If it wasn't for the recent Alex Rodriguez news that has taken over ESPN's airwaves, the Duke and North Carolina game would be getting more hype than the new Eminem CD. For the Worldwide Leader, this game is a perfect storm of sorts. Full coverage, big names that draw two types of emotion and their very own Dicky V!
But it is one of those rare sporting events that mean a lot to just about everyone. I don't get pumped about the Red Sox and Yankees, and I have zero affiliation with Ohio State or Michigan. I grew up in Texas and went to school in Arizona and am as far from excited on a personal level for most of the big game match-ups as one could be.
The thing is, Duke and North Carolina do something for me.
Uncle Phil Jarvis was a controversial choice after some goings on while he headed up St. John's program. That gig was his last (ending just six games into the 2003-2004 season) before taking this job. His final full season ended with St. John's winning the N.I.T. championship.
In his 18+ seasons at St. John's, George Washington and Boston University, he has taken his teams to nine NCAA Tournament appearances and four N.I.T.s. In his first season at St. John's (1998-1999), he took the Red Storm to the Elite Eight, before losing to Ohio State by three in the South Regional finals.
Jarvis is the third coach in a line of "names" to helm the Owls' hoops program. He replaces Rex Walters, a former Kansas standout, who left to become head coach at San Francisco. Walters replaced Matt Doherty in 2006. Doherty left after just one year with the school to take over the SMU head coaching job. Doherty, if you remember, was a National Coach of the Year winner during his controversial stint at North Carolina.
One of the underlying stories this week at the Final Four will be Roy Williams facing off against his old team, Kansas.
Since Williams left five years ago, many Jayhawk fans have labeled him a traitor. In 2000, Williams was offered the UNC job but elected to stay ... even saying that he wanted to be at KU forever. Forever ended three years later.
"Hopefully, it will die down,'' Williams said Monday as he fielded several questions about his link to Lawrence, Kan., during a news conference. "There were things said and done that hurt at first, but time has a way of healing things. I gave 15 years of my heart, body and soul [to Kansas]. It's my second favorite school. Six years ago it was my favorite school."
North Carolina and Kansas have a weird history when it comes to coaching. Dean Smith played at Kansas and was on their 1952 National Championship team. Smith, of course, went on the North Carolina to coach for 36 years ... piling up 879 victories.
Kansas' only other title was in 1988, when Larry Brown ... who played at North Carolina ... was their head coach. He left and Roy Williams, an assistant under Smith at UNC, took over.
The above video was from the last game that Roy Williams coached at Kansas. It was after the 2003 NCAA Tournament championship game where his Jayhawks lost to Syracuse. After the game, CBS's Bonnie Bernstein asked the question that was all around Ol' Roy all week long: are you going to Carolina?
It is five years ago today that Matt Doherty "resigned" from the head coaching position at North Carolina. From there, rumors ran wild in New Orleans (site of that year's Final Four) that Roy Williams was the one and only guy that UNC wanted.
Oh, if you don't know, Roy Williams did take the Carolina job ... and will be taking his Tar Heels to San Antonio to play Kansas in the Final Four on Saturday.
As fellow FanHouser 
One of the underlying stories this week at the Final Four will be 
