing as VCU\u2019s journey is, I think I have to root for Butler because they were last year\u2019s runner-ups and if the final second shot of Gordon Heywood, who now plays for the Utah Jazz, had gone in, they would have been the champions over Duke.\u00a0 So, I\u2019d love for them to win the whole thing this year.\u00a0 And senior Matt Howard is such is man.<\/p>\n
I love both young coaches, too.\u00a0 Butler\u2019s Brad Stevens, who looks like he\u2019s in high school is thirty-fur and everyone\u2019s new favorite coach, the animated Shaka Smart of VCU, in only thirty-three!!!\u00a0 Pretty impressive \u201cyoung fellas,\u201d as enthusiastic play-by-play guy Gus Johnson would call them.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Coach Shaka Smart (center) and his VCU team hanging with former Bull, Steve Kerr.<\/p><\/div>\n
Another interesting thing is that if VCU wins, they’ll be the first champions who had to win seven games in the tournament\u2019s history.\u00a0 This year, the NCAA implemented a First Four, allowing extra teams to compete, which I think is great, but no expected any of them to make it this far.\u00a0 VCU was one of those teams, hence they\u2019ve already won five games to the everyone else\u2019s four.\u00a0 Interesting stuff for the record books.<\/p>\n
UConn and Kentucky round out the Final Four, and at the end, which is next Monday night, I\u2019ll be feeling awful for someone.\u00a0 Even the teams I root against, I feel bad for.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t look away.\u00a0 The whole thing is just so great, and, even for the guys who lose at any point, this tournament is an experience for them to cherish for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n
The last thing I have to say on the subject of college hoops is that possibly even more entertaining than some of the games themselves is the commentary of Sir Charles Barkley,<\/p>\n
<\/a>The always-entertaining Charles Barkley.<\/p><\/div>\n
who had me rolling in the aisles on Sunday. (It\u2019s just way too long to explain here, but for those of you who saw it, it was when they were interviewing UConn\u2019s Kemba Walker, and Charles was making fun of Kenny Smith\u2019s always asking the same questions that he had just asked, and it involved the word \u201c:switch.\u201c\u00a0 Hilarious stuff.)<\/p>\n
I rarely, but occasionally, scroll through the games if I get very behind, but never the halftime report because of Charles.\u00a0 He makes everyone, fellow commentators and the audience alike, enjoy themselves.\u00a0 He\u2019s who I always wanted to do a talk show with.\u00a0 Back in the day, a production team was trying to put me together with David Emmanuel, the man who designed Princess Di\u2019s wedding dress!!!\u00a0 While he was a lovely person, the royal wedding was such old news, and, while we all know that I can always talk with anyone at anytime, this was just a strange combo.\u00a0 I\u2019d tell them that they should pair me with Charles, (who wasn\u2019t doing TV at the time, but I always loved his outspokenness while being interviewed himself,) and we\u2019d have a hit, but no one listened to me.\u00a0 I bet that now they regret it.\u00a0 I know I certainly do.<\/p>\n
While I\u2019m on the topic of commentators, I have to commend Reggie Miller.\u00a0 I used to hate him when with a passion he was an Indiana Pacer, but now I love listening to him.\u00a0 He\u2019s an excellent color guy, especially because of his loud and clear voice, with good diction.\u00a0 I can understand about 95% of what he says, which is far from the norm.\u00a0 Especially in the case of poor Marv Albert, who I believe is having difficulties with his voice.\u00a0 I feel terrible for him, but I think they have to hire someone in his place until Marv\u2019s very muffled voice heals.\u00a0 Nowadays, he talks like Michael Bolton sings.<\/p>\n
As you can tell, college hoops have been my main focus this month.\u00a0 But I also got to see a couple of pre-season games of my beloved Yanks and Mets, which was very enlightening.\u00a0 In the case of the Yankees, I\u2019m a tad sad to see so many strangers wearing the revered pin stripes, but I\u2019m willing to give them a chance.\u00a0 I have to keep reminding myself that just a few seasons ago, Mark Texeira and Nick swisher were strangers too!<\/p>\n