Final Four picks a little off

Final Four Picks Come Up Short

I thought it was broken with some recent picks, but the jinx of the Corner lives on. Apparently, it spread itself throughout the duration of the NCAA tournament with teams I picked falling like incumbents in this fall’s congressional elections.
I guess I should apologize to West Virginia if my prognostications brought them any bad luck. I underestimated Duke coach Mike Kryzewski and his ability to motivate a team in March and April.
In the case of Michigan State, I would probably pick them again if they played Butler again next week. I think the Spartans became the victim of one of the legendary tournaments for which the NCAA is famous.
The Butler Bulldogs were a fairytale that almost ended with everyone, with the exception of anyone living in Durham, living happily ever after. Literally, a few bounces of the ball on a last minute shot kept them from winning the whole thing. If they had won in front of their hometown crowd it would have been one of the greatest stories in tournament history. It would have been almost as dramatic as the 1983 North Carolina State ride to the national championship.
It may be good they lost in one way, I am not sure how Indianapolis would have handled the victory celebration. Fans in Durham are used to the celebrations but it would have been chaos and mania after a Bulldog win. Fans may get another chance because I believe the team has a taste of the tournament in its mouth. They’re already likely getting ready, in their mind, for next year’s run at the title.
Duke is the one who was determined to leave me with an egg on my face. They put down a West Virginia team I really thought was rolling towards the title. Coach K did one of the greatest coaching jobs of his legendary career. His team beat the Mountaineers soundly and managed to hold off Butler, an accomplishment in this tournament.
That is probably why billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, the new owner of the New Jersey Nets, will reportedly offer him at least $12 million to lead his team. I am a little leery of making predictions now but I don’t think Coach K will go anywhere at this point. That kind of money will get his attention, but his heart is at Duke. 20 years ago it might have been a different story. Now he has the perfect job in a more than stable financial situation. I think he will retire in North Carolina.
I can’t put a column out this week without one more word about Tiger Woods. Two words, three might be more appropriate, if directed towards the rest of the Masters field. Watch out.
Don’t be surprised if he wins big. The incident when he played with a broken bone in his leg and won the U.S. Open shows he can put things out of his head when he hits the golf course.
Just because the public hasn’t seen it doesn’t mean Tiger hasn’t been hitting balls. When he steps up to the first tee between the azaleas — affairs, Thanksgiving wrecks, crude text messages and a difficult home situation will temporarily go out of his mind. I will go out on a limb to say Master’s officials better find out what size Tiger wears in a green jacket.