Monday, April 7, 2003
Issue # 18.6.1 "Victory at Last"
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CERRITOS, CA (smt)- #3MW-Syracuse (30-5) was all prepared to choke the title away (after building a 76-64 lead) but #2W-Kansas (30-8) could not hit a free throw if their life depended on it giving lifelong Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and the Orangemen their first-ever NCAA title in a 81-78 victory in New Orleans. The Syracuse got 20 points from freshman and Most Outstanding Player Carmelo Anthony and freshman Gerry McNamara hit 6 of 8 3-pt shots in the first half. Jayhawks' Nick Collison had 19 points and 21 rebounds but more importantly, was just 3 for 10 from the charity stripe. Kansas, was a pitiful 12/30 from the free throw line at a time Syracuse was taking quick shots and giving the game away. Syracuse, not to be outdone, missed 5 of their last 6 free throws late, including a couple misses on the first of a 1-and-1, that could have put the game away. The highlight at the end was with Kansas down by three, Jayhawk Michael Lee seemed to have an open look but out of nowhere Hakim Warrick comes flying out and blocked his shot with 1.5 seconds left. The ensuing last-ditch 3-pt attempt fell way wide and Syracuse becomes the first non-#1 seed since Kentucky in 1998 to win the title.

In a weird trend, Marquette beat Kentucky by jumping to a 20-pt 1st half lead only to lose the next game to Kansas, who jumped to a 29-pt 1st half lead. Kansas then fell behind by 18 points in the 1st half to Syracuse. Good thing Syracuse is done. I was rooting for Kansas because my brother-in-law was in line to win 2nd place but instead lost the tiebreaker and finished third. But out of the ashes, I came away with the Bonus Prize. That's about 2.3 cases of Gatorade for our Saturday morning basketball games.

We all know Darryn B. (BIG LUTHER, 126) won the top prize. Who won the others? The Syracuse win combined with the 159 total points in the final gave the tiebreaker to John S. (MR. WIZARD, 123 pts) for 2nd place and left Quang P. (KRIMSONGUARD, 123) with the 3rd Place Prize. This is just the second time the tiebreaker has been used to determine a prize award. The Kansas loss gave Bing F. (BINGO, 118) 4th place and his 2nd-ever money prize over Robinson C. (BOMB SADDAM, 10th, 113). The tiebreaker also broke a 7-way tie for the Bonus Prize, giving Scott T. (THE FABO9ERS, 11th, 110) his fifth money prize in 9 years. Had Kansas won, XK2XBOILX (24th, 102) would've won the Bonus Prize with the Big 12's 15th victory. In other meaningless ties, there were four 3-way and four 4-way ties broken.

1st Place= $280 (Darryn B., BIG LUTHER)
2nd Place= $150 (John S., MR. WIZARD)
3rd Place= $100 (Quang P., KRIMSONGUARD)
4th Place= $ 60 (Bing F., BINGO)
Bonus    = $ 40 (Scott T., THE FABO9ERS)

Poor Fernando B. (GALAXY, 5th, 117). He becomes the first player ever to be the only entry to pick the correct champion and NOT win any money. He finishes a single point off of 4th Place. Every year has had the winners pick the correct champion (except 1997 and 1998 when no one picked the correct champion) and only one other time has a player picked the correct champion and not win a prize (in 1997 when 4 picked UConn but only 3 of 4 won the top four prizes). And to boot, he was the only entry this year to EXACTLY pick the tiebreaker of 159 points (only two others have done so in the past)! So think of Fernando when you post your thoughts on our discussion board on what Bonus Prizes (if any) you would like to see next year. Also think of Darryn B., who could've won $305 instead of $280 if there was no Bonus Prize.