The 75th Masters tournament champion is Rory Mc.....Wait, there was a fourth day to this tournament. After watching most of the coverage on ESPN and surrounding sports networks Rory had to win, it was his destiny, he was going to win at 21 just like tiger won his first masters at 21, and we were going to have our new golf hero. A young kid who came up from nothing to dominate the Masters field and take the world by storm. Oops. Someone forgot to tell him that Sunday at the Masters is more challenging than any other golf outing hes ever been apart of in his life. The pressure, the crowds, the field chasing him, the Tiger Woods effect, and the course itself changing as the weekend went along. On a side note in case you were in a coma over the weekend Mcilroy lead through the first 54 holes of the Masters and then went on to shoot an 80 on the final day. Yes, an 80, tying him for the worst ever Sunday performance by a leader.
So with Mcilroy hitting the proverbial wall it was clearly Tiger Woods' tournament, no one else could possibly beat Tiger Woods especially after he tied his own record by shooting a 31 on the front 9. As Tiger made the turn he was a shot back and still had nine holes to play. The nine holes that he seemingly dominated on Friday when he had two birdies and an eagle on the return to the clubhouse. Well someone forgot to tell him that he has never comeback and won a major tournament let alone the Masters'. He didn't necessarily fall apart, but a bogey on a very easy par 3 12th hole followed up by missing a 4 foot eagle putt on 15 just put the dagger in his chances of winning as he played even golf on the back nine.
So next in line was about 4 or 5 different people. At one point during this tournament you had the aforementioned Tiger Woods, KJ Choi, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Luke Donald, Charl Schwartzel, Bo Van Pelt, and Angel Cabrera all either with a share of the lead or up a shot. There was even talk at one point about how a six way playoff was inevitable and that this tournament could not end without a playoff it was almost impossible. Well it did end without a playoff and I will tell you why. Choi bogeyed 12, 17, and 18 on the back nine and the latter two really put his foot in the grave. Van Pelt fell apart on 16 and 17 when followed two birdies with two bogeys and he was quietly erased from the competition. Cabrera was just plagued by inconsistency all day, it seemed as though every birdie he made was followed up by a bogey, and a 1 under 71 was not going to cut it on this day. Donald just started to far back when the day began, and especially with a double bogey on 12 and a bogey on 17 it would have been hard for him to pull this one out. Ogilvy was another guy who seemingly started to far back as he shot a wonderful 5 under on Sunday but a 1 over on Saturday which killed him and his chances. Scott was another guy who had a great Sunday but could not put together the whole package as going into the weekend he was only 2 under par and despite shooting a 67 on Saturday he bogeyed two of his last three holes. Jason Day was one of the most exciting players to watch in this tournament. He was young, very humbled by the experience and if it wasn't for a Saturday 72 round he would be your Masters champion. He played flawless golf for most of the tournament and could be a guy to look at in the future as a great player. Ah, now on to Schwartzel. The Masters Champion. Yes, Charl Schwartzel a Masters champion. Schwartzel shot under par every round this year at the Masters and that includes a 6 under 66 on the final day to clinch his victory. What was even more impressive than that was the fact that he birdied the last four holes in order to secure the win. He basically looked history, fear, glamor, and the green jacket in the eye and decided that he would be the winner of the 75th Masters Championship. He was literally flawless in every shot he took from 15-18. He all of a sudden had the swagger of a champion. I mean he went to the best golf course in golf history and shot a 14 under par over four rounds. That is simply not supposed to happen at Augusta. Augusta chews up and spits out these unknown players with little background. This was his first tournament win and he did it on the biggest stage there is.
As far as answering the question Was this the greatest Masters ever? It certainly has my vote. An epic collapse, a struggle for the top, the resurgence of the greatest golfer in current memory, and a kid that wins his first ever pro tournament on the biggest stage in golf. If it wasn't the greatest it was pretty close.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
University of Connecticut: 2011 National Champions
You can say they had an easy road. You can say that they caught Butler on their worst night of the year. You can say that they did not play at a National Championship level that night. You can even say that they were apart of the worst National Championship game in the history of the NCAA. One thing is for sure, you HAVE to say the University of Connecticut deserved to win this years National Championship.
In a year where College Basketball had declined from the year before, and no number one seed advanced past the Elite 8, Connecticut (a 3 seed) found themselves as the highest seed left in the Final Four. First they played Kentucky, who they had defeated back on November 24th by 17 to win the Maui Invitational. This time around the game would be a lot closer. Despite holding a 10 point lead at halftime, Connecticut tripped up and let Kentucky back into the game. In a back and forth second half, defense was the key. Despite giving Kentucky chances at the end of the game, Connecticut held strong and defeated Kentucky for the second straight time.
Before that was the West regional, where UConn would fly to the west coast to face the number two seeded San Diego State. Defense and experience held true in this one. Coach Jim Calhoun drew up excellent defensive sets, and was able to overcome a poor shooting night by his Huskies to advance to the Elite 8. After defeating San Diego State, 74-67, UConn was surprised to see Arizona not Duke. The Huskies played another war type game with the Wildcats, but was able to catch two breaks, as Arizona missed two three pointers as time expired which would have won them the game. UConn at that moment completed another major task, which was defeating two west coast teams on the West coast. In both games UConn was seen as an away team, despite being the higher seed in the Arizona game. Neither of these games felt like a neutral site by any means.
In the first two round UConn started making their statements. First they dominated Bucknell in an all out team effort. It was not the Kemba Walker show, despite an almost triple double. Walker passed the ball early and often, as Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriaki were the beneficiary. The second round would see UConn face off against a Big East foe in Cincinnati. It was the Kemba Walker show, as he scored 33 of the teams 69 points. What made this game so impressive was that for Cincinnati, this was a revenge game after losing to UConn earlier this season on their home court.
The Big East Tournament enough was history making for the Huskies. They became the first team ever to win this tournament in five games. UConn had to play in the opening day and won five games in five days. The run through the Big East saw them take down Depaul, followed by #22 Georgetown, #2 Pittsburgh, #11 Syracuse, and winning the title against #14 Louisville. Five games, five wins in five days.
With all that being said, The Connecticut Huskies deserved this championship more then any other team in the nation. Not the best team always wins, but the most deserving will always achieve greatness.
In a year where College Basketball had declined from the year before, and no number one seed advanced past the Elite 8, Connecticut (a 3 seed) found themselves as the highest seed left in the Final Four. First they played Kentucky, who they had defeated back on November 24th by 17 to win the Maui Invitational. This time around the game would be a lot closer. Despite holding a 10 point lead at halftime, Connecticut tripped up and let Kentucky back into the game. In a back and forth second half, defense was the key. Despite giving Kentucky chances at the end of the game, Connecticut held strong and defeated Kentucky for the second straight time.
Before that was the West regional, where UConn would fly to the west coast to face the number two seeded San Diego State. Defense and experience held true in this one. Coach Jim Calhoun drew up excellent defensive sets, and was able to overcome a poor shooting night by his Huskies to advance to the Elite 8. After defeating San Diego State, 74-67, UConn was surprised to see Arizona not Duke. The Huskies played another war type game with the Wildcats, but was able to catch two breaks, as Arizona missed two three pointers as time expired which would have won them the game. UConn at that moment completed another major task, which was defeating two west coast teams on the West coast. In both games UConn was seen as an away team, despite being the higher seed in the Arizona game. Neither of these games felt like a neutral site by any means.
In the first two round UConn started making their statements. First they dominated Bucknell in an all out team effort. It was not the Kemba Walker show, despite an almost triple double. Walker passed the ball early and often, as Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriaki were the beneficiary. The second round would see UConn face off against a Big East foe in Cincinnati. It was the Kemba Walker show, as he scored 33 of the teams 69 points. What made this game so impressive was that for Cincinnati, this was a revenge game after losing to UConn earlier this season on their home court.
The Big East Tournament enough was history making for the Huskies. They became the first team ever to win this tournament in five games. UConn had to play in the opening day and won five games in five days. The run through the Big East saw them take down Depaul, followed by #22 Georgetown, #2 Pittsburgh, #11 Syracuse, and winning the title against #14 Louisville. Five games, five wins in five days.
With all that being said, The Connecticut Huskies deserved this championship more then any other team in the nation. Not the best team always wins, but the most deserving will always achieve greatness.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The National Championship: Butler vs Connecticut
The two hottest teams in college basketball. The two most deserving teams in the land. The two teams not expected to make this run. Two teams with mastermind head coaches. The two teams with the same goal, but come from totally different backgrounds. On Monday April 4th 2011, the Butler Bulldogs will face off against the Connecticut Huskies for the biggest prize of them all. Each team will go into Monday night's contest flaming hot.
Starting with the underdog Butler, which what they have been the entire NCAA Tournament. The hotness though has come from before the tournament. Butler has not lost a game in over two MONTHS, February 3rd to be exact when they lost to Youngstown State 62-60. After winning the Horizon League in easy fashion, Butler was put into the Southeast region and granted an 8 seed.
The first test would be an Old Dominion team which has veteran experience and many of the experts picks behind them to pull off the upset. For the entire game this was a battle, like it was set out to be, but when push came to shove Matt Howard was at the right place in the right time. Howard propelled Butler into the next round with a layup with no time remaining sinking the Monarchs dreams. The next round would see Howard and company take on the number one seeded Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh coming into the tournament was said to have the easiest road, and was the highest seed to come out of college basketball's best conference. Pittsburgh played well enough to win this game, but apparently not smart enough. At the end of the game Pittsburgh decided to put players on the foul lines with minimal time remaining. After a missed free throw by Pittsburgh, they accidentally foul Matt Howard on the rebound and send him to the line. Howard made the free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining on the clock and Butler pulled off the Cinderella upset to defeat the top seed by one point. After another rough push and shove game, there was no way Butler could defeat a Wisconsin team who were coming in after beating a streaking Kansas State team right? Wrong. Butler turned up the defense and held the Badgers high powered offense to 30% shooting from the floor. In the regional semi final Butler would face another strong test in a complete team in Florida. 74-71 in overtime excite anyone? Well it was all the excitement for Butler as they earned themselves another trip to the Final Four. Despite 25 by Vernon Macklin, Florida could not stop the leadership of Shelvin Mack. Behind his 27, Butler was able to overcome the barrage of Florida. Based on seeding and from the outside looking in, the national semi final would be easy as they were facing a Virginia Commonwealth team with an 11 seeding. The two Cinderellas would battle, but Butler would show to be too experienced at the end of this game to pull away with the victory. Going into that game VCU had played in the play in game and defeated one member of all the major conferences. Butler now must win one more to complete a more then historic run, and do what they could not do last year.
Not only has Butler been making history, but Connecticut has been doing the unthinkable. Dating back to the Big East Tournament, Connecticut played on opening day of it, which would mean to gain the crown they would need to win five games in five days. They did just that. They would defeat Depaul, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Louisville to win the Big East trophy.
Granted with the 3 seed in the West region Connecticut would trampled Bucknell, with an all around team effort and a near triple double by Kemba Walker. They would then meet foe Cincinnati in the second round, where they would shoot poorly but still have enough will to hold off the fighting and fierce Bearcats. Then it would be time to head west, and face San Diego State who had only lost twice all year. Make that three. Kemba was being Kemba, and Connecticut defeated the number two seed behind Walker's 36. Going into this tournament the future match up to watch was going to be Kemba Walker/UConn against Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving/Duke. Fortunately for Connecticut Duke would trip up to Arizona. With a strong will of defense and possibly an angel looking after them Arizona missed two potential game winning threes as time expired. Connecticut behind Walker's 20 and Jeremy Lamb's 19 punched their ticket to the Final Four. If the Arizona game was not a big enough test to them, maybe a pissed off Kentucky team would suit their needs. Kentucky going into the Final Four had defeated the best team in the nation Ohio State, and was looking back to the Maui Invitational final where they got embarrassed by these same Huskies. Throughout this game UConn led. At halftime the Huskies would lead by 10, but then lose it. Fighting back, Jeremy Lamb's smoothness and Kemba Walker's tenacity would hold true. Kentucky could not find a way to score in the final minutes, and UConn defeated Kentucky again 56-55.
Neither team was expected to be in this spot. For Butler they were expected to take a step back after losing their star player in Gordon Hayward, and for Connecticut the middle of the pack would be fitting as they had a roster in rebuild mode. Apparently Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack were enough for Butler to get back to the same spot as last year. For UConn, the player of the year potential of Kemba Walker, and the rise of Jeremy Lamb, proved enough to get to where a well known tournament team should be.
Neither of these teams are the best college basketball team, and neither are the most dominant.It is only fitting though that the two hottest teams in America will be facing off for the National Championship. Both teams come in scorching hot and with gold in their eyes. For Butler this is the second year straight they will be playing for the title, after losing last year to Duke. For Connecticut this will be the closest they have been to the National Title game, since losing to Michigan State in the Final Four in 2009.
Starting with the underdog Butler, which what they have been the entire NCAA Tournament. The hotness though has come from before the tournament. Butler has not lost a game in over two MONTHS, February 3rd to be exact when they lost to Youngstown State 62-60. After winning the Horizon League in easy fashion, Butler was put into the Southeast region and granted an 8 seed.
The first test would be an Old Dominion team which has veteran experience and many of the experts picks behind them to pull off the upset. For the entire game this was a battle, like it was set out to be, but when push came to shove Matt Howard was at the right place in the right time. Howard propelled Butler into the next round with a layup with no time remaining sinking the Monarchs dreams. The next round would see Howard and company take on the number one seeded Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh coming into the tournament was said to have the easiest road, and was the highest seed to come out of college basketball's best conference. Pittsburgh played well enough to win this game, but apparently not smart enough. At the end of the game Pittsburgh decided to put players on the foul lines with minimal time remaining. After a missed free throw by Pittsburgh, they accidentally foul Matt Howard on the rebound and send him to the line. Howard made the free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining on the clock and Butler pulled off the Cinderella upset to defeat the top seed by one point. After another rough push and shove game, there was no way Butler could defeat a Wisconsin team who were coming in after beating a streaking Kansas State team right? Wrong. Butler turned up the defense and held the Badgers high powered offense to 30% shooting from the floor. In the regional semi final Butler would face another strong test in a complete team in Florida. 74-71 in overtime excite anyone? Well it was all the excitement for Butler as they earned themselves another trip to the Final Four. Despite 25 by Vernon Macklin, Florida could not stop the leadership of Shelvin Mack. Behind his 27, Butler was able to overcome the barrage of Florida. Based on seeding and from the outside looking in, the national semi final would be easy as they were facing a Virginia Commonwealth team with an 11 seeding. The two Cinderellas would battle, but Butler would show to be too experienced at the end of this game to pull away with the victory. Going into that game VCU had played in the play in game and defeated one member of all the major conferences. Butler now must win one more to complete a more then historic run, and do what they could not do last year.
Not only has Butler been making history, but Connecticut has been doing the unthinkable. Dating back to the Big East Tournament, Connecticut played on opening day of it, which would mean to gain the crown they would need to win five games in five days. They did just that. They would defeat Depaul, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Louisville to win the Big East trophy.
Granted with the 3 seed in the West region Connecticut would trampled Bucknell, with an all around team effort and a near triple double by Kemba Walker. They would then meet foe Cincinnati in the second round, where they would shoot poorly but still have enough will to hold off the fighting and fierce Bearcats. Then it would be time to head west, and face San Diego State who had only lost twice all year. Make that three. Kemba was being Kemba, and Connecticut defeated the number two seed behind Walker's 36. Going into this tournament the future match up to watch was going to be Kemba Walker/UConn against Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving/Duke. Fortunately for Connecticut Duke would trip up to Arizona. With a strong will of defense and possibly an angel looking after them Arizona missed two potential game winning threes as time expired. Connecticut behind Walker's 20 and Jeremy Lamb's 19 punched their ticket to the Final Four. If the Arizona game was not a big enough test to them, maybe a pissed off Kentucky team would suit their needs. Kentucky going into the Final Four had defeated the best team in the nation Ohio State, and was looking back to the Maui Invitational final where they got embarrassed by these same Huskies. Throughout this game UConn led. At halftime the Huskies would lead by 10, but then lose it. Fighting back, Jeremy Lamb's smoothness and Kemba Walker's tenacity would hold true. Kentucky could not find a way to score in the final minutes, and UConn defeated Kentucky again 56-55.
Neither team was expected to be in this spot. For Butler they were expected to take a step back after losing their star player in Gordon Hayward, and for Connecticut the middle of the pack would be fitting as they had a roster in rebuild mode. Apparently Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack were enough for Butler to get back to the same spot as last year. For UConn, the player of the year potential of Kemba Walker, and the rise of Jeremy Lamb, proved enough to get to where a well known tournament team should be.
Neither of these teams are the best college basketball team, and neither are the most dominant.It is only fitting though that the two hottest teams in America will be facing off for the National Championship. Both teams come in scorching hot and with gold in their eyes. For Butler this is the second year straight they will be playing for the title, after losing last year to Duke. For Connecticut this will be the closest they have been to the National Title game, since losing to Michigan State in the Final Four in 2009.
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