NCAA Final Four:
North Carolina-Villanova, Michigan State-Connecticut
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 04/01/2009
GLENDALE, ARIZONA — When it’s all said and done, I believe North Carolina and All-American Tyler Hansbrough will win this year’s national championship.
After winning four tough games to capture their respective regions, North Carolina, Villanova, Michigan State and Connecticut are all battle tested; and certainly anybody can win it. During the college basketball year — both at different times — North Carolina and Connecticut were the number-one teams in the land.
This weekend, they are both favored to win the national semi-final match-ups and duel it out on Monday night for the championship.
Villanova is in the Final Four for the first time since 1985, when they shot the lights out and shocked mighty Georgetown with Patrick Ewing and Coach John Thompson in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history.
Michigan State, the regular season Big Ten champion, will be playing in Detroit at Ford Field and will certainly have the closest thing to a home-court advantage you can get. Connecticut is a powerhouse, surviving from a conference with three NCAA number-one seeds (the two other number-one seeds from the Big East lost in the region finals: Pittsburgh and Louisville).
So, does that mean they will feast on the Final Four with the Tanzanian nightmare, the seven-foot-three-inch Hasheem Thabeet patrolling the post? Since 1999, Michigan State has been to five Final Fours, North Carolina to four, and Connecticut to three. So clearly Villanova is the team facing the longest odds.
I like the combination of experience, leadership and talent Hansbrough and North Carolina have. They were here in the Final Four last year; they are back on a mission. Hansbrough is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Can you say Michael Jordan?
Eighteen times the Tar Heels have been to the Final Four; Coach Roy Williams has won more NCAA tournament games — 100 — than any coach ever, and this is the seventh time he has brought a team to the Final Four. I said it — I like the Tar Heels.
Jordin Sparks to headline Fifth Annual Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund Benefit
Friday, April 10, promises to be a Good Friday when Grammy-nominated
2007 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks comes to Minneapolis to perform at the Fifth Annual Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund Benefit, to be held at the Metropolitan from 6-9 pm. To RSVP or for ticket information, call
612-823-8574 or email info@Larry-Fitzgerald.com.
Also Saturday, April 11, the Carol Fitzgerald Community Celebration will be held from 1-4 pm at Martin Luther King Center in Minneapolis. All-Pro Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. and friends will attend both events and sign autographs. Fitzgerald led the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl; NFL leading rusher and Vikings star Adrian Peterson, fellow Viking All-Pro Jared Allen and Chicago Bears star Tommie Harris will all join Fitzgerald.
Sparks, fresh from a spectacular performance in Phoenix, Arizona, March
28 where she performed before thousands at the 15th Annual Celebrity Fight Night After Party. The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, for the 13th consecutive year hosted this great charity extravaganza.
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth,”
Muhammad Ali has said. The 2009 award winners — who are leaders in sports, entertainment and business communities who best represent the qualities associated with the champ and his fight to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease — were Michael Phelps, Stewart Rahr and Kurt Warner, who was the 2008 Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund Benefit headliner.
Torii Hunter wants you to play ball
Former Twins star and current Los Angeles Angels centerfielder Torii Hunter is sponsoring scholarships for boys and girls from North Minneapolis to play Little League Baseball this spring and summer in Robbinsdale. There are a limited number of scholarships available for 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds.
All players will receive a full baseball uniform and will be placed on teams according to age and ability. Players must attend tryouts on Monday, April 6, at 6 pm in order to play. Tryouts will be at Cooper High School in New Hope.
All the games and practices will be in Robbinsdale, and you must provide your own transportation. Practices start in early April. For more information, call 763-537-1824 or go to www.RobbinsdaleLittleLeague.com.
Scholarships will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Torii Hunter wants you to play baseball.
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.Lar ry-Fitzgerald.com.
