Final Four teams are Familiar four

By Kate Hairopoulos

The Dallas Morning News

(MCT)

If you picked this Final Four, congrats.

Maybe, subconsciously, you channeled NCAA Tournament history. The advancement of Michigan State, Connecticut, Villanova and North Carolina to the party, which begins Saturday at Detroit's Ford Field, sets up several compelling connections to tournament lore.

Michigan State not only gets to play 90 miles from its East Lansing campus but returns to the Final Four for the 30th anniversary of its 1979 NCAA title. The famous showdown between Indiana State's Larry Bird and Michigan State's Magic Johnson that season helped shaped college basketball.

Two teams from the mighty Big East qualified, one shy of the record set by the Big East in the 1985 Final Four. No. 3 seed Villanova feels a connection to the program's upset championship run from that tournament almost 25 years ago.

"It's kind of eerie how this is playing out," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "I hope to God history repeats itself."

Meanwhile, No. 1 seed Connecticut can win its third national title since 1999. Top-seeded North Carolina, in all its blue-blooded glory, can win its fifth national title in its NCAA-best 18th Final Four appearance.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun and UNC coach Roy Williams have four NCAA titles and 15 Final Four appearances between them.

MICHIGAN STATE

Motor City, Motown, whatever. To the Spartans, Detroit is an extension of home.

"That's been a dream and a goal since the day they announced where the Final Four was," coach Tom Izzo said.

The comforts are a reward for the Big Ten regular-season champions, who are 9-0 all-time as a No. 2 seed _ the same seed they earned for the 1979 title run. Using stifling defense and Goran Suton's offense, the Spartans manhandled top overall seed Louisville on Sunday.

Izzo reached his fifth Final Four, all since 1999, joining the ranks of coaches such as Bob Knight, Lute Olson, Guy Lewis and Rick Pitino. MSU's 2000 championship is the Big Ten's most recent national title.

CONNECTICUT

The No. 1-seeded Huskies lost key guard Jerome Dyson a month before the tournament, and their program has been scrutinized for possible NCAA violations, but they got to their third Final Four anyway. UConn won it all in 1999 and 2004, and coach Jim Calhoun can become the fifth coach to win at least three NCAA titles.

"I'm very emotional about this team getting to a Final Four," said Calhoun, in his 23rd year at the school. "I mean, really emotional, because ½ellipsis¾ maybe at a particular point in time, I'm saying, 'Are these the guys to get us there?'"

The emergence of Kemba Walker _ along with guard A.J. Price, forward Jeff Adrien and the rebounding, defensive presence that is 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet _ helped Connecticut beat Missouri on Saturday.

UConn elected not to cut down the nets as the West Regional champs. "Hopefully we will have a chance to cut them down somewhere else," Price said.

Projected winner:

UConn

VILLANOVA

Point guard Scottie Reynolds' driving game-winner with 0.5 seconds left Saturday against No. 1 seed Pittsburgh brought back the feel of 1985, when eighth-seeded Villanova became the lowest seed to win the title.

A Catholic school of 6,500 located just outside Philly, Villanova is back in the Final Four for the first time since coach Rollie Massimino engineered the upset of Patrick Ewing's Georgetown team. Current coach Jay Wright worked as an assistant under Massiminio for five seasons.

Reynolds, a former Oklahoma signee, is one of a myriad of dangerous Villanova players _ see Dwayne Anderson, Dante Cunningham and Corey Fisher _ who are tested, and perhaps once overlooked, in the bruising Big East. Nova shot 22-of-23 from the foul line against Pitt.

NORTH CAROLINA

All-American Tyler Hansbrough liked college in Chapel Hill enough to come back for one last chance at a national title after being crushed by Kansas in a national semifinal last season.

With Danny Green, Wayne Ellington, Deon Thompson and apparently healthy point guard Ty Lawson all clicking, the top-seeded Tar Heels dominated Oklahoma on Sunday.

Coach Roy Williams is in his seventh Final Four _ and third with UNC, including the 2005 national championship. The Heels beat Midwest Regional winner Michigan State, 98-63, in December.

Projected winner:

North Carolina

___

© 2009, The Dallas Morning News.

Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

_____

PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): Michigan state

Japan captures 2nd-straight World Baseball Classic championship

By Al Balderas

The Orange County Register

(MCT)

LOS ANGELES _ Ichiro Suzuki doesn't get many chances to show off for a crowd at Dodger Stadium, but the Seattle Mariners outfielder took advantage of the opportunity on Monday night.

Suzuki drove in two runs with a two-out single in the top of the 10th inning to lift Japan to a 5-3 victory over South Korea and its second consecutive World Baseball Classic championship.

A near-capacity crowd of 54,846 watched the South Koreans send the game into extra innings with runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but that merely set the stage for Suzuki.

Seiichi Uchikawa started the 10th inning with a single to right field. He was sacrificed to second and moved to third when Akinori Iwamura singled to left field.

South Korean pitcher Chang Yong Lim almost worked his way out of the jam when he got pinch-hitter Munenori Kawasaki to pop out to shortstop, but he still had to retire Suzuki, who already had three hits.

Akinori moved into scoring position on defensive indifference, and Suzuki lined a 2-2 pitch into center field for the 5-3 lead.

Yu Darvish, who failed to close out the game in the ninth inning, got the job done in the 10th.

The Koreans, who were 2-3 against Japan in the tournament, had to feel good about its chances of winning its first WBC title because starting pitcher Jungkeun Bong had beaten the Japanese twice.

Though Bong entered the finale touting a 2-0 tournament record and 0.66 ERA, it didn't take long to see that he wasn't at his best. Bong needed 28 pitches to get through the first inning and had his pitch count swell to 74 by the end of the third.

Japan got runners on base in the first two innings and finally got someone home in the third.

Hiroyuki Nakajima led off that inning with an infield single, beating out a grounder to shortstop.

Norichika Aoki hit a line drive off the glove of second baseman Young Min Ko for an error. Nakajima took third on Kenji Johjima's grounder to third and scored on a single by Michihiro Ogasawara.

Japan's brought in a 1-1 tournament record and 1.87 ERA.

Iwakuma lived up to his hype by retiring the first 11 batters before Hyun Soo Kim hit a two-out single in the fourth. Iwakuma lost his shutout and lead in the fifth inning when Shin Soo Choo hit a home run to center to lead off the inning.

The home run was Choo's second since the tournament arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday. He hit a three-run home run in the first inning of South Korea's semifinal victory over Venezuela.

Sound defense and strong fundamentals kept the teams tied as they went into the seventh. Two batters after Choo's home run, Young Min Ko lined a single near the left-field line and tried to stretch the hit into a double. Uchikawa short-hopped the ball and easily threw out Ko at second.

Japan took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning on an RBI single by Nakajima and added a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Iwamura.

South Korea got one run back in the eighth and tied the score on Bum Ho Lee's two-out single in the bottom of the ninth.

Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who went 3-0 in the Classic, was selected as the MVP.

___

© 2009, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).

Visit the Register on the World Wide Web at http://www.ocregister.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Students Earn All County Honors for the Winter Track Season

Congratulations to Smithtown High School East students Ashley Beck and Cara Hallahan for earning All County Honors this winter track season. Cara was the Large School Champion in the high jump and Ashley placed 2nd at the State Qualifier also in the high jump. Ashley represented Suffolk County at the State Track Meet at Cornell University.

Who doesn't love the annual trademarked hoops tourney?

By Reggie Hayes

The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.)

(MCT)

NCAA trademarks prevent newspapers and other media outlets from using common phrases associated with the upcoming basketball event involving college-aged men. Here are some alternatives, at no charge:

March Madness: "Pre-April Schizophrenia."

Elite Eight: "Exclusive Pairs of Teams in Four Predetermined Regions."

Final Four: "The Absolutely Last Three, Plus One."

The Road to Detroit: "Looking to Score off I-94."

WOULD YOU TAKE AN IOU?

Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler has requested the team trade him. The Detroit Lions have interest, but aren't sure they can meet the Broncos' steep demands for actual pro football players in return.

MANNY'S HAMMY

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez aggravated his sore left hamstring on Sunday, leaving his status doubtful for the start of the regular season. The good news is his wrist remains healthy enough to keep endorsing paychecks.

INFLAMED THROWER

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland doesn't expect injury-prone pitcher Joel Zumaya to be ready for Opening Day because of inflammation in his shoulder. "I say that because he hasn't really pitched in two years," Leyland said.

To be fair to Zumaya, all the Tigers took last year off.

JONES' CAREER IN A SAND TRAP

Wide receiver Matt Jones was waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday for violating his plea agreement over a 2008 drug charge. He told a judge he failed a drug and alcohol screening because he had been drinking beer while golfing. He promised it wouldn't happen again. That's easy to say, but golf can be very addictive.

TURN LEFT, YOUNG MAN

Television ratings for the first four NASCAR races of the season are down 11 percent from last season. Too few lead changes and too many cautions are among the possible causes. NASCAR officials are contemplating potentially popular changes, such as allowing drivers to wreck one Busch per week without penalty.

A LITTLE LIQUID, A LITTLE LESS TIGER

Did you see where golfer Phil Mickelson was treated for heat exhaustion and mild dehydration at the CA Championship in Doral, Fla.? He toughed it out, won the event and looked up to see Tiger Woods a full eight strokes back. Turns out Mickelson can stand the heat after all.

WHAT'S THE STORY?

Detroit Pistons guard Allen Iverson hasn't been around the team lately while he recovers from a sore back. Coach Michael Curry said Iverson's absence is because "he doesn't want to be the story." Or at least that's what it said in the Detroit Free Press story all about Iverson.

JOHNNY B. BAD

Florida State will appeal an NCAA sanction that would take away wins in 10 sports. The penalty was assessed because 61 athletes who took a music history course where test answers were provided. Way to go, NCAA. It's about time athletes took challenging college courses like music history seriously.

___

© 2009, The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

Visit the News-Sentinel, at http://www.news-sentinel.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Seniors Shine at Suffolk County Wrestling Tournament

As the first day of the Suffolk County wrestling tournament came to a close on February 13, Smithtown East was left with only two remaining wrestlers; the 140 pound senior captain Ryan Kopiske and 215 pound senior Kevin Cassidy. These two highly experienced wrestlers were about to do what many wrestlers only dream of - placing in counties.

Kopiske went into his weight class as an underdog and after a great match with Commack wrestler, Anthony Cavallo, he fell short of a victory. But this loss didn't mean failure for Kopiske. Although he lost, he still took 6th in a very tough weight class.

Cassidy on the other hand was ranked 2nd in his weight class. But his county championship pursuit would be cut short by Eric Woodley of Happauge (who took 2nd in county). But with vengeance, Kevin embarrassed Patchogue-Medford wrestler Joe Clemente by destroying him 8-0 in a major decision victory. With that Cassidy took 5th to go along with Kopiske's 6th place.

With two place-winners in this years counties, Smithtown East now looks to expand on their success going into next season.