Is the Gophers' body of work enough?
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 03/12/2009
It's March Madness time. Spring is around the corner, and so is anticipation of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. This time next week, the field of 65, like it or not, will be selected for the annual billion-dollar cash exploitation of athletes competing under the guise of amateurism.
While CBS, ESPN, the NCAA and its member institutions, coaches, and sponsors benefit financially from the continuation of the purest form of modern-day slavery, the players will of course get mementoes, MP3 players, other assorted gifts and, of course, the experience of a lifetime.
The NCAA tournament will hit Minnesota, the Metrodome in Minneapolis, the weekend of March 20-22. Eight teams will play six games, and two teams will survive to the Sweet Sixteen. Tubby Smith's Gophers will not get to play in Minneapolis by rule because the University of Minnesota is hosting the first and second rounds.
After winning 16 of their first 17 games, the Gophers rose as high as 19th nationally in the AP/ESPN/ national basketball rankings. The rugged Big Ten regular season reminds everyone that never again will we see a team go 18-0 like Indiana did in 1976 under Bobby Knight en route to a perfect 32-0 season.
Tubby's young Gophers are now 21-9 after going 9-9 in the Big Ten. Eleven of the 13 players on his roster will return next year. Have they done enough to qualify for the field of 65? Starting Thursday, March 12, the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana, guarantees one team an automatic bid to the NCAA.
Michigan State, after going 15-3 in the conference, is the clear favorite, ranked number eight in the nation. The days of the Big Ten getting as many as seven and eight teams in the field of 65 are long past; the last time the NCAA officially allowed in seven Big Ten teams was 1990.
Six will be the likely number in 2009. With wins against Louisville, Penn State, Illinois and Virginia, a young talented group with a big-name coach like Tubby Smith should be enough to get the Gophers in.
However, two wins in Indianapolis is like money in the bank, even with rates down. Smith has an outstanding NCAA record of 29-13. He has won at least 20 games per season for 16 straight years, the longest streak among active NCAA coaches. Only Dean Smith at North Carolina and Lute Olson at Arizona have longer streaks.
All-Pros Fitzgerald & Allen visit the troops
NFL record-setting star Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. of the Arizona Cardinals loves to travel and see the world. That's why he volunteered to go halfway around the world to visit the troops serving our country and protecting our freedom.
The NFL annually has a number of players who travel to the Persian Gulf to see the troops and lift their spirits. Fitzgerald, Jared Allen of the Vikings, Danny Clark of the New York Giants and Will Witherspoon of St. Louis were all selected.
Larry actually met our cousin Emelda Hadley while in Kuwait. She is a defense contractor, and Larry is her favorite player.
arry has been keeping in touch with me by phone and text. He was actually quite troubled on a few occasions.
“Dad, I'm going into a combat zone in Iraq right now. We have to wear these big bulletproof vests and heavy helmets at all times,” Larry, Jr. told me.
“Dad, I'm a little scared right now. [At] the base of 200 people that we visited, just two days ago three people were killed. You can see the huge hole in the ground. I'd be lying to you if I told you I'm not a little scared right now.”
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-recorder.com, or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com.
