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(03/27/10 11:09pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>SALT LAKE CITY — It's an easy five-mile drive from the Butler campus to the site of its next game, in downtown Indianapolis. Still, it's hard to think of many programs that have taken a longer, more unlikely road to the Final Four.Yes, the boys from Butler did it — defeating Kansas State 63-56 in the West Regional final Saturday to make their trip back home something much bigger than that.The fifth-seeded Bulldogs, the team that plays in the fieldhouse where "Hoosiers" was filmed, are writing their own underdog story, even if they can't really be called underdogs anymore.Gordon Hayward scored 22 points and Shelvin Mack had 16 to help Butler (32-4) win its 24th straight game and become the first school from a true, mid-major conference to make the Final Four since George Mason in 2006 — a trip that also ended in Indianapolis.Trailing almost the entire game, No. 2 Kansas State (29-7) rallied to tie it at 54 with 3:09 remaining. But Butler didn't fold, it only got better. The Bulldogs scored the next nine points to seal the game before K-State guard Jacob Pullen's shot at the buzzer dropped — but offered no consolation.Enrollment at Butler is in the 4,500 range, about 15 of whom have reminded everyone why college basketball captures America's heart this time every year.They are weaving a story about the overlooked and under-appreciated getting their time in the limelight, the kind of tale every underdog, from Charlie Brown to Gene Hackman, has to love.But make no mistake — this is not some scrappy, overmatched team that needed a break, no Danny and the Miracles, or Villanova shooting 79 percent to knock off mighty Georgetown.This is a team that stood toe-to-toe with Syracuse on one night, then Kansas State the next, shutting down two power teams from power conferences with legitimate stars of their own.Pullen and teammate Denis Clemente didn't score a point for Kansas State until 15 seconds were left in the first half, and it was no matter of luck. Rather, it was the tough, in-your-face defense of Ronald Nored and Willie Veasley that did it — smothering a pair of players who had combined for 53 points two nights earlier in a double-overtime win against Xavier.Clemente finished with 18 and Pullen with 14, but they shot a combined 11 for 30.Lucky teams also don't win the way Butler did. Much like in its 63-59 victory over Syracuse, the Bulldogs held the lead in this one for most of the night, but fell behind briefly toward the end.Clemente made a 3-pointer with 4:49 left to cap an 8-0 run and give K-State its only lead of the game, 52-51. Teams like Butler are supposed to fold then, right?Well, not quite.Hayward got fouled going to the hole and made two free throws to take the lead back, and teammate Matt Howard made one more free throw to make it 54-52. Clemente dribbled for what seemed like forever for a layup to tie, and that was the last significant basket the Wildcats would make.Butler took the lead on the next possession when Hayward — that rare NBA prospect playing at a mid-major — stretched his entire 6-foot-9 frame to not only collect a too-high, alley-oop pass from Nored, but collect himself and make the shot.Pullen came back with an air ball and Butler pulled away from there, ending Kansas State's equally gritty quest — an effort that will certainly gain the Wildcats more cachet in a state that has long thought about the Jayhawks first.
(11/24/09 9:16pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>They don't all need glasses. But if you always suspected basketball referees are biased — well, you're right, according to a couple of professors who've studied the matter.Refs favor the home team, the academics say. They're big on "make-up" calls. They make more calls against teams in the lead, and the discrepancy grows if the game is on national TV.The professors studied 365 college games during the 2004-05 season and found that refs had a terrific knack for keeping the foul count even, regardless of which team was more aggressive.Exhibit A: The 2005 Final Four meeting between Illinois and Louisville. The Illini, known for being more aggressive defensively, got whistled for the first seven fouls. By the end of the game, the foul count was Louisville 13, Illinois 12. The Illini won 72-57.Results like this were the norm across all the games the professors studied from that season — from the Big East to the ACC to the Big Ten and all 63 NCAA tournament games. The take-home message for coaches: The more aggressive your teams the better because, in the end, the foul count is going to be about even no matter what.It helps explain, the professors say, why college basketball has gotten increasingly physical over the past 25 years."Part of the reason for the study came from something my coach used to tell me," said study co-author Kyle Anderson, a visiting professor at IU's Kelley School of Business, who played at Division III Knox College. "He said a team can come in and push and shove and grab and hold, and by the end of the game, or end of the half, they've only got one or two more fouls because officials kind of get tired of calling it."Among the key findings, which were published The Journal of Sports Sciences earlier this year:—The probability of a foul being called on the visiting team was 7 percent higher than on the home team.—When the home team is leading, the probability of the next foul being called on them was about 6.3 percentage points higher than when the home team was trailing. The professors also cited an earlier study that concluded there were more calls against teams ahead in games on national TV versus those ahead in locally televised games. Calling fouls against the leading team tends to keep games closer, the studies said.—The bigger the difference in fouls between the two teams playing, the more likely it was that the next call would come against the team with fewer fouls. When the home team had five or more fouls than the visiting team, there was a 69 percent chance the visiting team would be whistled for the next foul.As part of their 365-game sample, the professors looked at 93 games played on neutral courts, and the numbers remained largely the same when it came to leveling the foul count."There's something to it," said Irv Brown, a former official who worked six Final Fours and was supervisor of officials for the Western Athletic and Big Sky conferences. "If you're looking at the board and one team has a lot more fouls, you probably look a little harder to do something, subconsciously."Brown said he used to experiment and try not to look at the scoreboard, but human nature dictates that referees will. Same for home-court advantage. Try as they might, there's no way a referee can completely block out thousands of fans yelling at him from close range."As an official, you get the reputation that you're tough on the road, and that's what you want," Brown said in a telephone interview last week. "But it takes a lot of years. You have to get established. Some guys who aren't established, you'll see them out there, trying to take some of the heat off, trying to take care of the home crowd."Anderson said he talked to a number of referees as part of the research and the majority said "you're crazy. We don't do this.""But a few others said, 'Yeah, I try to make it even out,'" Anderson said.The NCAA asked for a copy of the study, and Anderson said he hasn't received any negative feedback — at least not yet.The professors looked only at first halves because teams committing intentional fouls while in catch-up mode at the end of games skewed the second-half results.Anderson and his co-author, David Pierce of Ball State, made it clear in the study that referees aren't intentionally trying to influence foul counts."We'd like them to have no memory and strictly call what's going on on the court," Anderson said. "But part of this is, if I'm a ref, I want everyone to think I'm fair and if I call 10 fouls on one team and two on the other, people are going to think something's going on here. It's sort of subconscious. And it points out one of the biggest problems with basketball is that it's a very hard game to officiate."
(04/07/09 4:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There was a team of destiny out there, all right. It’s the North Carolina Tar Heels, and the final chapter of their story was about as heartwarming as a demolition derby.Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and North Carolina won a national championship a season or more in the making, stomping out Michigan State’s inspirational run Monday night with an 89-72 blowout that wasn’t even that close.Hansbrough scored 18 points, Wayne Ellington had 19 and Lawson led all scorers with 21 and also had a record eight steals — and now they and Danny Green can all head to the NBA feeling good about their decision to return to school to bring home Carolina’s fifth championship, and the second for coach Roy Williams.All those upperclassmen, save Hansbrough, came back in part because their draft prospects didn’t look so good. They also didn’t want their college careers to end on last year’s embarrassing loss to Kansas in the Final Four. That was a dud of a game in which they trailed 40-12 in the first half and Billy Packer was telling CBS viewers it was over.“We’ve been working so hard since last year when we fell short,” said Ellington, named most outstanding player. “I wanted to redeem myself. We worked so hard.”Michigan State (31-7) simply never got any momentum. From the start, it was clear there was no way Carolina was losing control of this one, no chance for the Spartans to serve up that definitive ray of sunshine and warm-and-fuzzy smile for a state that’s been battered by the ailing economy.“The best team won,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “That’s an easy statement to make.”The Tar Heels (34-4) were up 55-34 at halftime, breaking a 42-year-old title-game record for biggest lead at the break and setting the mark for most points at the half.“We handled injuries, handled some losses” this season, Williams said. “The youngsters standing behind me are great, great young men. I’m the luckiest coach in America, I can tell you that.”This collection of NBA talent was too, too much from wire to wire, from the start of the tournament, to the very end.Carolina won every game by double digits, something that hasn’t happened since Duke did it in 2001.Lots of basketball fans saw this coming, including America’s No. 1 Hoopster-in-Chief.Yes, President Barack Obama picked the Tar Heels to take it all in his much-publicized bracket.Magic Johnson, Michigan State’s Spartan-in-Chief, joined Larry Bird at center court to present the game ball, a tribute to the 30-year anniversary of their historic matchup and Michigan State’s first title.From there, it was pretty much all “Showtime,” all the time — but not for Michigan State. Heck, Magic didn’t even stick around for the end of the game. He was spotted walking up the tunnel with 3½ minutes left.Izzo conceded in the lead-up to the game that if both teams played their best, Michigan State would lose. He’ll never find out if he was right because, while North Carolina was more than ready, the Spartans never showed up.“You’ve got six NBA players that could be drafted in the first round or early second,” Spartans guard Travis Walton said. “You’re looking at a team that could probably beat the worst team in the NBA.”
(04/08/08 7:17am)
SAN ANTONIO – So patient for 20 years, Kansas had no problem working an extra five minutes to bring a long-awaited championship back to the heartland.\nMario Chalmers hit a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to push the game into overtime, and the Jayhawks grinded it out from there for a 75-68 victory Monday night against Memphis in one of the most competitive title games in recent memory.\nThe shot earned Chalmers the most outstanding player honor.\nIt was the first title for Kansas since 1988, when Danny Manning, now an assistant coach for the Jayhawks, led them to an upset against Oklahoma.\nThe most memorable performance in this game came in a losing effort from freshman Derrick Rose of Memphis, who completely took over the game in the second half, scoring 14 of his team’s 16 points during one stretch to lift the Tigers to a 60-51 lead.\nBut Kansas (37-3) used the strategy any smart opponent of Memphis’ would – fouling the heck out of one of the country’s worst free-throw-shooting teams – and when Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts combined to miss four of five during the last 1:12, it left the door open for the Jayhawks.\nHustling the ball down the court with 10.8 seconds left and no timeouts, Sherron Collins handed off to Chalmers at the top of the 3-point line and Chalmers took the shot from the top. It hit nothing but net and tied the score at 63.
(04/07/08 4:44am)
Roy Williams taught Kansas all about how to handle cruel, crushing disappointments.\nThis time, the Jayhawks got their chance to make Williams feel the pain.\nKansas left its old coach in the dust Saturday night, getting 25 points and seven rebounds from Brandon Rush to stave off a ferocious comeback by North Carolina for an 84-66 victory in the national semifinals.\nTrailing 40-12 late in the first half, Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and the Tar Heels made a valiant rally, getting to within four points with 10 minutes left.\nBut they ran out of steam in their effort to pull off the biggest Final Four comeback ever.\n“We sort of came out a little more casual than we would’ve liked and they hit us right between the eyes,” Williams said.\nNow, the Jayhawks will play Memphis in Monday’s title game.\nKansas moved within a win of its first national championship since 1988, the year before Williams began his storied 15-year tenure in Lawrence – one that ended when he jilted Kansas for his alma mater.\n“I hope it’s set aside and goes away forever,” Williams said of the animosity that has lingered since he left in 2003. “I’m too thin-skinned, probably. ... Let’s don’t focus on that. Focus on the great job done by Kansas.”\nHansbrough had 17 points and nine rebounds for North Carolina (36-3) – a typically gutsy effort – but his next move will be to decide whether to come back for his senior season.\nKansas has more pressing things to deal with – stopping fast-breaking Memphis and its sensational freshman Derrick Rose.\n“We know we’ve got another step to take Monday night,” Sherron Collins said. “It’s going to be a great matchup. They play fast, we play fast.”\nCollins had two assists, a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws during the decisive stretch that saw the Jayhawks (36-3) pad that four-point lead back to 15 and send the Tar Heels into true desperation mode.\nWilliams stood stoically as the clock ticked down, arms folded, nothing much left to do. Tears usually come pretty quickly after the final buzzer of the season for him, and this season ended one game short of where many thought it might.\n“We’ve had a good year, but I don’t think anybody’s goal here was to be one of the top four teams in the country,” Hansbrough said. “It’s to be the top team. I’m frustrated with that.”\nWilliams got out-coached in this one, especially at the beginning, finding no solution for Kansas’ strategy of dumping the ball inside to Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson and Cole Aldrich.\nThe Jayhawks also smothered Hansbrough, even flooring him once on a hard foul \nby Mario Chalmers.\n“To start the game, I felt, instead of having 10 hands out there it felt like we had 14 or 16,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Guys were making a move, a reverse pivot, and there were two hands there waiting for them.”\nDespite North Carolina’s impressive \ncomeback, the final stats painted a picture of Kansas domination. The Jayhawks shot 53 percent from the floor and held the nation’s second-leading offense to 35 percent. They had nine more rebounds, 10 more assists, six more blocks.\n“I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life,” Tar Heel guard Marcus Ginyard said.\nThe basket looked as big as the Alamo for the Jayhawks, who made 12 of their first 16 shots and went on an 18-0 run for a 33-10 lead with 9:31 left.\nMeanwhile, the Tar Heels went a stunning 9:03 without a basket. No team has overcome a deficit bigger than 22 at the Final Four.\nBut Carolina turned this into controlled chaos over the first 10 minutes of the second half, altering Kansas shots and making pretty much everything they threw up – including a 3-pointer by Ellington (18 points) with 9:20 left that made it 58-53 and had the Tar Heel fans in a frenzy.\nThroughout the rally, Self called time-out after time-out and eventually, North Carolina cooled and Kansas ran away.\nAll that might have helped prove Williams’ theory, as he tried to deflect all the talk of himself this week: That the game would be decided by the players.\nThe Jayhawks were simply better.\n“I told my team that I hoped that distraction didn’t bother them, because that would be about as bad as anything you could ever have as a coach,” Williams said.
(02/04/08 8:11pm)
Oh well, nobody’s perfect. Except maybe Eli Manning.\nA masterful magician when the stakes were highest, Manning engineered one of the best drives in Super Bowl history Sunday to help the New York Giants squash the New England Patriots’ run at history-making perfection with a 17-14 victory.\nIn a game, and a finish, that showed precisely how the Super Bowl has become America’s favorite spectacle, Manning led the Giants 83 yards in just more than two minutes. He capped it with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left, to win what easily could go down as the best Super Bowl ever.\n“The greatest victory in the history of this franchise, without a question,” said owner John Mara.\nIt was a scintillating closing chapter to a crazy week that seemed to have everything: the perfect team; the upstart underdogs; the cover boy quarterback; the kid brother in Manning.\nAmerica loves an underdog, and the Giants, with their stirring victory, etched themselves as one of the best this game– or any sport – has ever seen.\nThe star was Manning, the scruffy younger brother of Peyton, who won his own Super Bowl last year, and sat in the corner of a skybox for this one, squirming and agonizing over every play.\nNow both Mannings have a championship and Tom Brady — well, he’s still got the looks, the supermodel girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen, and three Super Bowl titles of his own, even though he didn’t come out on top this time.\nIt means New England finishes 18-1 and the 1972 Miami Dolphins remain the only team to go undefeated from the start of the season through the Super Bowl.\nFormer Dolphins coach, Don Shula, was on hand, ready to congratulate the Patriots had they finished 19-0. Instead, he figured to be sipping champagne, continuing a tradition the Dolphins have enjoyed every year when the last undefeated team finally gets its first loss.\nThey remain alone thanks to Manning, whose 13-yard game-winner came four plays after he somehow escaped a cadre of Patriots engulfing him, threw the ball up for grabs and watched receiver David Tyree somehow pin it between his hands and his helmet for the 32-yard reception.\nThat kept the drive going, and it will be Manning’s mastery that everyone remembers – not the coolly efficient 80-yard touchdown drive that Brady had completed only moments earlier.\nThis game was such a back-and-forth stomach-turner that it seems a sure bet to break the record for Super Bowl viewership (94.08 million) and give the advertisers their money’s worth on the $2.7 million they spent for each 30-second spot.\nIt might even force the watercooler conversation Monday to be about football, not commercials or halftime shows.\nIt was a tight, taut defensive battle for three-plus quarters – yet anything but boring.\nThen it was taken over by two quarterbacks – one already a star, the other yearning to escape the shadow his big brother has cast over the family, and the sport, for many years now.\nEli said it was flattering being compared to his older brother Peyton because “he’s at the top of his game, and I’m still trying to get my game up to his level.”\nHe’s there now, capping a four-week stretch of nearly flawless playoff football during which the Giants were underdogs in every game they played, but won them all.
(10/17/07 3:34am)
DENVER – It is October in Colorado. The Broncos are playing. Snow showers are in the forecast. The leaves are turning red, yellow and brown.\nThe dominant color in the Mile High City these days, though, is purple.\nThe Rockies, crazy as it sounds, are in the World Series.\nSad-sack losers almost all their 15 seasons of existence, the Rockies have won 21 of 22 games and seven in a row in the playoffs.\n“I didn’t see this happening,” Colorado fan Jeff Zebrowksi said before the Rockies defeated Arizona on Monday night to win the National League pennant and make it to baseball’s biggest stage. “Maybe two or three years from now, but not now. We’re too young as a team.”\nAs fantastic and unlikely as it may seem to that handful of long-suffering season-ticket holders who watched their team veer from early success to unbecoming circus act to essentially irrelevant, it carries an even more poignant meaning in a city that cruelly flirted with baseball for decades, only to have its heart broken again and again.\nToday, the thought of the one-time purveyors of the unwatchable, four-hour, 12-11 slugfest in the World Series sounds every bit as outlandish and tantalizing as the idea 30 years ago that Major League Baseball would someday land in Denver. \nBut Denver finally did get its team. And now the city stands one step from the next baseball milestone in what has been an emotional ride for any native who also happens to be a sports fan.\nYes, Denver has always been a football town – a city that attached itself to the Broncos and married much of its self-esteem and hope to heroes wearing orange and blue.\nBut in between those football-filled autumns, there had to be something to do to pass the time. \nBaseball was always a dream that seemed close, yet so far away for Denver. Charley Finley nearly sold his Oakland Athletics to Colorado businessman Marvin Davis, who would have moved them to the Mile High City in the early ‘80s. A few times, the headlines screamed that it was all but a done deal. It never happened.\nMore than a decade later, Colorado finally got its own team.\nThey were embraced, first playing in front of sellout crowds at Mile High, where Eric Young hit a homer in the very first Rockies home at-bat – a moment that stood, until now, as arguably the most memorable in franchise history.\nIn 1995, they moved to Coors Field, the retro-style ballpark that sparked the revival of the LoDo neighborhood in downtown Denver and became the town’s favorite meeting place during Colorado’s cool summer nights.\nA playoff appearance that year raised hopes. It didn’t happen, and the rough years began.\n“We had season tickets for a long time,” said Karen Brennan of Castle Rock, an 85-mile round trip from the stadium. “We went for the first five years. The progress of the team and having to drive made us give up the season tickets.”\nBut Brennan is back now, and so are many fans who once left the Rockies behind. The turnstiles are rocking again, and people come for the baseball. Not to watch the Cubs or the Yankees or Barry Bonds or some other visitor. To watch the Rockies.\nThe World Series is coming to Denver.
(04/24/07 4:00am)
Tour de France champion Floyd Landis got more bad news Monday – a report that follow-up tests on his backup urine samples found traces of synthetic testosterone.\nBut he refused to confirm the results and said the report on the Web site of French newspaper L’Equipe was yet another result of unethical maneuvers engineered by those who want him stripped of the Tour title.\n“In any other industry or field, their failures would be construed as criminal negligence,” Landis said during a teleconference Monday.\nLandis’ attorney, Maurice Suh, said he has received some documentation from the tests done on the “B” samples at a lab outside of Paris, but it was not complete.\n“We need to understand fully from the lab what they did before we’re comfortable about saying what they declared to be ‘adverse,’” Suh said.\nDuring the 2006 Tour, Landis tested positive for elevated testosterone to epitestosterone levels after he won the 17th stage. The 31-year-old cyclist, who repeatedly has denied doping, faces the loss of his title and a two-year ban if an arbitration panel upholds the positive test.\nTravis Tygart, general counsel of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that is prosecuting the case against Landis, said agency rules prevented him from discussing active cases.\nThe “B” samples were tested at the behest of USADA, which is trying to bolster evidence for Landis’ May 14 arbitration hearing. The most recent tests used a technique that can distinguish synthetic from natural forms of testosterone, a male sex hormone.\nPierre Bordry, president of the French anti-doping agency, told The Associated Press the tests were concluded this weekend but he didn’t know the result because they were sent directly to the USADA.
(02/05/07 5:07am)
MIAMI -- Purple rain at the Super Bowl. Golden memories for Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts.\nIn a sloppy, exciting, rain-soaked NFL title game Sunday, the Colts defeated the Bears 29-17 behind 247 yards passing from Manning, the star quarterback who finally won the big one after nine record-setting seasons.\n"We put a lot of hard work and a lot of effort into this," said Manning, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player. "It's all happening pretty fast right now. I'm excited. It's something we'll enjoy for quite some time."\nIn a good ol'-fashioned South Florida soaker, the football squirted loose and bounced all over the waterlogged field. It resulted in eight turnovers, including two late interceptions thrown by Chicago's Rex Grossman that sealed the game for Indianapolis.\nThe sight of Manning and Dungy, his soft-spoken coach, soaking up the rain -- along with the confetti and the hugs -- as they held the Vince Lombardi Trophy were moments to remember.\nThey came at the end of this historic meeting between Dungy and Bears coach Lovie Smith of the Bears, the first black head coaches to lead teams to the Super Bowl.\n"I'm proud to represent African-American coaches, to be the first African-American coach to win this," Dungy said. "But more than anything, Lovie Smith and I aren't just the first African-American coaches, but Christian coaches showing you can win doing it the Lord's way. And we're more proud of that."\nFittingly, Dungy's postgame celebration included a long embrace with Smith at midfield and a few whispered words.\nComing in, the two coaches knew that one would have to lose and the other would be the first black to coach his team to a Super Bowl win. And they insisted their friendship would withstand the strains of the Super Bowl spotlight.\n"On this big stage, I wouldn't want anybody else to be there other than Lovie because I have so much respect for him and he's done such a great job," Dungy said before the game.\nOnce it started, very little about the game went by the book.\nIt began with a 92-yard kickoff return by Chicago's Devin Hester for a 7-0 lead 14 seconds into the game. As the evening went on and the rain picked up, the conditions made this look less like a meeting between the league's best teams and more like a survive-the-elements contest.\nThe Colts proved to be much better.\nManning threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne and finished 25-for-38 for a touchdown and an interception. He led the Colts on three drives that ended in Adam Vinatieri field goals. The Colts dominated the game statistically -- gaining 430 yards to only 265 for Chicago -- but didn't put it away until early in the fourth quarter, when second-year cornerback Kelvin Hayden intercepted Grossman's pass and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown and a 29-17 lead.\nManning certainly will have plenty of good memories from this one, a game in which he picked and poked through the rain and the Bears to win the title that eluded him and his famous father, Archie, for all those years.
(01/19/07 4:42am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- The city that crowns champions yearns for one to call its own.\nIndianapolis hands out trophies at the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 500, at an NCAA Final Four every few years and at scads of world championships and Olympic trials it hosts. It's a big-time sports town in almost every sense of the word -- except, maybe, in the way that counts most.\nIt is not a titletown.\nThe Colts haven't won a Super Bowl since they moved to Indianapolis 23 years ago. They haven't even been to the big game, in fact. The last championship to be celebrated by a big-league team inside the city limits came in 1973, when the Pacers won the American Basketball Association title.\n"It's a city with a major inferiority complex," said Bob Kravitz, sports columnist for The Indianapolis Star. "It's a city that's still looking for an identity, a sports identity. ... We have a really nice identity as hosts. We're very good at handing out other people's championships. Now, the town wants one of its own."\nOnce again, Friday will be called "Blue Friday" in Indianapolis, and fans throughout this metro area of about 1.6 million will be wearing Colts colors, hoping a bit of Colts pride might spark quarterback Peyton Manning and the home team to its first trip to the big time.\nThe New England Patriots -- with quarterback Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick and those three Super Bowl rings -- will provide the perfect foil in Sunday's AFC championship game. In many ways, it had to be them.\n"For us, they're always the team that's in the way of what we're trying to do," running back Dominic Rhodes said. "I mean, it would have been good to go down and beat San Diego. But to get the Pats at home, to have a chance to beat them in this atmosphere--that's what you want."\nOf course, getting the storybook setup doesn't always mean a title is preordained.\nThree years ago, Indianapolis made its first AFC title game and lost to the Patriots. Two years ago, Manning set an NFL record with 49 touchdown passes in the regular season, but the Colts lost to the Patriots in the divisional playoffs. Last year, the Colts started the season 13-0 and secured home-field advantage through the playoffs, but saw those dreams derailed with a divisional-round loss to Pittsburgh. This year, "The city is crazy about the Colts," said John Dedman of the Indiana Sports Corporation, which brings sporting events to the state.\nThis football frenzy is, in many ways, a labor of love that fans in long-suffering sports cities can best understand.\n"When I came here in 2002, I would have classified it as a basketball town, a Pacers town," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "Now, you see a lot more blue around, people in Colts gear. People have embraced this team. We've got players who are easy to embrace."\nIndiana has long been known as racing and hoops country, and the Pacers of the 1990s and early 2000s had some championship credentials. But Pacer Reggie Miller's retirement and the Ron Artest brawl in November 2004 sullied their esteem in the community, and they have suffered in the standings, as well.\nMeantime, Manning keeps setting records and the Colts find themselves on the cusp of the Super Bowl.\nAgain.\n"There are a lot of people in town who are swallowing hard this week because they had such huge expectations last year and then fell on their sword," Kravitz said. "In this city, the sight of Tom Brady gives us the civic heebie-jeebies"
(10/30/06 5:04am)
DENVER -- Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne picked, poked and plowed their way through a Denver defense that was designed specifically to stop them.\nManning passed for 345 yards and three touchdowns -- all to Wayne -- and Adam Vinatieri kicked a 37-yard field goal with two seconds left Sunday to lift the Indianapolis Colts to a 34-31 victory against the baffled Broncos.\nWayne finished with 10 catches for 138 yards and did most of his damage against defensive back Darrent Williams. Williams was Denver's first pick of the 2005 draft, a defense-heavy class that was part of an ongoing effort by the Broncos (5-2) to shore things up after those embarrassing playoff debacles in Indianapolis in 2003 and '04.\nIt looked as though things were coming together very nicely; Denver came in comparing favorably to the best defenses of all time, having allowed only 44 points through six games.\nThen came Manning & Co., who gained 437 yards to become the first team to start 7-0 in consecutive seasons since the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers did it three straight times.\nManning went 32-for-39 for 345 yards with a passer rating of 129.2. He wasn't intercepted, wasn't sacked, was barely touched, in fact.\nHis counterpart, the much-maligned Jake Plummer, did a wonderful job matching Manning, leading a Denver offense that hadn't scored 20 points all season. Plummer went 13-for-21 for 174 yards and a passer rating of 104.1. Rookie running back Mike Bell came off the bench for 136 yards and two scores.\nBut this was one of those games where the team that has the ball last was going to win.\nWayne's third touchdown gave the Colts a 31-28 lead with 3:35 left. But when Bell answered immediately with a 48-yard run, the Broncos stalled at the Colts 30 with 1:49 to go and had to settle for a tying field goal. It then became clear this would be Indianapolis' game to win.\nManning did it cruelly and efficiently, working the sidelines and finding every soft spot in the zone defense the Broncos used, and surprisingly stuck with, even as Indianapolis' yardage piled up.\nThe two big plays were Manning to Wayne for 14 yards and Manning to Wayne for nine more -- both catches made in front of Williams, who all week acknowledged this game was something of a referendum on his presence in Denver.\nVinatieri, brought to Indianapoils to make kicks exactly like this one, nailed the 37-yarder to finish a 4-for-4 day and help the Colts finish a perfect second half -- they scored each of the five times they touched the ball after halftime. Denver's desperation kickoff return went nowhere and the Broncos saw their 13-game, regular-season home winning streak ended.\nIndianapolis, meanwhile, re-established itself as the team to beat in the AFC, taking a two-game lead in the win column over Denver and all the closest contenders with the season nearing the halfway point.
(09/13/06 4:04am)
The attorney for Floyd Landis is questioning the accuracy of the positive testosterone tests attributed to the Tour de France winner and asking that doping charges be dismissed.\nIn a letter sent to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, attorney Howard Jacobs disputed the accuracy of the carbon isotope ratio tests performed on Landis' urine sample at a lab in France.\nJacobs also argued the analysis of a different test, the testosterone-epitestosterone analysis, "is replete with fundamental, gross errors," including mismatched sample code numbers. Jacobs said the positive finding on the backup "B" sample came from a sample number not assigned to Landis.\n"It's incredibly sloppy" work, Jacobs said Monday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It has to make you wonder about the accuracy of the work."\nBoth Landis and USADA had representatives at the testing of the "B" sample.\nJacques de Ceaurriz, the head of the French lab that conducted the Landis tests, had no immediate comment, his office said Tuesday.\nUSADA general counsel Travis Tygart said the doping agency couldn't comment on specific cases but noted it is not unusual for athletes and their attorneys to seek dismissal of cases.\n"Our standard process allows all athletes to make a submission to the USADA review board, and those submissions are seriously considered prior to any case going forward," Tygart said.\nA review board is expected to issue a recommendation on Landis' case sometime in the next week. That process could be delayed if USADA responds directly to Jacobs' letter.\nIf the review board recommends sanctions against Landis, he is expected to appeal and ask for an arbitration hearing. Jacobs has said he would seek a public hearing, and USADA has said it would agree to that.\nLandis issued a statement reasserting his innocence.\n"I did not take testosterone or any other performance-enhancing substance, and I'm very happy that the science is confirming my innocence," he said. "I was relieved, but not surprised, when I learned that scientific experts found problems with the test."\nDr. Gary Wadler, a member of World Anti-Doping Agency and a spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine, said Landis' attempt to have the charges dismissed by questioning the science behind the tests wasn't unusual.\n"It's not useful to speculate about the science, until the science has had its day in the hearing process," Wadler said. "Only then do I think we can come to come conclusions. Until then, any assertion is only an assertion"
(08/23/06 4:15am)
Sprinter Justin Gatlin agreed to an eight-year ban from track and field Tuesday, avoiding a lifetime penalty in exchange for his cooperation with doping authorities and because his first positive drug test was deemed an honest mistake.\nHe will forfeit the world record he tied in May, when he ran the 100 meters in 9.77 seconds. At age 24, the lengthy ban would all but knock Gatlin out of competition for the rest of his life.\nGatlin tested positive in April for testosterone or other steroids, five years after his first positive test, which was for medicine to control attention-deficit disorder. Under the World Anti-Doping Agency code, a second doping offense calls for a lifetime ban.\nBut Gatlin reached a compromise with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which levies doping penalties in America. Under terms of the compromise, he can still appeal to an arbitration panel in the next six months to have the term reduced.\nHe cannot, however, argue that the test was faulty.\n"To his credit, it's recognition that the science is reliable," USADA general counsel Travis Tygart told The Associated Press. "Instead of wasting a bunch of resources attempting to create smoke where there's not any, he's acknowledging the accuracy of the positive test, and in exchange for his agreement to cooperate, we've recognized the nature of his first offense."\nThat offense came while Gatlin was in college. He stopped taking the ADD medicine a few days before competition, but it did not clear his system. He received a two-year ban for that test, which was reduced by a year because of the "exceptional circumstances" of the offense.\n"The nature of Gatlin's first offense for use of his medication puts this violation in a unique category," said USADA chief executive officer Terry Madden.\nGatlin has said he didn't know how steroids got into his system this time.\nHis coach, Trevor Graham, who's been involved with at least a half-dozen athletes who have received drug suspensions, has contended Gatlin tested positive after a vengeful massage therapist used testosterone cream on the runner without his knowledge.\nGatlin's attorney, Cameron Myler, hasn't acknowledged that allegation. She did not immediately return messages left by the AP.\n"While we are glad Justin has taken responsibility for his positive test and will cooperate in USADA's anti-doping efforts, we are sorely disappointed in him," Craig Masback, USA Track and Field's chief executive officer, said in a statement.\nUSADA looks at this as a significant compromise -- and the arbitration process could bring Gatlin back much sooner than eight years.\nUSADA has a history of offering leniency to those who help in its fight against doping. Though the agency doesn't name names, Gatlin could possibly help USADA by providing information on Graham, who has denied any direct involvement with performance-enhancing drugs.\n"He accepted liability," Tygart said. "He agreed not to raise technical arguments or frivolous defenses. He has an opportunity to go to a panel of arbitrators and argue exceptional circumstances."\nIn this case, the exceptional circumstances could be that he was sabotaged, or has no idea how the steroids entered his system.
(03/31/06 4:50am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- In a small college gym about five minutes from where he grew up, backup guard Jordan Carter sweated through practice, the next step on the road to a place he never imagined he would reach.\nHe is two wins away from becoming a national champion. In front of his parents. In his hometown. For, of all schools, George Mason.\n"I stopped pinching myself after we beat UConn," Carter said of last weekend's regional final. "It's reality now."\nAmerica's favorite underdog and those other three teams -- UCLA, LSU and Florida -- were all in town Thursday to begin preparations for one of the most intriguing Final Fours in recent memory.\nThe Patriots remain the underdogs -- not the 150-to-1 long shot they were when the tournament began, but still 7-to-2. By now, though, they're used to it.\nThey relish it.\nOf the four teams, they were the only one to open its practice to the media Thursday and coach Jim Larranaga soaked it in, working his team through its paces, then regaling the writers with his stories.`\nIs this team nervous on basketball's biggest stage?\n"The whole idea is to stay upbeat, positive, totally committed to what we want to do and what we want to accomplish, but just to do it in a relaxed atmosphere," Larranaga said. "It's not to feel like 'Oh my goodness, we're here now at the Final Four.'"\nAs if to accentuate that point, Larranaga turned the end of practice into a farce, having his student managers run gassers while the players looked on and laughed. They were in trouble for not knowing how to turn off the scoreboard buzzer when it went off in the middle of the workout at the tiny Marian College arena.\nIt made for a great photo opportunity.\n"The buzzer had a brain of its own," manager Hasan Al-Shingieti said. "Coach got a little mad."\nThe next step for George Mason (27-7) is Saturday's semifinal against Florida (31-6).\nIn a different year, against a different team, the Gators could be the inspirational story of this Final Four -- their four sophomores, all roommates, getting on a roll at precisely the right time to make an unexpected trip to Indianapolis.\nJoakim Noah leads Florida, which was last at the Final Four in 2000 with a star-studded team that included Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Donnell Harvey, all of whom went to the NBA.\nBilly Donovan's team comes in this time as a favorite, listed at 2-to-1 in Las Vegas, to bring the first basketball title back to Gainesville, Fla.\nThe Gators might be favorites with the oddsmakers, but probably not in the hearts of most casual observers.\nDonovan is in touch with that.\n"It's an inspiring thing to see a George Mason out there doing it, that playing together as a team can accomplish great feats," the coach said. "That's a positive thing that they can impact people's lives."\nIn contrast to the George Mason experience, the Gators ran a tight ship Thursday, practicing at home, boarding a charter flight, busing to their hotel and being quickly shuffled up to their rooms without interviews.\nUCLA (31-6) and LSU (27-8) also practiced in private Thursday -- two more "power" teams that could have made the underdog role their own in a different season.\nLed by gregarious and gigantic sophomore center Glen "Big Baby" Davis, the Tigers have made a surprising run -- playing for something bigger than themselves in this, the first season after Hurricane Katrina ripped through Louisiana.\nTheir opponent, UCLA, also has a heartwarming tale to tell. Sure, the Bruins are the epitome of a powerhouse, seeking their 12th overall title. But they've only won one since John Wooden left Westwood three decades ago. Expectations at Pauley Pavilion are always high, sometimes unbearably so, even when the talent level doesn't match.\n"At UCLA, no other banners but national championships go up," Bruins point guard Jordan Farmar said after it beat Memphis to advance. "We haven't really done anything in the eyes of UCLA and UCLA fans."\nBut while UCLA fans are cheering for their guys, most of America loves an underdog.\nNobody plays that part better this week than George Mason, that inspirational 11th seed from the commuter college outside of Washington.\n"Never stop believing. Never stop believing," guard Tony Skinn said after practice, when asked what the Patriots did to make it this far. "We're doing it. And I'm sure any other team that works just as hard could do it too someday"
(02/06/06 5:46am)
DETROIT -- Mick Jagger moved up and down the field at halftime more easily than the Pittsburgh offense did for most of the game. In the end, though, Jerome Bettis, the Steelers and their thousands of rowdy fans wound up the big winners on Super Bowl Sunday.\nSave for a few big plays that changed the game, style points were hard to come by on America's annual football holiday. But to Pittsburgh, the 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks was beautiful -- a gritty grind of a game that included just enough flair to transform a blue-collar team playing in a blue-collar city into champions.\nIn a stadium brimming with thousands of Pittsburgh fans waving Terrible Towels, the Steelers finally captured their fifth title, that "One for the Thumb" that the Steelers have been waiting for since 1980.\nTitle No. 5 for Pittsburgh was the first for jut-jawed coach Bill Cowher, a 14-year veteran, and for Bettis, The Bus, who said he would end his 13-year career with a win in his hometown, only a few miles from where he grew up.\n"I played this game to win a championship," he said. "I'm a champion and I think the last stop is here, in Detroit."\nWhen it was over, Cowher found himself drenched, with water from the traditional dousing given to him by his players -- and with tears, as he hugged his wife and daughters. It was a scene much different than one 10 years ago, when the Steelers lost in the Super Bowl and Cowher had to do most of the consoling.\nTwo plays made a difference in this one: Willie Parker's record-setting 75-yard run for a touchdown right after halftime and receiver and former IU Hoosier Antwaan Randle El's 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward on a trick play that put the Steelers up by 11 early in the fourth quarter.\nThe NFL took a chance bringing its showcase game up North to one of America's great, old cities, but one under duress. Hurt by sinking population, growing unemployment and urban blight that doesn't go away easily, this proud metropolis was a happy host, eager to impress and hoping the NFL's magic and money won't go away as soon as the teams and fans leave.\nBettis wasn't ashamed.\n"The best part is being able to showcase the hometown," he said earlier in the week, of a city that was staggered last month when Ford announced up to 30,000 job cuts. "I love this city and it puts our city on the grandest stage in the world. It's something that's much needed."\nNobody had more reason to celebrate than the Steelers, who got this win despite a less-than-perfect game from their quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger (9-for-21 for 123 yards and two interceptions) and an offense that desperately needed the big plays it got to pull this out. Nearly half of Pittsburgh's 339 yards came on three plays -- Parker's run, Randle El's pass and a 37-yard pass that Roethlisberger threw across his body to Ward to set up Pittsburgh's first touchdown.\nAn aesthetic masterpiece, it was not, although a workingman's city like Pittsburgh and a blue-collar team like the Steelers will certainly take it.\n"I hope they appreciate me, because we just brought a championship home," Bettis said. "One for the Thumb"
(10/27/05 5:07am)
DENVER -- Air Force Academy officials reprimanded coach Fisher DeBerry on Wednesday for what it called "seriously inappropriate" comments about black athletes but stopped short of firing him for his second public firestorm in as many years.\nThe 67-year-old coach, who is suffering through a 3-5 season, issued an apology.\n"I realize the things I said might have been hurtful to many people and I want everyone to understand that I never intended to offend anyone," he said.\nOn Tuesday, in discussing last weekend's 48-10 loss to TCU, DeBerry said it was clear TCU "had a lot more African-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did."\n"It just seems to me to be that way," he said. "African American kids can run very well. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well."\nDeBerry first discussed the topic Monday, telling The Gazette of Colorado Springs, Colo., the academy needed to recruit faster players and noting, "you don't see many minority athletes in our program."\nAthletics Director Hans Mueh said he told DeBerry his comments were inappropriate. The two went to the home of Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. John Regni, who took command Monday. Regni, who had never met DeBerry, also reprimanded the coach.\nMueh said DeBerry, now in his 22nd year as coach with the Falcons, would not lose his job.\n"It was a seriously, seriously inappropriate comment," Mueh said. "This was a great first step. This was not Fisher DeBerry, not the man I've known for 25 years. I'd like for us to all just move on from there."\nDeBerry also said he had no plans on stepping down after the second controversy he's endured in the last 12 months.\nLast year, DeBerry was asked to remove a banner from the locker room which displayed the "Competitor's Creed," including the lines "I am a Christian first and last ... I am a member of Team Jesus Christ."\nThat incident came just before critics began to complain that the school fosters an atmosphere of religious intolerance, particularly against non-Christians. The Air Force recently issued new guidelines directing leaders to be more sensitive to diversity after evangelical Christians were accused of harassing cadets who held other beliefs.
(09/06/05 6:15am)
DENVER -- Unwilling to be a bit player with the Broncos, Jerry Rice retired Monday, closing a 20-year career for the most productive receiver in NFL history.\nRice, 42, made his decision during the weekend at home in San Francisco, then returned to Broncos headquarters and met with coach Mike Shanahan.\n"This is a happy day," he said. "I think the tears that you see basically is that I have really enjoyed this ride.\n"I'm done. I'm looking forward to the next phase of my life."\nShanahan confirmed what Rice already knew -- that he would be a fourth or fifth receiver at best this season -- and Rice confirmed what many figured -- that he would rather call it quits than be a bit player with the Broncos.\nRice signed with Denver during the summer, reuniting with Shanahan, who was his offensive coordinator in the 1990s in San Francisco. For Rice, the idea was to play for a coach who was familiar with him and for a team that could help him go out a winner.\nShanahan made it clear he would not promise Rice anything, not even a roster spot. Behind the scenes, though, Shanahan said he knew it would never come down to him having to cut the league's best all-time receiver: He figured if Rice knew it was time to go, he would step aside himself.\n"I've pushed this body for 20 years," Rice said. "I was never a coach potato, I was always working out. I had to prove myself every year.\n"A lot of guys here were three (years old) when I started playing. I think those guys are pretty much amazed that I can still run the way I can run."\nEarly in training camp, Rice moved into Denver's third receiver spot, and things looked promising. In retrospect, the promotion was more a reflection on Darius Watts, who struggled catching the ball, but improved as the preseason went on.\nBy the time preseason ended, Rice had only four catches for 24 yards and had been pushed back down the depth chart. As expected, he wasn't released when the Broncos announced their final round of cuts Saturday, but he was already in the Bay Area deciding his future.\n"To me it was never about what I accomplished on the football field. It was about the way I played the game," he said. "I play the game with a lot of determination, a lot of poise, a lot of pride. I think what you saw on the field was an individual who really loved the game, and I was just like a little kid. I enjoyed the preparation and the hard work and the dedication that I had to make to try to be one of the best receivers to have ever played the game."\nHis agent, Jim Steiner, has said if Rice retired this time, he would not try to come back with another team. If that's so, Rice will close his career with 38 NFL records, including those for career receptions (1,549), yards receiving (22,895) and touchdowns receiving (197).
(08/29/05 5:50am)
DENVER -- Maurice Clarett's first stab at the NFL will end the same way his last two seasons on the sideline did: no carries, no yards, one big disappointment.\nUnable to practice much or play at all during the preseason, Clarett will be released by the Denver Broncos later this week, his agent said Sunday.\n"The kid called me and let me know they're going to let him go," Clarett's agent Steve Feldman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.\nClarett's pending release also was reported by ESPN.com Sunday.\nBroncos spokesman Jim Saccomano said the team didn't plan to release anybody until Tuesday, which is the deadline for NFL teams to cut rosters to 65 players. The Broncos were off Sunday and scheduled to practice Monday.\nThe pending release marks a disappointing start to the NFL career of the troubled former Ohio State running back, who missed two years of football after leading the Buckeyes to the national title in 2002.\nHe got in trouble with the law and was suspended for the 2003 season. At that point, he hadn't been out of high school long enough to be eligible for the NFL draft, so he sued in federal court to become eligible and eventually lost that case.\nWhile sitting out the 2004 season, Clarett turned on Ohio State, alleging coach Jim Tressel arranged for him to get passing grades, cars and money for bogus summer jobs. An NCAA investigation failed to verify any of Clarett's accusations.\nHe was a bust at the NFL scouting combine and most thought he would be a low draft pick, if a draft pick at all. The Broncos, who have a history of producing great runners from deep in the draft, surprised many by picking him in the third round.\nAt the time, coach Mike Shanahan said Clarett's sordid past didn't bother him.\n"First of all, I think you don't get too caught up in that," Shanahan said. "I know the situation, what's happened. His slate is clean and we're giving him an opportunity."\nClarett made the unusual move of agreeing to a contract that included no signing bonus. He relinquished what would have been about a $400,000 bonus in exchange for incentives that could have earned him up to $7 million over four years.\nIf a team claims him off waivers, it will assume the terms of the contract. More likely is that Clarett will clear waivers, become a free agent and sign a new deal.\n"I'd love to see someone pick up the contract," Feldman said. "The way the incentives in the contract are, he won't get them with another team."\nClarett came to Denver and said he simply wanted to start over and blend in. He talked a good game, but his chances of making the team were hurt early in training camp when he injured his groin and missed nearly two weeks of practice.\nSome teammates questioned Clarett's commitment to rehabilitating the groin and as the missed practices piled up, Shanahan stopped defending Clarett to the media.\nClarett stopped talking to reporters. In one of his last interviews, he told the Denver Post he wanted to be with the Broncos, but "if I get cut, if I don't have a place here, it won't be my first setback."\nClarett was listed fifth on the depth chart behind Mike Anderson, Tatum Bell, Quentin Griffin and Ron Dayne, who is having a good camp. Shanahan did not play Clarett in any of Denver's three preseason games.\n"I think at this point, I'm sure the Broncos did what they thought they needed to do," Feldman said.\nAsked if his client was completely healthy, the agent said, "I'm certain he is."\nAs for the future: "I'm not real confident of anything at this point," Feldman said. "We'll see what happens now"
(04/05/05 5:48am)
ST. LOUIS - Of course, there was no way it was going to be easy. North Carolina did it, though, and now it's time to stop asking Roy Williams that doggone question.\nSean May had 26 points, and the Tar Heels didn't allow a basket over the final, excruciating 2 1/2 minutes Monday night to defeat Illinois 75-70, a win that finally gave Williams, the 17-year coaching veteran, the national championship that was missing from his otherwise stellar résumé.\nFreshman Marvin Williams had a tip-in with 1:26 left, Raymond Felton made three free throws down the stretch, and the Tar Heels (33-4) won their first title since 1993, back when Dean Smith was coaching and Williams was at Kansas in the middle of his Final Four futility.\nLed by May's 10-for-11 shooting, Carolina took a 65-55 lead with 8:51 left, and it looked like Williams would cruise to the championship. But Illinois (37-2) never quits.\nForward Jack Ingram hit a pair of outside jumpers, and Dee Brown scored six points as part of a 10-0 run that tied the game at 65 with 5 1/2 minutes left to set up a fantastic finish.\nWhen it was over -- after Felton had made his last two free throws, after May had cradled his 10th and final rebound -- Williams took off his glasses and started looking for people to hug.\nA few moments later, he was crying, much like he has at the end of every season -- but no ending has been as sweet as this one.\nLuther Head led Illinois with 21 points. He had a wide-open look at a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 17 seconds left, but it bounded off, and coach Bruce Weber's magical ride with the Illini wound up one win short of the real fairy-tale ending he hoped for.\nHis opponent, Williams, left Kansas to take over the Tar Heels two years ago, after the program Dean Smith built had faltered and fallen to 8-20. Williams took a ton of heat for leaving Kansas after losing in the title game in 2003 -- his fourth close call at the Final Four.\nHe defended the move, saying returning to his alma mater always had been his dream. Then, this week, he dealt with a more familiar question: Did he need to win a title to call his career a success?\nHe told the story of Smith insisting he was no better a coach after he finally won one in 1982, but Williams conceded that answering that "same doggone question" did get a little annoying at times.\nHe finally broke through in a terrific game, the first meeting of the top two teams in the final Associated Press poll since 1975, when UCLA defeated Kentucky.\nAfter May made a short shot with 11:22 left in the first half for an 18-17 lead, Carolina never trailed again -- but this game never really got comfortable.\nMay was unstoppable for the first 12 minutes of the second half, scoring 16 points during that stretch and dishing out two assists to help North Carolina push its lead to as many as 15 and fight off a number of Illinois rallies.\nJames Augustine, charged with stopping the 6-foot-9 center, was in foul trouble through most of it. Weber put him back in to try to slow May down, but oddly it was when Augustine drew his fifth foul with 7 minutes left that the Illini finally caught up.\nThat Illinois could hang in there was no surprise. This was the team that rallied from 15 down with 4 minutes left against Arizona in the regional to make it to its first Final Four since 1989.\nBut the Illini never could take a lead. And after Head hit a 3-pointer with 2:40 left, Deron Williams missed on an open look, Felton stepped in front of a bad pass by Head, then Head missed the potential game-tying shot at the end. In all, the Illini missed five 3-pointers down the stretch, part of a night in which they shot 12-for-40 from long range and just 38 percent overall.
(04/01/05 6:07am)
ST. LOUIS -- Rick Pitino and Roy Williams. Overachieving Michigan State and almost-undefeated Illinois.\nThe Final Four teams will have to put on quite a show if they're going to match the excitement of possibly the best NCAA tournament ever. But these programs haven't had trouble entertaining thus far this tournament.\n"I think it's the best ever," said Purdue's Gene Keady, one of the dozens of coaches who came to the Final Four city of St. Louis on Thursday. "The closeness of the games and how what they call the mid-majors really aren't mid-majors anymore. Anybody can beat you."\nVermont's upset of Syracuse and Bucknell's shocker over Kansas defined the first crazy week, and the madness continued into an even more dramatic set of regionals.\nThree regional finals went into overtime, the first time that's happened. The opponents in Saturday's first semifinal, Illinois and Louisville, each overcame double-digit deficits to force overtime and advance.\n"These young people, under the influence of pressure, how they accomplish what they accomplish is amazing," Pitino said.\nPitino became the first coach to lead three different programs -- Providence, Kentucky and Louisville -- to the Final Four, and there's no denying his touch on the bench made a difference.\nWith West Virginia on an unbelievable shooting tear, Pitino somehow kept the Cardinals within reach. He scrapped the 2-3 zone, told his players to press and trap and disrupt. The Mountaineers eventually cooled off, and the Cardinals (33-4) found themselves within a couple baskets.\nAnd by the time overtime was winding down, Taquan Dean and Larry O'Bannon were celebrating and Louisville was winning going away.\n"We've seen it all season from this team," Pitino said. "So many times, it looked like we were going to get knocked out. They're very resilient, very tough-minded and they're tough kids. I'm just a pussycat following their coattails. I just sit back and marvel at what they've accomplished."\nIllinois (36-1) trailed Arizona by 15 with 4:04 left, then Bruce Weber's team staged one of the most stirring comebacks in tournament history.\nLuther Head made a pair of 3-pointers and had a steal and layup to lead the rally. The Illini survived a tight overtime and made it to where they've been pointed since December, when they moved to No. 1 in the Associated Press poll -- a perch they haven't been pushed from since, even when they lost their only game, to Ohio State on March 6.\n"St. Louis has been the goal, but we've had that No. 1 for so long that that's been our outlook for the whole year," forward Jack Ingram said. "We want to bring this program to a level that no one else has ever done and winning some games in the Final Four will do that for us."\nAlso trying to break new ground is Williams, the Kansas-turned-North Carolina coach, who has accomplished virtually everything in college basketball except the national title. The Tar Heels (31-4) face Michigan State (26-6) in Saturday's second semifinal.\nTwo years ago, when he took the Jayhawks to the national final but lost, Williams recalled a conversation with his mentor, Dean Smith, after Smith won his first title with the Tar Heels in 1982.\nWilliams said he told Smith he was so happy for him, to have finally won a title. Smith replied that he didn't think he was any better a coach than he had been 2 1/2 hours before.\nWilliams spearheaded a remarkably fast turnaround when he arrived at North Carolina last season. Now, for the fifth time in his career, he finds himself two wins away from winning the elusive title.\n"It definitely will happen, if not this year, another year," Pitino said of Williams. "Those programs are too strong not for it to happen. It just takes time and patience, a little luck along the way, and it will happen"