Gophers will take on Texas in NCAA
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 03/18/2009
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA — Gophers Coach Tubby Smith has become the sixth coach in NCAA history to take four different schools to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, and now Minnesota.
The Gophers are a 10th seed in the East Region after finishing 22-10 in Smith's second season. “You can't get too high when everything is going well, and you can't get too low when it's not going well,” said Smith. That philosophy allowed the young Gophers to keep their heads high after starting 16-1 and finishing 22-10.
The Gophers will play in the NCAA tournament for only the second time in the last 10 years, their first appearance since 2005. “I kept reminding them to not get down or depressed,” Smith said. “For most athletes, it's harder to deal with prosperity; it's hard to be humble versus being hungry.
“We have a great group of kids. I said all year long we had no issues with guys or disciplinary problems. It's been a good group. They wanted to win, and they feel like they could have won more games and we let some games get away. But we also understand that we will have a lot of these guys back,” Smith noted.
The future is now for Smith's Gophers, who play Thursday in the East Region of the NCAA versus Texas. The Gophers beat the NCAA's number-one seeded team, Louisville, 70-64 on December 20 at University of Phoenix Stadium. A neutral site, Louisville is the Big East regular and post-season champion.
Fitz Notes & Quotes
While I was covering the 2009 Pro Bowl game in Hawaii last month, the 59th meeting of the annual NFL Classic, it was great to meet Minnesota native Vernon Hicks and his family. You see, Hicks is just 13 years old and was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006. He was the 2009 winner of “Make a Wish” — he and three family members won the Pro Bowl game vacation trip.
Hicks attends Jackson Middle School in Champlin, and his health is much improved. He has six more months of chemotherapy to go.
Twelve NBA teams had to borrow $200 million from JP Morgan Chase Bank and the Bank of America. NBA Commissioner David Stern and Jerry Colangelo blew nearly $100 million on the entire Redeem Team, which won the gold last summer in Beijing, China.
DeMaurice Smith is the new executive director of the National Football League Players Association. He succeeds the late Gene Upshaw. He is a trial lawyer and has no labor law experience, but he has ties to President Barack Obama.
I'm celebrating my 30th year in the journalism/broadcasting business, and low and behold, it was 30 years ago that Magic Johnson and Michigan State beat Larry Bird and Indiana State for the NCAA National Basketball Championship. I was fortunate enough to attend Indiana State University on a football scholarship and broadcast that historic game for WISU Radio.
I talked to former-Spartans-star-turned-broadcaster Greg Kelser the other day when he was broadcasting the Gophers vs. Michigan regular-season final at the barn. We both have fond memories of that great game, still today the highest rated basketball game in television history.
It was especially notable because of the racial component, Larry Bird being White and Magic Johnson being Black, and both being great players and leaders who catapulted the NCAA basketball tournament to the multi-billion-dollar enterprise it is today.
It also planted firmly in my head how important it was for me to cover big sporting events. This year I've covered the Fiesta Bowl, the NFL playoffs, the NFC Championship, Super Bowl XLIII, the 2009 Pro Bowl game, the NBA All-Star game, and the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament.
Last month I became the first sportswriter in history to cover his son, a star with the Arizona Cardinals, in the biggest game of them all, the Super Bowl. It was my 29th Super Bowl. Larry, Jr. was one of 106 players to play in the game, but he was rated number one.
Tuesday, March 31, the Minnesota Wild will honor me before the game against Vancouver by allowing me to introduce “Let's Play Hockey.” It's a tradition at Wild home games.
Pro Bowl is moving
Next year, the NFL will move the Pro Bowl game, which started in 1971, to Miami, Florida, after 30 years in Honolulu. The game will be featured in 2010 a week prior to the Super Bowl, on Sunday, January 31, and televised by ESPN from Dolphin Stadium in South Florida.
This is only the second time in history that the Pro Bowl will be played in the same city as the Super Bowl, and the first time ever played prior to the Super Bowl. Why experiment with the Pro Bowl?
“We would like to rotate the Pro Bowl from the mainland back to Hawaii. I think Honolulu is a great place for the Pro Bowl, so we want to continue that,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“We think also playing it as part of the Super Bowl, the lead up to the Super Bowl in Miami, will give our players a chance to be on a bigger stage and bring more attention to that. And then, in combination of additional years of alternating, we think it's going to be a good experience for the players and good for the NFL.”
Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:20 am, and on WDGY-AM 740 Monday & Saturday mornings at 7:50 am and Fridays at 3:50 pm; he also commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). Larry welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-re corder.com, or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com.
