Photo of the Day: Perfection

At the half the Huskies had the worst half in UConn basketball history since the Auriemma era. The 2nd half the Huskies came back with one of their strongest runs to complete their 2nd flawless season. Before the game even ended the commentators had already put up the Huskies schedule for next season to see what the road to another perfect season would look like.

HATRED!

In less than 48 hours the men's and women's college basketball champions will be crowned. On the men's side there is a David vs Goliath match-up with the Duke Blue Devils facing the Butler Bulldogs. On the women's side there is the much anticipated rematch between #1 and #2 with the Uconn Huskies vs. the Stanford Cardinal. While the storylines are not the same, one thing is true, both finals contain a team that the country loves to hate.
From the time Coach K arrived on Duke's campus and the basketball team started winning games hatred towards the devils came from all directions. People hate them because they win too much, they get too many calls, they get all the media, and people just dont like them. As a former Duke hater myself, I must say what bothered me the most was their unbelievably irritating fans. Now that I have become one myself, I understand even more why people hate Duke so much, they are good, they know it, don't mind showing it and don't care who hates them. Coach K has even gone as far as saying he loves the fact that people hate Duke as it provides his team with more motivation. That is good for his team as on Monday the only people in the WORLD supporting Duke will be nestled in a small place called Durham, North Carolina.
Then there are the Uconn Huskies and their now 77 game winning streak. Why wouldn't anyone hate them, they havent lost a game in 2 YEARS. In those 77 games they have won on average by 30 points and have yet to have a team come within single digits. No one likes a bully that beats up on people smaller than them and never taking on a real challenge. But Uconn beats up on teams its on size, teams in the top 10. So who can they pick on? Right now that team is Stanford and on Tuesday everyone in the world will be cheering for them to bring down the wicked witch of the east. Lucky for the Huskies their coach also loves to be hated.

A Sad Jernigan makes for a Happy STANFORD!

The Stanford Women's Basketball Team is going to the Final Four! BUT... boy did they have to sweat it out. While beating their 3 previous opponents by 98 points, the Cardinal won this game by only 2, but in the NCAA tournament surviving and advancing is all that matters. With star center Jayne Appel on the bench after fouling out the Cardinal struggle to maintain a lead over a game Xavier team that was bracing for the tournament's biggest upset. Down 2 twice within the last minute the Card made two quick responses ,one by a Freshman on a running hook shot (Olajuwon style) that hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
The real story began, however, in the last 15 seconds of the game when a Xavier SENIOR Dee Dee Jernigan missed not one BUT TWO WIDE OPEN LAYUPS! As I watched the game I could only think that God wanted Stanford to win as both shots sat on the rim before refusing to go in the basket. Then Ty Lawson... excuse me Jeanette Pohlen took the ball coast to coast in 4.4 seconds to lay the ball up and give the cardinal the win with about .1 seconds left to spare.
Maybe it wasn't the prettiest effort ever, but the Cardinal are moving forward. On the other side of the court Dee Dee will remember that play in her nightmares possibly for the rest of her life. And if she forgets anytime soon she need not worry as ESPN will continue to throw her under the bus for the rest of the day.