The UNC Tarheels: "One Shining Moment"

As we all know, last night, the UNC Tarheels won the 2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. To many, their win came as no surprise, and the Tarheels were the best team in the tournament.

From the beginning of the year, even with their slight hiccups, they had the most talent in the nation, and arguably the best coach. I mean, their sixth man, Ed Davis, is thought of as a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. How many schools have a NBA lottery pick, let alone an NBA player, on their bench? I guess I could probably coach that team to a national title.

I argued in my previous post, “How Much Pressure is on UNC?“, that because the stars for UNC had turned down the riches of the NBA, they were facing an enormous amount of pressure to win it all. Well, it looks like they handled the pressure just fine, and I believe their win is good for the overall college game.

We always hear the “experts” and fans alike hope that college players will stay in school long, than jumping ship straight to the NBA. The 2009 Tarheels are testament to why players should stay in school, and I hope they will be pinned as an example for future teams and players.

As for the National Championship game and the tournament in general, I thought this March Madness was more on the boring side compared to past tournaments. Last night, the game was awful, and the Tarheels dominated it from the tap.

The overall tournament never saw a Cinderella or underdog, where the whole nation got behind them—a la George Mason a few years ago, or Davidson and Stephen Curry last year. Even the “One Shining Moment” didn’t have the same charisma as year’s past.

In the end, March Madness is my favorite time of year, and I still did have fun. How about you?