what’s shakin’
A Weekend
continued from previous page
to Remember
Had John Denver written a song about Syra-
cuse, going to SU sporting events would be one of the most vocally annoying experiences this side of a Styx concert. West Virginia University was in town to compete in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament at the Carrier Dome, and there was no escaping Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads”—WVU’s official fight song—anywhere you went last weekend. As Friday, March 26, was the off-night
between games, many out-of-towners tooled around Syracuse to find a good time. About 15 folks adorned in WVU blue and yellow found the road to Rosie’s Sports Pub & Grille near Tipperary Hill where this reporter was raising spirits and libations. Over the pours of the night, the West Virginians treated the jam-packed bar to some down-home hayseed harmony as they played the song on the jukebox about 10 times, each successive rendition louder and more off- key. The locals were not impressed. It was most likely that way wherever WVU
fans gathered, including the Carrier Dome on Thursday, March 25, and Saturday, March 27, as the WVU pep band played the song multi- ple times while thousands of fans sang along. John Denver wasn’t full of shit, it turns out, because the singing annoyed their opponents into submission as WVU upended Washington before defeating top-seeded Kentucky on Sat- urday to advance to the Final Four. As it was, the idiot savants on the NCAA
Selection Committee decided to put Syracuse in the West Region where, if by chance they made it to the Sweet 16, which they did, they would play the same night the Carrier Dome hosted the East Regional. This surely hurt the attendance for the first game of the night between WVU and Washington, since the games ran concur- rently. Some fans trickled in for the second game, which pitted Cornell against Kentucky. But this isn’t a cheerless town, and the
announced attendance of 22,271—well short of the roughly 29,000 seats that were available for the game—made as much noise rooting on Cor- nell as during SU games. Even the West Virginia and Washington fans that stuck around were pulling for the Big Red. Decidedly not rooting for Cornell was actress Ashley Judd, the right purdy one pictured below, who is rumored to attend every University of Kentucky basketball and football game she can. To this reporter’s chagrin, Judd was not available for comment. There were a few other notables in atten-
dance Thursday night. Rajon Rondo, a Kentucky alum who is now the starting point guard for the Boston Celtics, as well as New Jersey Nets center Brook Lopez were among the Dome bleachers. And possibly the loudest person in the building, former New York Knick, and now Boston Celtics guard, as well as three-time slam dunk champion Nate Robinson, who suited up for the Huskies from 2002 to 2005. All his rant- ing and raving were to no avail, as Washington lost 69-56. But as the 5-foot-7 guard was walk- ing toward the locker rooms, he did offer some thoughts on his alma mater’s lost season. “It’s disappointing,” he said. “Especially
making it this far and not really playing up to their level, but I’m going to go in {the locker room} and be with my guys and tell them it’ll be all right.”
WWW.SYRACUSENEWTIMES.COM
Come Saturday, as Kentucky battled WVU in
the Elite Eight matchup, the general consensus among the media was that UK stars John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson would be too much for WVU. The Mountaineers were without starting point guard Darryl “Truck” Bryant, who broke his foot during practice after their first-round victory. Still, WVU had a pair of stars of their own—Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks, both potential NBA lottery picks—who combined for 30 points and 13 rebounds in their convincing 73-66 win over UK. “Forty-nine states picked us to lose,” said
Butler after the game. “We knew we were going to win, it was just a matter of how we were going to do it.” WVU guard Joe Mazzulla proved to be the
unlikely hero. The senior made his first start of the season in place of the injured Bryant, and his career-high 17 points, as well as three assists and two steals in highly inspired play were enough for him to get named the East Region’s Most Outstanding Player. “The great thing about these guys is they
have never doubted,” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins after the game, himself a WVU alum who returned to the team two years ago after a stint at Cincinnati. “They said ‘OK, that’s what we have to do. We’re going to do it.’” Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who is
1-8 against Huggins, believed this game could have been the end all and be all of the tourna- ment. “I thought this would have been the final game, us against them,” said the Ken- tucky coach after the game. “Really, they’re that good. And you are just not going to go and play the way we played and miss free throws and shoot the way we did and win.” At one point late in the second half, Ken-
tucky was 0-for-20 from behind the arc before eventually finishing 4-for-32. You’d think after the 20-miss mark, Calipari would draw up a new strategy, but the Wildcats had no answer for West Virginia’s strong half-court press. And the fact that West Virginia is the last Big East team standing, while getting to the Final Four by winning on a Big East court, had some extra special merit for Huggins after the game. “We’re proud to be representing the Big
East,” continued Huggins. “It’s a phenomenal conference with great coaches and great play- ers. We’ve got to rally around each other in the locker room and these guys have been on a mission and if we can somehow find a way to win a couple more it’ll be really special.”
—TOM KAHLEY
The 34th Annual Crystal Ball Sales and Marketing Excellence Awards Banquet
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info@cnysme.org
Come Honor the 2010 Crystal Ball Recipient, Peter J. Coleman
Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 Time: Cocktails 5:30 pm; Dinner 6:30 pm Place: Sheraton Syracuse University; Regency Ballroom
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Syracuse New Times March 31 - April 7, 2010
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MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTOS
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