The Inland Echo

By Steven Mallory

With out a doubt, North Carolina played like a champion all season long and the NCAA tournament was no different. Six teams tried their best to stop the inevitable result. Six teams fell to the wayside as North Carolina never had a tough game the entire tournament. The teams they played were all good teams, but the Tar Heels proved to be the best. Led by Ty Lawson’s remarkable record 8 steals and 21 points the North Carolina team took it to Michigan St, coming away with an 89-72 victory that wasn’t even that close. For Coach Roy Williams it was his second title in his sixth season at NC, tying him with the legendary coach, Dean Smith, for most titles by a Tar Heel coach. Congratulations to a great program.
 
P.S.: My picks in the tournament started well but fell flat at the end. I picked 36 of 63 games correctly. The worse part of that was not getting anyone of my four picks into the final four. Oh, well, maybe the pros will prove to be better.
 
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The NBA is about to wind up play in about another week and while there may be some last minute changes, the playoffs appear to be fairly set.
 
The Eastern Conference appears to be on the brink of a change of guard. The Celtics have proven to be a strong champion with every intention of getting back to the finals to defend their title. But a certain young man out in the Midwest may have something to say about that. LeBron has played well enough to be named MVP (along with DWade and Kobe) and has helped his team to a league leading (at this point) 62 victories and seems determined to get his first championship now, rather than later. Of course, DWade and co will have something to say, maybe even a lot as they have been playing well as of late. The rest of the teams are basically canon fodder for the big three. Out west, it is the Lakers and the rest. The Denver Nuggets have been quietly playing some good basketball at the end of the season and with San Antonio faced with the loss of Ginobli for the play-offs the Nuggets might sneak into the finals against the Lakers. Overall, I would have to say the Lakers have a slight edge over Cleveland due to the final experience factor and maybe a sliver of an edge over the Celtics by virtue of Kobe’s desire to win one without Shaq.
 
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Out in the world of NASCAR, Jeff Gordon ended his longest non-winning streak in his long career with a close but well-earned victory over Jimmie Johnson. I am sure that Jeff is glad that 47 race streak is over. The rest of the field will have a couple of weeks to digest the fact that Jeff Gordon is far from finished as a top flight WINNING driver in NASCAR. Much as I am a fan of Kyle Busch, hats off to one of the best drivers to ever drive in NASCAR.

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4. NFL playoffs set
5. Gonzaga Basketball off to flying start; Broncos, Cardinals moved closer to Division crowns; College football may have it’s final two teams