Women's Final

Well, here we go:

(1) S. Carolina (37-0) v. (2) Iowa (34-4) (2 PM Central on ABC)

Here are the likely starters for South Carolina:

Chloe Kitts, F (6' 2") (Sophomore) (Oviedo, Fla.)

Kamilla Cardoso, C (6' 7") (Senior) (Montes Claros, BRAZIL)

Bree Hall, G (6' 0") (Junior) (Dayton, Ohio)

Raven Johnson, G (5' 9") (Sophomore) (Atlanta)

Te-Hina Paopao, G (5' 9") (Senior) (Oceanside, Calif.)

Here are the likely starters for Iowa:

Hannah Stuelke, F (6' 2") (Sophomore) (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

Sydney Affolter, G (5' 11") (Junior) (Chicago)

Caitlin Clark, G (6' 0") (Senior) (W. Des Moines, Iowa)

Gabbie Marshall, G (5' 9") (Fifth Year) (Cincinnati)

Kate Martin, G (6' 0") (Grad Student) (Edwardsville, Ill.)

South Carolina is favored by 6 1/2 points, and the over/under is 157 1/2.  That would come out to something like South Carolina 82, Iowa 76.

There is really nothing more to say about this game, which will go down in history as one of the most famous college sporting events of all time.

Women's Final Four

From Cleveland tonight:

(1) S. Carolina (36-0) v. (11) N. Carolina St. (31-6) (6 PM Central on ESPN)

(2) Iowa (33-4) v. (10) Connecticut (33-5) (8 PM Central on ESPN)

To me, this feels like the biggest weekend for women's sports I can remember.  South Carolina could go undefeated.  Caitlin Clark could win the National Championship.  UConn could finally be back on top.  Or NCSU could shock the world.  Any of these outcomes will feel historic.

We don't have Ken Pom for women's basketball.  But using the point spreads and over/under lines from Vegas we get the following predictions:

South Carolina is favored by 11 1/2 points with an over/under of 139 1/2.  That gives a score like:

S. Carolina 76 - 64 N. Carolina St.

Iowa is favored by 3 1/2 points with an over/under of 162 1/2.  That gives a score like:

Iowa 83 - 80 Connecticut

Iowa v. Louisiana St.

I'm already excited about this game for tomorrow night.  Last year, LSU beat Iowa for the National Championship:  102 to 85.  This year, for reasons I don't understand, they were placed in the same region, so only one of these teams can reach the Final Four.

Regional Finals

Four tickets to the Final Four going out this weekend.  Here's what it looks like:

Saturday, March 30:

EAST (in Boston):  (1) Connecticut (34-3) v. (10) Illinois (29-8)

WEST (in Los Angeles):  (19) Alabama (24-11) v. Clemson (24-11)

Sunday, March 31:

MIDWEST (in Detroit):  (3) Purdue (32-4) v. (6) Tennessee (27-8)

SOUTH (in Dallas):  (13) Duke (27-8) v. N. Carolina St. (25-14)

Almost every year, we get at least one team in the Final Four that has not been there in at least 20 years.  This year, Alabama, Tennessee, and Clemson have never been to the Final Four, and Purdue hasn't been there since 1980, so at least two teams in the Final Four will meet this criterion.

In the Regional Semi-Finals, Alabama's victory over North Carolina was the only game in which the western-most team won the game.  In the other seven Regional Semi-Finals, the eastern-most team won.  Illinois is now the western-most team left in the field.

Spare a thought for the Houston Cougars, who lost their All-American guard Jamal Shead 13 minutes into their game with Duke.  Houston ended up losing to Duke by 54 to 51, and I am certain that the Cougars would have won if Shead had remained healthy.

This will be the third meeting between Duke and N. Carolina St. this season, and all three meetings will take place in March.  On March 4, Duke went to Raleigh and thumped the Wolfpack, 79 to 64.  On March 14, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament (in Washington, DC), N. Carolina St. upset Duke 74 to 69.  And tomorrow they will play the rubber match.

Here are Ken Pom's predictions this weekend:

Connecticut 82, Illinois 76

Alabama 83, Clemson 81

Purdue 76, Tennessee 73

Duke 78, N. Carolina St. 69

Meanwhile, over on the women's side, two of the Regional Finals are set:

Sunday, March 31:

ALBANY 1:  (1) S. Carolina (35-0) v. (12) Oregon St. (27-7)

PORTLAND 4:  (4) Texas (33-4) v. (11) N. Carolina St. (30-6)

Today we have the following Regional Semi-Finals:

ALBANY 2:

(2) Iowa (31-4) v. (17) Colorado (24-9)

(6) U.C.L.A. (27-6) v. (8) Louisiana St. (30-5)

PORTLAND 3:

(3) U.S.C. (28-5) v. (19) Baylor (26-7)

(10) Connecticut (31-5) v. Duke (22-11)

To me, the U.C.L.A. / L.S.U. game feels like the first really critical game in this tournament.

KHSFB98 Update

I love driving, and I love AM radio:

Nov. 20, 1998

Enjoyed a good bit of success following various high-school football playoffs on the car radio Friday night.

At 870 AM, I picked up a terrific show out of Louisiana. The format was similar to the NFL Gameday show One-on-One Sports puts together. This station had reporters at 12 games around Louisiana, and the studio hosts went rapid-fire game to game to game with updates.

The most interesting reports were coming in from a lopsided game that was being played, I believe, in Baton Rouge: Jolanga at West St. John’s. (Of course, all of these spellings are my best guesses based on my interpretation of the pronunciations; in fact, there are probably any number of errors here, but, Kornheiserstyle, the gist is on the mark.) The final update, at about 11:30 p.m. Eastern, had West St. John’s up, 22-9, in the third quarter. It was running so late because of multiple play stoppages: twice for passing trains, the noise of which apparently drowned out any play-calling the coaches or players were doing; twice for fights, and four times in the third quarter alone because of power outages which darkened the stadium. According to the last report, the opposing coaches had agreed that if the lights shut down again, both teams would load up on school buses and resume the game that night at East St. John’s High School “across the river.” Imagine that scene.

During breaks in this show, I picked up a similar program out of Raleigh, N.C., as well as Iowa City North vs. Des Moines Dowling out of Iowa.

About 30 miles from the state line, at about 9:30 p.m., I picked up the fuzzy call of the only Kentucky game I’d hear all evening: Sheldon Clark at Belfry, for a Class 3A regional championship.

According to the visiting radio crew from Inez, Sheldon Clark came into the game with a short football history of little note. This team had gone deeper into the 3A playoffs than any Sheldon Clark team ever had, but even that—with a 6-4 regular-season record—had been something of a disappointment until the postseason. One of the losses had come in the second-to-last week, decisively, against Belfry.

And yet Sheldon Clark held an 8-0 lead when, with 1:42 to play Friday, Belfry’s junior quarterback Wright, who completed 19 of 30 passes for about 250 yards, threw a touchdown pass (and then a two-point pass) to tie the game. Sheldon Clark’s coach, Jim Matney, elected to run out the clock when his team took over at its own 30 or so.

Sheldon Clark won the coin toss and elected to play defense in the opening possession of overtime. Wright completed a touchdown pass on first down, and Belfry kicked the extra point for a 15-8 advantage. As the Belfry fans’ cheered, it was announced in the stadium that Fort Thomas Highlands, the state’s top-ranked 3A team, had won its regional and would visit this winner in next week’s state semifinal.

On Sheldon Clark’s first down, a back named Moe Stradlin ran nine yards. On second, he plunged in for a touchdown to make it 15-14. Here roughly is the call of the two-point attempt by Jack Ward, a graduate of the old Inez High School, one of two Martin County high schools consolidated to form Sheldon Clark:

“The handoff is to Stradlin. … He’s in trouble. He’s not going to … YES! HE STRETCHES! YES! YES! YES!”

In the post-game show, Sheldon Clark’s coach, Matney, explained that “almost 22 years ago to the day” his high-school team had lost to Belfry, on this same field, for a chance to play in the state championship. Back then, Matney said, the high schools in Martin County were too small to field football teams, and he had moved in with a family in the next county so he would have an opportunity to play. (“They were poor and black, and I was poor and white. So we were the same.”)

“This win tonight is for all of the Sheldon Clark boys who built the foundation for this team and for all of the Martin County boys who never had a chance to play football,” said Matney, hoarse from the game and the on-field celebration immediately following it. “We’ve got so many people out of work, so many people having hard times in Martin County. Well, tonight, back home in Martin County, you hold your heads up high. Tonight, we’re the regional champions.”

What's (Not) On TV Tonight (1973)?

The Indianapolis 500, that's what:

I'm not sure what Channel 3 is going to show now that the race is delayed, but the great news is this frees up my Memorial Day May 28, 1973, Monday evening to watch baseball on Channel 6. In some markets at least, that game is scheduled to be the Oakland A's at the Detroit Tigers.

And if that doesn't happen--the A's-Tigers game was rained out Sunday--I will settle for the Channel 12 sitcom reruns. Per the Paducah, Kentucky, Sun-Democrat, here's what we can look forward to at 8 and 8:30 Central:

Here's Lucy. Lucy lands the job when singer Petula Clark contacts the agency for a secretary who can also act as her companion.

The Doris Day Show. Doris spends so much time interviewing a rock music star that word spreads that the young singer and Doris are seriously involved.

I actually saw both of these episodes when they originally ran during the fake 1972/73 TV season that I've been enjoying, and I would be happy to watch them both again.