The Week That Was

Congratulations to the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions, the North Carolina Tar Heels! The Heels destroyed Michigan State 89-72 to win their 6th national title and their second in five seasons. Roy Williams has done a pretty good job proving the morons wrong that say he can't coach. Much like they have all season, the Tar Heels absolutely decimated the Spartans right from the opening tip. The game was never close and the Heels got dominating performances out of Ty Lawson (21 points, 6 assists, NCAA title game record 8 steals), Tyler Hansbrough (18 points, 7 rebounds), Final Four MVP Wayne Ellington (19 points), and future superstar Ed Davis (11 points, 8 rebounds). Carolina won every tournament game by double digits, with their "closest" margin of victory being a 12 point win over Oklahoma in the Elite Eight. Carolina finishes the year 34-4, with their biggest defeat coming at the hands of Boston College, by just 7 points. This was in my opinion the greatest North Carolina team of all time. Just sheer dominance all season and it was great to see Hansbrough and Danny Green stay all four years and be rewarded with a national title. The Heels will put a vastly different team on the court next year with Hansbrough and Green graduating, and Lawson, Ellington, and Davis all potentially leaving early for the NBA, but that is something to worry about in October, until then the Heels are the best team in the nation!

As college basketball winds down, Major League Baseball had its Opening Day yesterday. I am a huge Baltimore Orioles fan and while the last 10 years have been terrible, one day that always seems to go the O's way is Opening Day. The Orioles defeated the New York Yankees 10-5 at Camden Yards, roughing up the Yankees marquee free agent acquisition pitcher CC Sabathia. The Orioles potent lineup showed how they can dominate as 2B Brian Roberts had three hits, CF Adam Jones had three hits and 2 RBIs, RF Nick Markakis had two hits and 2 RBIs, and even SS Cesar Izturis got in on the act with a HR that sealed the game late. The goal for the Orioles is a winning season, 82-80 would be perfectly fine with me. A quick blog note, starting Friday I will preview every single Orioles series here on CBH Sports.

The NHL and NBA playoffs are also quickly approaching. The Washington Capitals have clinched the Southeast Division and a playoff berth. I barely follow hockey but have seen the Capitals capture the DC area's interest so if anyone out there loves the Capitals and would like to write about their playoff run please contact me at christopher.hirsch@gmail.com. Once the NBA Playoffs start I will do a full preview of the entire playoffs and focus especially on the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.