Rough Week For Recent Champs

Over the past three seasons, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Florida have each experienced the thrill of an NCAA basketball championship. Those glorious memories stand in stark contrast to the past two games for each school. For the Huskies, Tar Heels, and Gators, the past week has been one to forget.


Things were different just nine days ago on February 21, when all three teams captured victories. UNC avenged an earlier loss to NC State with an 83-64 triumph over the Wolfpack. Florida claimed a 63-49 win over South Carolina, who had beaten the Gators twice last season. UConn got the best of Rutgers by a 65-55 margin. According to Huskies coach Jim Calhoun, the key to the victory was “showing up at Rutgers for a basketball game.”


However, the three titans have only tasted defeat since then. UConn’s losses are not a major surprise, given the up-and-down season for the extremely young team. The Huskies fell 76-69 on Sunday to Louisville as the Cardinals completed a season sweep. The only stunning aspect of the game is that two teams in the 38-member Big East actually played each other twice. On Wednesday, UConn fell 78-74 to a Villanova team that likely secured an NCAA berth. Wildcat freshman Scottie Reynolds scored 40 points before fouling out with 40 seconds left, with Villanova shooting 40 percent for the game. With so many 40’s on the premises, Gampel Pavilion seemed like a 7-11 parking lot.


Unlike the Huskies, the Tar Heels were not supposed to endure a losing streak. On Sunday, UNC squandered a double-digit lead in the last eight minutes of an 89-87 heartbreaker at red-hot Maryland. That night, the big winner at the Oscars was The Departed, a description of the Heels’ second-half defense and rebounding. Coach Roy Williams was not any happier last night, as Carolina dropped an 84-77 contest at Georgia Tech. Another UNC Williams – Marvin Williams of the 2005 national championship squad – was stunned by the result. As a member of the Hawks, Marvin never expects the home team to win a basketball game in Atlanta. There is one silver lining to the Heels’ sub-par performance. If they continue to look like that, they won’t have to worry about playing in Atlanta again this season.


The Gators seemed particularly immune to a slide, having returned all five starters from last year’s national championship run. However, coach John Brady led struggling LSU to a 66-56 upset over Billy Donovan’s visitors on Saturday. As in Super Bowl XXXIX, Brady got the best of Donovan. This Donovan didn’t get to throw to T.O., but he probably did want to puke in a late-game huddle. On Tuesday, Florida went down 86-76 at Tennessee. There was one sight in Knoxville that no one ever would have expected. Not Pat Summitt in a cheerleading outfit, but Peyton Manning at a game where his Vols beat the Gators.


UConn will be expected to lose again on Saturday, as it travels to ninth-ranked Georgetown. On the other hand, UNC and Florida will get to return home as they take on traditional powerhouses on Sunday. If Kentucky falls to the Gators for a sixth straight time, Wildcat fans may feed coach Tubby Smith to some actual gators. As the Tar Heels get ready for Duke, they can be encouraged by the fact that they beat the Blue Devils on February 7 after coming off a loss. Since UNC enters this one after two straight defeats, they should play twice as well.


It is worth noting that the Huskies, Tar Heels, and Gators last won on Ash Wednesday. Perhaps each team waited a day before giving up victories for Lent. Or maybe they heeded the words of Genesis 3:19, a passage sometimes uttered by priests as they place ashes on worshipers’ foreheads: “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

Big East Showdown Disrupted By Anti-Gay Protest

Tonight #4 Villanova delighted the home fans with a 69-64 victory over top-ranked Connecticut in Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center.  However, the hard-fought action on the court was only part of the story.  Outside the arena, a conservative group espoused views that were far more combative than the Wildcats and Huskies.  The right-wing protesters denounced UConn for featuring a player named Gay.

 

 

The protest was organized by Sending Homosexuals Out Of Town (SHOOT).  Although Connecticut has no known homosexual players on its roster, SHOOT felt that the name of the Huskies star forward promotes an unacceptable lifestyle.  “Rudy Gay’s presence in UConn’s lineup is an affront to God,” remarked one activist.  “If we don’t speak up, soon every coach in America will want a Gay in his locker room.”

 

 

SHOOT was particularly interested in Monday’s contest to spread its message.  The matchup of top-5 teams drew 20,859 fans – the largest crowd to attend a college basketball game in Pennsylvania - and ESPN was on hand for the broadcast.  The organization planned to condemn both teams for having a player named Gay.  However, it switched gears after noticing a typo on its copy of the Villanova roster.  #14 on the Wildcats is actually Allan RAY, whose 19 second-half points sparked the victory.

 

 

The protest marked the second in three nights for SHOOT, whose members were on hand for Saturday’s Stanford-Gonzaga contest.  College basketball fans are well-acquainted with the play of Gonzaga superstar Adam Morrison.  However, SHOOT was disgusted to learn that the Zags’ roster also includes walk-on guard Stephen Gentry.  With the ESPN GameNight crew on hand, SHOOT members held up signs proclaiming, “God created Adam and Eve – NOT Adam and Steve.”

 

 

While SHOOT is still considered an extremist organization by most, the group is gaining visibility.  Although denied by the White House, reports have surfaced that President Bush was in support of Monday’s protest.  Sources note that the conservative president does not actually feel that Gay should be condemned for his last name.  However, President Bush has a sizable bet that Texas will win the national title, so having Gay out of action would help his cause.  SHOOT’s efforts also led baseball slugger Mike Piazza to call a press conference in which he firmly announced that he has no association with Rudy Gay.

 

 

Tonight the protesters were mostly jeered by observers outside the Wachovia Center.  Many were unaware of the group’s agenda – they just booed them as a natural reflex for Philly sports fans.  Others made it clear that they condemned the message SHOOT was attempting to spread.  “This is the City of Brotherly Love,” remarked one fan.  “It’s a place for tolerance, not for hate.”  Just then, he noticed a man wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey and screamed, “I HOPE YOU DIE!!!”

 

 

The protesters felt that the game’s result was a sign from above.  “His Will gave Villanova the strength to triumph over evil,” noted one SHOOT member.  Specifically, he was referring to center Will Sheridan, who matched his career-high with 13 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds.  The organization also feels that UConn is pre-ordained to fall at West Virginia on Saturday, citing the obscure biblical verse, “And His enemies shall be Pittsnogled.”

 

 

Although its members’ views are outside the mainstream, SHOOT is correct that UConn is an affront to God.  On January 28, the Huskies scored a 76-62 road victory at Providence – alma mater of God Shammgod.