Chuck from Carrboro, N.C. asks, "As a North Carolina fan, I want to pick them to win the NCAA tournament. Should I?"
If you are one of "those" Carolina fans, then you already have picked them to win it all. And you filled in your bracket back in October. When I refer to one of "those" Carolina fans, I'm referring to the diehard, "Carolina can do no wrong" fans, who, when watching the Heels on television, turn down the volume and listen to the game called by the radio voice of the Tarheels, Woody Durham.
Don't get me wrong. Carolina is the most talented team in the field. But how many times in the past has that been the case, and the Heels came away without the national title? Shouldn't a team featuring Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, and Kenny Smith have won the title? They couldn't do it in 1984. Nor could a team of Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace in 1995.
This year's squad boasts at least four potential NBA'ers in Raymond Felton, Sean May, Rashad McCants, and freshman Marvin Williams. Shouldn't that be enough to win a national title? It should be, but it wasn't even enough to put Carolina in the finals of the ACC tournament. The Heels couldn't string together three wins to win their conference tournament. Expecting six in a row is probably asking too much. I know some of you Carolina fans will put a positive spin on UNC's early exit from the tournament.
I can hear you now: "This is a good thing. This will give [Rashad] McCants a chance to rest and get back into playing shape." Bull. You get into playing shape by playing, and winning doesn't hurt. And yes, I know that back in 1993, when UNC won it all, they lost to Georgia Tech in the ACC tourney after winning the regular season crown. What does that mean? Nothing, it's just a statistic.
Now, in the Heels' favor, their half of the Syracuse bracket is advantageous. If the seeds hold, Carolina's looking at No. 4 seed Florida in the regional semifinal. Sure, the Gators have made a lot of noise lately by winning the SEC tournament and downing Kentucky twice, but they are ready-made to be demolished by the Heels. Lately, Carolina has been unable to get their running game on track. Florida likes the up-tempo style, and if anyone dares play that style against the Heels, Carolina will drop 90 on them and win easily.
Many analysts cite Carolina's size up front as a determining factor in their success. Yes, they are big with May, Marvin Williams, and Jawad Williams in the game. But if you've watched a Carolina game, you know they get their shots blocked more than anyone in the country. May has posted some impressive rebounding numbers, but a lot of that is the result of grabbing the rebound of a shot that just got rejected. Connecticut, the region's No. 2 seed, is the nation's leaders in blocked shots.
Assuming UNC advances, they would likely face either Kansas or Connecticut in the regional final. Should they win that, either Duke, Oklahoma, or Syracuse awaits in the Final Four matchup. If Carolina achieves the finals, likely opponents would be Illinois, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Washington, or Arizona. I just don't think Carolina can run that gauntlet against that level of competition. I like the Heels to get to the Final Four, but Carolina has a habit of losing in the national semifinals (see 1991, 1995, 1997, and 1998).
So, Chuck, the answer is this: pick the Tarheels to reach the regional final. Anything after that, proceed with caution.
William from Chesapeake, VA asks "What athletes are not doing steroids?"
Well, we know steroids in baseball are rampant, and, recently, several Major League Baseball players took the stand and perjured themselves before Congress by lying that they don't use steroids. And, as long as Bill Romanowski is carrying a briefcase, then a majority of the NFL has access to steroids.
Track and field? Do we even need to ask? Ironically, the sport's greatest icon, Carl Lewis, was the most outspoken proponent against steroid use. You would think other athletes would realize that Lewis remained on top of his sport for 15 years, drug free, and try to emulate him. But maybe they heard Carl sing. Steroids in track and field were the precursor to the steroid fiasco of today. I guess we should have known something was up when we couldn't tell the East German women from the men.
Are NFL football players using steroids? You bet your 600-pound bench press they are. Heck, there are high school football players doing steroids. In their defense (not that I'm condoning any use of steroids), I think NFL players would likely use steroids for its powers of recovery than they would to enhance brute strength. Will the NFL face the wrath of a bitter whistleblower as Major League Baseball has? Possibly, although the NFL brotherhood seems to frown upon ratting out fellow players.
Are professional bowlers steroid users? Oh yeah, those guys are on the juice. Have you seen the spin they put on those 15-pound balls? That's not natural.
Are their steroids in the NBA? No, the NBA is clean of steroids. Apparently, marijuana does more for the NBA player than any steroids could.
Golfers? I'm sure some idiot tried some steroids and added five yards to his drive, but those same steroids couldn't help him make the two-foot putt. Golf is more a game of power from flexibility than it is of power from pure strength. That's why the 160-pound golfer can generate as much club head speed as the 250-pound drive-happy freak.
The same goes for tennis. Why do tennis players need steroids when they can make up for their lack of strength with a technologically advanced racket? If you're under 30 years of age, chances are you've never even seen a wooden racket. Are tennis players juicin'? No, but their rackets are.
And while we're on the subject of equipment, we can naturally dive into auto racing. Crews are constantly searching for a competitive edge, whether it is an illegal part, illegal size of equipment, or an illegal fuel mixture. No, it's not steroids, but it is cheating, and the car has no say in what they're doing to it. Pity the poor car. And if you pity the car, your heart has to ache for hoses and greyhound dogs. Trainers have been pumping them full of chemicals for years.
It all boils down to this: we live in a society of cheaters, whether they be accountants who doctor the books, politicians who make illegal deals, of the piece of trash looking to sue someone for the most ridiculous of reasons. Of course, not everyone is a cheater, and the same goes for the world of athletics. There are cheaters in every sport, there are drug abusers in every sport, there is that person searching for the short cut to glory. Athletics, as well as society, will never be totally "cheater-free."
As we speak now, there is some chemist with no scruples frantically experimenting to find a performance-enhancing drug that cannot be detected medically. Steroids are a matter of choice; today, it seems that too many athletes are making the wrong choice.
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