<h4>Miami pays tribute </h4>
Alonzo Mourning's retired uniform No. 33 is raised at halftime of the Miami Heat game on Monday. Mourning was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2000, needed a transplant in 2003, and was told he'd never play in the NBA again. He returned, and won the NBA championship in 2006, when the Heat beat Dallas in six games.
> Go to <a href="http://www.tucsoncitizen.com">www.tucsoncitizen.com</a> for more sports photo galleries.
One man’s Final Four is another man having a fire extinguisher dropped on his foot.
So before the good times start in Detroit – now there’s a sentence you don’t see every day lately – we should remember this week won’t be so much fun for some.
Poor Georgetown.
At Villanova, they’re regaling in the stories of 1985 and bringing up déja vu faster than you can say Rollie Massimino. “It’s kind of eerie,” coach Jay Wright said, “how this is playing out.”
But while it’s a nice story this week as the 1985 Wildcats stroll down memory lane, the 1985 Hoyas have to go along for the ride. Undoubtedly, they’re not that eager to be reminded how they barely lost the national championship game to a pack of underdogs who missed one shot the entire second half.
This is among James Naismith’s 13 original rules of basketball, or should be: Great upsets ain’t that great for the upsettee.
Poor Kentucky.
Bad enough the Wildcat Nation had to settle for a short trip to the NIT, which is like a lifelong jet setter having to spend New Year’s Eve at a neighborhood bingo party.
Also, they need a new coach, since their last one apparently alienated everyone in Kentucky except Colonel Sanders, not to mention lost to VMI in Rupp Arena.
But this week is also a reminder to them that times are good in other hotbeds. North Carolina, Connecticut and Michigan State have all won national titles since Kentucky last appeared in a Final Four, and now they’re back.
Could be worse, though. Louisville could still be playing.
The poor SEC.
The men failed to put a team in the round of 16 for the first time in 20 years. The women did not advance a team to a regional championship game for the first time in history. At least the conference subscribes to gender equity in its suffering.
The only way that SEC devotees can feel better is if they focus on the truly important things in life.
How’s spring football practice going?
It’s Final Four week, and that means deliverance and excitement. But not for everyone.
Carolina the early favorite
LAS VEGAS – Michigan State has a home-state advantage and bettors are getting sentimental about Villanova, but sports books in Nevada still clearly favor North Carolina to win the NCAA tournament.
Oddsmaker Mike Seba of Las Vegas Sports Consultants said Monday that Carolina was a 10-11 favorite to win the title. That means a bettor must gamble $11 to win $10 if the Tar Heels take the championship.
Connecticut is 9-5, while Michigan State and Villanova are each 4-1 to win the title.
Seba says UConn is favored to beat Michigan State by 4 points in their semifinal, even though the teams play in Detroit.
Carolina is favored over Villanova by 7 1/2 points. Seba says Villanova’s wins over UCLA and Duke have made the Wildcats popular among bettors.
The Associated Press
NMSU mascot suspended
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Pistol Pete’s ill-advised bull ride has earned the New Mexico State mascot some time away from the court.
Pistol Pete has been suspended by the Western Athletic Conference for one game for scuffling with Utah State’s Big Blue at the WAC tournament in Reno, Nev., earlier this month.
WAC commissioner Karl Benson said the suspension will be served for New Mexico State’s first men’s basketball home conference game during the 2009-10 season.
The incident occurred near the end of a semifinal matchup between New Mexico State and Utah State on March 13.
The bull confronted Pistol Pete and ripped off his fake mustache after a fan wearing a Nevada shirt offered $100 to the student in the costume, modeled after Paul Bunyan’s Blue Ox if he would do so.
The cowboy then chased the bull to half court, jumped on his back and tried unsuccessfully to pull him to the floor. He then started to try to choke his rival before retreating to his end of the court.
Big Blue was suspended for the championship game the following day.
The Associated Press
Dosty, Weber join team
Arizona Wildcat volleyball players Whitney Dosty and Paige Weber were named to the U.S. Women’s National A2 Program for 2009 on Monday.
The team will compete in the Adult Open Championships in May.
In February, 160 athletes tried out for the team, and only 24 were selected.
Dosty, a sophomore, had 281 total kills for UA last year, while sophomore Weber had 10.58 assists per set.
Citizen Staff Report
D’backs unveil eating plans
The Arizona Diamondbacks have announced plans for their All-You-Can-Eat Seats at Chase Field for all 81 home games in 2009.
The new 675-seat section, located down the left-field line, offers fans a game ticket as well as unlimited hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, Frito Lay or Corazonas chips, Pepsi soft drinks and Aquafina bottled water from the time gates open until the end of the seventh inning.
Tickets cost $30 for non-premier games and $35 for the 15 premier games throughout the season.
Fans interested in season tickets in the All-You-Can-Eat Seats can get them for $25 per game.
The Arizona Republic
Coyotes win in overtime
GLENDALE – Petr Prucha scored 53 seconds into overtime to lift the Phoenix Coyotes to a 6-5 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night.
Prucha took a pass from Shane Doan at the top right corner of the crease and shoved the puck past Dallas goalie Tobias Stephan for a power-play goal just 16 seconds after Andrew Hutchinson was whistled for tripping.
Enver Lisin and Scottie Upshall scored two goals apiece and Doan added his team-leading 29th goal for the Coyotes, who won for the second time in three games.
Brendan Morrison, Hutchinson, Darryl Sydor, Chris Conner and Loui Eriksson scored for the Stars, who have lost seven straight.
Dallas is 4-12-2 since moving a season-best eight games over .500 on February 19.
The Associated Press
NUMBER OF THE DAY
.854
The combined winning percentage of this year’s Final Four teams, the 11th best mark since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The top marks:
1. 2008 .941
2. 1998 .900
3. 2005 .894
3. 1999 .894
5. 1993 .877
6. 1996 .871
7. 2007 .870
QUOTABLE
'That's the reason I came here, to help (ASU) get the respect and hopefully we can keep it up.'
JAMES HARDEN,
Arizona State guard, on being named to the first-team All-American list Monday.
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ON THIS DATE
1975: UCLA beats Kentucky 92-85 for its 10th NCAA basketball title under head coach John Wooden. Wooden finishes with a 620-147 career record after announcing his retirement two days earlier.
1991: Tennessee edges Virginia 70-67 in overtime for its third NCAA women’s basketball title. It’s the first overtime in the NCAA’s 10-year history.
1995: Major League Baseball players end their strike when federal judge Sonia Sotomayer of U.S. District Court in Manhattan rules against the owners in the labor dispute.
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SPORTS SOUND-OFF
Wildcats hoops fan wants results
Re: UA hoops coaching search
It took Kentucky all of 48 hours to go out and get John Calipari. Livengood has had all of six months to go out and get . . .
Oh, we don’t know yet. I am assuming that it’s Izzo and that’s why it hasn’t been announced. If it’s not Izzo and it’s not Pitino, and we’re still waiting, I can’t imagine UA fans will be to happy with whoever the new coach is. Unless it’s Jamie Dixon? I feel disappointment coming on . . .
KIKI04