Final Four, Finally

One year ago (nearly to the day, in fact), I convincingly debunked the myth that "guard play is paramount in the NCAA Tournament." As Florida proved last year, "bigs" who can play trump above-average guards every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

My case has been neatly bolstered by the 2007 Final Four, which once again features four teams that depend on their bigs. Florida is back with Horford and Noah; the Gators get a rematch with UCLA, who returns with the glorious name of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in the middle, ably assisted by 6-9 junior Lorenzo Mata. The Ohio State-Georgetown semifinal pits Greg Oden against Roy Hibbert, a post battle already being hailed as one of the best in the NCAA Tournment in decades. UCLA is admittedly guard-heavy with Collison, Shipp, and Afflalo, but the other three teams in Atlanta will see their fortunes decided by the play of the tall guys.

Which is why Florida should win it again. The Gators' big men are simply better, and there are more of them.

I don't see UCLA being much of a problem in the semifinals, as the Bruins still have no answers for Horford, Noah, and Chris Richard. Assuming UF reaches the title game, however, there are serious challenges in either Georgetown or Ohio State.

Brady Ackerman and I discussed this on his radio show last week -- the Buckeyes have a whiff of "team of destiny" about them, and I'm very big on karma. Mike Conley, Jr. is my favorite player in the tournament right now, and Oden is a far different player from the one who watched the Gators hammer his teammates by 26 points back in December. For one thing, Oden is healthy, free of the wrist injury that limited him to 7 points and 6 rebounds in that December matchup; for another, that game was played in the maelstrom of the O'Connell Center on the UF campus. Ohio State is a much better team today than it was in December, and Oden is a much better player.

Similarly, Georgetown has delivered on the promise that led many experts to pick the Hoyas to win the whole enchilada this year. Hibbert is a monster; that's a given. Beyond the 7-2 junior, however, Georgetown sports a roster filled with five other players who go 6-8 or bigger. If the game is to be won in the trenches, as I have argued, the Hoyas match up well with Florida. That potential championship game gives me greater pause than would Florida-Ohio State.

Still, I think Florida will do it, if for no other reason than this: they're not losing anymore. That's the answer I keep coming up with when people ask me for a pick -- "Florida's not losing." Are they measurably better than UCLA, Ohio State, or Georgetown? That's debatable. But to my eye, none of those teams can fight back the way Florida has done in this tournament. I see the Gators trailing big in the first half of the championship game -- down by ten, maybe even twelve -- and then storming back in the second half with their patented blitz. I just do not see them losing.

As an aside, this could be a tough weekend for one of my neighbors in central Florida. Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and his wife, Kris, have a vested interest in both Georgetown and Florida, if it comes to that on Monday night. Jeremiah Rivers is a freshman guard for the Hoyas, having chosen Georgetown after a stellar prep career at Winter Park High School. Jeremiah's sister, Callie, is now a senior at Winter Park, where she led the Wildcats to three straight Class 6A state championships in volleyball. Widely considered to be the best high school volleyball player in the state, Callie has committed to play for Mary Wise at Florida next fall. The Rivers are deeply committed to their kids' athletic aspirations; in between Celtics games, Doc has been flying back and forth to see Georgetown play in the NCAA Tournament, even though Jeremiah is playing only 11 minutes a night. The Celtics are off on Saturday, play at home on Sunday, and then have two days off before their next contest, so I know that Doc will be in Atlanta with his wife and family to see Georgetown play in the semis and possibly the championship game on Monday. If it's the Hoyas and the Gators, that's a great game -- but an emotionally challenging experience for Doc and Kris.

I still think that Callie will have bragging rights over her brother by Tuesday morning.

In Their Own Words

The blog has been neglected. As is usually the case, it's not my fault.

Last year, the management at Sun Sports decided to cancel "Sports Talk Live" in favor of "Tailgate Overtime," a show designed to attract our core audience of hardcore college football fans. The steadily climbing ratings and internet chatter generated by the show leads me to believe that TGOT, as we call it, has found a foothold. I'm optimistic about next season.

But that's the problem -- next season. When college football ended in January, we were left with a gaping hole in our Monday night schedule until August. After kicking around several ideas, we settled on a formula that has worked in the past at other Fox regional networks: a half-hour, single-subject interview show called "In My Own Words." The idea was to find newsworthy sports figures with Florida ties and give them an uninterrupted, unedited thirty minutes. If the right questions were asked, the shows could live well beyond their original air date (in the TV business, we call that "evergreen"), which would prove to be a smart financial decision down the road. Everyone in the office was very excited about this idea.

Except me.

I felt that the studio presence of "Tailgate Overtime," the UF and FSU postgame shows, "College Kickoff," and the pregame specials needed to be reinforced. I pushed hard for a live, one-hour (or half-hour) studio show for Monday nights that would at least remind viewers that we were still here, and hopefully keep them interested until the college football season started again. We could talk about basketball, baseball, whatever -- as long as it was an obvious Sun Sports studio show, and as long as it happened every Monday night. In truth, I fought for this fairly aggressively. And I lost.

Know what? I'm glad I lost. Because the show that now fills that Monday night slot, "In My Own Words," has, in a very short time, become one of the most demanding, rewarding, intriguing projects I've ever been a part of.

I've already shared my experience at Don Shula's house in this space, but it's more than simply access. I've met some unbelievable people while working on this show -- and I mean "unbelievable" literally, as in impossible to believe.

Ever hear LeRoy Butler's story? He grows up in Jacksonville, in a housing project that sees death on a daily basis. LeRoy has club feet, bad. Doctors have to break his legs and reset them while he's a toddler. When he's not confined to a wheelchair, he wears bulky braces on both legs. The only thing that gets him through the day is his infectious sense of humor, which causes the neighborhood to rally around him, to protect him. Everybody loves LeRoy.

So one day, his sister comes running downstairs in his house -- on her way to the prom, according to LeRoy -- and trips in her high heels. She knocks LeRoy over and breaks one of his leg braces. He stands up, mad as hell at his sibling, and stomps his other foot, which breaks his other brace. One of his brothers looks over and screams, "LeRoy! You're standing up!"

At which point, according to the legend, LeRoy looks down at his legs, looks up at his siblings, and barrels out the front door to join a kickball game in the street. He was eight years old, and it was the first time he ever ran anywhere.

The rest is just too preposterous to be true, yet we know it's real. LeRoy Butler gets a scholarship to play football at Florida State. He becomes a consensus All-American defensive back as a senior. He runs the "puntrooskie," one of the most famous plays in the history of college football and, in my opinion, the play that put FSU football on the map for good. Butler gets drafted by the Green Bay Packers, plays all 12 of his NFL seasons there, makes the league's All-Decade Team for the '90s, wins a Super Bowl with Holmgren and Favre and Reggie White, invents the "Lambeau Leap" -- yes, invents it -- retires a hero, starts charitable foundations in both Wisconsin and north Florida, has four daughters, and will be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame this summer.

That, friends, is a career. That is a life. And I met him last Thursday. As one of our cameramen said after the show, "Brother, the world needs more people like you."

Don Shula's grace. Randy Shannon's intensity. Fred McGriff's humility. Jeremy Foley's energy. These are the memories I will carry long after the show is off the air. Meeting these unique people has been a gift. Of course, it's also been a slog.

McGriff's interview was in Tampa. Shula lives in Miami. Foley met us at the 'F Club' on campus in Gainesville. I live in Orlando. The manager at the local Hertz office knows me by first name. My geographical knowledge of my home state has never been more acute.

The travel, in addition to the intense preparation and planning for these shows, is why the blog has been neglected. However, I'm not bothered by that, because I'm enjoying the interviews too much. It's like a weekly final exam, and I was always a great test-taker. The trick, as we in the Sun Sports studio have discovered, is to avoid the standard five minutes of career recap -- EVERYONE knows why we're interviewing Don Shula, after all -- and instead go directly into left field. Which is why my first question to Shula was "how much weight have you lost?", and an entire segment of the McGriff show is dedicated to breaking down the Tom Emanski videos. McGriff, you may be aware, gave them his full endorsement.

That's the rewarding part of these interviews, coming up with questions that compel the subject to say "that was really fun," as Butler, McGriff, Foley, Shannon, and Shula all did, in one form or another. They say that, we've done our job.

So anyway, I'm keeping one eye on the Magic, who appear to be stumbling like a drunken sailor into the morass that is the NBA's Eastern Conference playoffs, and another eye on the Florida basketball team, which is two wins away from joining Duke as the only college hoop dynasties of my lifetime. I even kept up with the women's NCAA basketball tournament, mostly because of Florida State, which was the most egregiously underreported sports story in the state this month. I'm on it, even if I'm not blogging it as often as I should.

Watch for "In My Own Words," Monday nights on Sun Sports, until college football returns. The shows repeat throughout the week. The stories, as you will see, are unbelievable.

Taking On 'The Chin'

Did you know that Don Shula lives on a private island?

His neighbors include Julio Iglesias and Rick Pitino. The island has its own government and its own police force -- two guys in Ford Explorers who vigilantly enforce the 20-mile-an-hour speed limit. There's also a guy at the guard gate who loves the "Chevy Florida Fishing Report" on Sun Sports.

Oh, and it has its own private golf course, with a clubhouse that makes Isleworth look like your local goat-track muni. Shula lives within walking distance of the first tee, but that's not an issue, because he's got four golf carts in his garage.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

On Monday afternoon, I drove to Miami to tape an episode of "In My Own Words" with Shula, who was one of our marquee targets when we launched this show a few weeks ago. Our first two episodes featured University of Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley -- who you'll have to admit has had a pretty good year, even if you hate the Gators -- and new Miami head football coach Randy Shannon, who quickly convinced me that he was the perfect man for the job. In fact, when I jumped in my car on Monday, I had just wrapped up the Shannon interview, and I was feeling pretty good. Shannon was excellent, the taping went well, and we knew we had a good show in the can. Optimism flowed throughout my wife's Chrysler Pacifica as I barrelled down the Turnpike.

All of that ended when traffic on said Turnpike came to a complete halt somewhere north of Yeehaw Junction. There was a brush fire, a big one, and the FHP decided it was unsafe to proceed. An ever-lengthening line of cars waited for about half an hour -- many of us getting out of our vehicles in an attempt to see what was going on -- before the troopers inexplicably decided to let us pass through the smoke. I heard later that they shut it down again soon after I passed. The next morning, a horrific accident would again shut down the Turnpike, near the same spot, for most of the day. Can't help it if I'm lucky. Maybe that was an omen.

So naturally, having escaped a disastrous re-routing at Yeehaw Junction, I got completely freaking lost once I reached Dade County. Drove thirty minutes out of my way, called the hotel, got directions, cursed a blue streak, fought traffic, and rolled into the lobby a mere 5 hours after I left Orlando. Good times. I love South Florida.

Since we were interviewing Don Shula the next morning, the Sun Sports crew decided that, for research purposes, we needed to eat dinner at Shula's Steakhouse. I had the grouper. It was excellent. When in Miami Lakes, may I recommend Shula's, or perhaps Shula's 2 on Main Street, which is conveniently located inside Don Shula's Hotel, which is about two minutes down the road from Don Shula's Golf Club. I believe you can access it from the Don Shula Expressway. Did I mention that I was a wee bit nervous about meeting The Chin?

Woke up at 6:45am on Tuesday morning. Yep, a bit anxious. Did my 30-minute run on the treadmill -- I was tired of getting lost, so forget an outdoor run -- and got dressed. My directions to Shula's home indicated that it was an 18-mile drive. It took 45 minutes to get there. I love South Florida.

Drive down Collins Avenue in North Miami Beach. Head south, past Haulover Park, into the village of Surfside. Make a right, and pass through a neighborhood full of tidy, well-kept homes, none any bigger than 1500 square feet, none any cheaper than $1.5 million. I won't tell you the names of the streets, but it wouldn't matter if I did. The guards at the gate to Shula's neighborhood sit behind mirrored glass and probably carry AK-47's.

I punch the call button at the gate.

Disembodied voice: "May I help you?"

"Yeah, my name is Whit Watson, I'm with Sun Sports, we're here to do an interview with Don Shula at his home...I believe he's expecting us."

Pause. "What was the last name again?"

Crap. Was that the sound of a magazine being loaded?

"Watson. W-A-T-S-O-N."

Another pause. Then, "sure, I can let you in -- if you can tell me where the redfish and snook are biting this weekend."

Swear to God. The guard was a huge "Chevy Florida Fishing Report" fan. Spent three minutes on the speakerphone telling me how he watches it every week. The crew at Shula's house got a HUGE kick out of this story later. I gave the guy my thanks -- and Mike Holliday's home phone number -- and crossed the Venetian bridge into another world.

So let me set the stage: this island has about 36 homes, none of which would sell for less than $6 million. Since the island is more or less circular, all of the homes are waterfront. None are less than 9,000 square feet. There's a golf course in the center of the island, which appears to be maintained by the same people who bring you Augusta National. And now I'm going to park in Don Shula's driveway for a half-hour interview on his back porch, overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway.

How good is this job?

The Coach is busy this morning. Memorabilia signing in his garage all morning, followed by our interview, followed by another interview for NFL Films, followed by a Dolphins shoot wherein Shula will offer congratulations to the winner of an award named in his honor. All of this is relayed to me by Bill, the personal assistant to Shula, who greets me at the door of an old-school Miami home that can best be described as "lavish." Not showy, not gaudy. Lavish. Heavy drapes, big sofas, Italianate decor, oak panels. Lavish.

Bill goes everywhere with Shula when the coach is working. "Working," in this case, means exactly days like today: interviews, autograph sessions, availability. Everyone wants a piece of the man. Bill tells me that they try to pack all of these requests into single days, maybe once or twice a month, so as not to wear the coach out. It's a Media Day, essentially. One shot. He's 77 years old, after all.

However, when he walks onto his lanai to meet us for the interview, he looks about 60, tops. His hair is silver, but it's all there. He's shorter than I expected (aren't all celebrities that way?). He's trim -- thank you, NutriSystem!

I offer my hand. He takes it.

And Don Shula says to me, "you called the play-by-play for the St. Thomas Aquinas - Lakeland game?"

Bill has done his job by whispering background info into Shula's ear. Right about now, I really like Bill. I should also mention that Shula's grandson played for Aquinas last fall, and was on the field for the best football game I ever saw.

This is starting well.

The content of the interview will remain unwritten, for I would prefer that you all watch "In My Own Words" with Don Shula, next Monday (3/19) at 7pm on Sun Sports, with re-airs throughout the week. I will say this:

--My first question was about how much weight he had lost with NutriSystem, which he was MORE than happy to talk about. Obviously, the man has been compensated.

--His restaurant business, with 26 locations in 15 states, is his passion. And his favorite item on the menu is the 24-ounce porterhouse.

--Even with the cameras rolling, he didn't back off one inch on his comments about his son Mike's firing at Alabama, or on Nick Saban's departure from the Dolphins. He's Don Shula, dammit. He calls 'em like he sees 'em.

--He dearly loves John Carroll University in Cleveland, his alma mater. He considers himself an Ohio guy, as well as a Miami guy. He is fiercely loyal, which probably explains the fierce loyalty shown to him by his players.

--He believes that Bob Kuechenberg should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Do not argue with him on this.

--His off-camera assessment of Florida's performance in the BCS Championship Game: "Too much speed and defense." Well, thanks, Coach. You just summed up in five words what I struggled to spit out in one thousand.

--For a living legend, he is warm, inviting, and disarmingly friendly. He offered me a soda when we sat down. I guarantee that his 16 (!) grandchildren adore him. He draws people to him like a magnet. He happily posed with the entire Sun Sports crew for a photograph, holding his two Lombardi Trophies. Our grandchildren will enjoy that photo.

--His home is what we all work for. If there is a pot of gold at the end of our rainbows, I have seen it, and the guard at the gate loves to fish.

Quite a day. Hope you enjoy the show.

Lakeland's Best

Back home after researching and calling twelve FHSAA high school state championship games in boys' and girls' basketball over a span of eight days. Don't know why I enjoy the annual trip to Lakeland so much, but I do. The workload is crushing -- preparation time outweighs actual game time by about five to one -- but the games rarely disappoint.

My all-Finals team for the boys:

1A: Thomas Austin, PG, Pine Castle Christian Academy (Orlando)

Pine Castle has some serious pressure heading into this game -- their girls team won the 1A title on the same floor just one week earlier. The small-school classification was blown wide open when defending champ Calusa Prep of Miami was disqualified from the tournament over an illegal transfer. MVP of the game is Austin, who fights off persistent cramping in his hamstrings to keep the Eagles intact with his play at the point. Watching him grimace as he walked the floor was straight-up Willis Reed. Honorable mention to his teammate, Eddie Piccinini, for having one of the coolest names in the tournament. And kudos to Pine Castle Christian Academy for doubling up as girls' and boys' champions, a claim that no other school in the state can make this year.

2A: Derek Kurnitsky, head coach, Port St. Joe

Coach Kurnitsky, a youthful 34-year-old Florida State alum, gets my vote for his sheer chutzpah. Knowing full well that his Tiger Sharks had no chance of running with the two-time defending 2A champs from Jacksonville Arlington Country Day, Kurnitsky's game plan was to stall. There's no shot clock in high school basketball, and the coach told us before the game that "if we win the opening tip, we'll play for the last shot of the quarter." In other words, he planned to hold the ball for eight minutes. It didn't quite work out that way -- turnovers plagued the Tiger Sharks, who lacked the size and speed of the Apaches -- but it came pretty close. Port St. Joe actually held a two-point lead in the second quarter, playing a style best described as "retro." While the Apaches ran away and hid in the second half, eventually winning a third consecutive title, I admired the guts and patience of the undermanned Port St. Joe squad. Also, the purple-and-gold striped socks -- their lucky footwear, a tribute to the school's glory days of the '50s and '60s -- were spectacular. You gotta love a team nicknamed "The Cats in the Hats."

3A: Rihards Kuksiks, F, Florida Air Academy (Melbourne)

Kuksiks (pronounced KOOK-sicks) was the most polished player I saw all weekend. He's Latvian, so he fits right in with the roster at Florida Air, which resembles a United Nations general assembly. You know how broadcasters use the phrase "he sees the game in slow motion"? Watching Kuksiks play was the best example I can imagine. He never seems to be in a hurry, yet he's a step ahead of everyone else on the floor. The game comes to him. Herb Sendek is getting a gem at Arizona State this fall. He's got every shot, and the size to boot. The Falcons, meanwhile, ripped Gainesville's PK Yonge for a 4th state championship since 2001. One of the most entertaining teams I saw all week.

4A: Raymond Taylor, PG, Monsignor Pace High School (Miami)

Facing a large and hostile crowd -- Pace's opponent in the 4A final was Lakeland Kathleen, a school just down the street from the Lakeland Center -- the Spartans delivered, riding the blinding quickness and deft handle of the 5'6" sophomore guard, Taylor. It's hard to get a steal when the kid is dribbling eight inches off the floor. With a smile that lit up the arena, Taylor destroyed the Red Devils, punching holes in the defense and finding open teammates. Monsignor Pace had lost in the state semifinals three years in a row since winning it all in 2003. While it was a bummer of an ending for the hometown kids from Kathleen, we saw a star born in Taylor. Think Earl Boykins with cornrows.

5A: Joey Rodriguez, PG, Lake Howell High School (Winter Park)

Sure, I have a soft spot for undersized guards, but as one poster at GatorCountry put it, "if Rodriguez was a few inches taller, he'd be a four-star recruit." Generously listed at 5'10", J-Rod is the motor that makes the Silver Hawk machine go. Nick Calathes and Chandler Parsons, the two UF recruits, delivered as advertised, rocking the gym with lobs and no-look passes that only come from years of playing together, but Rodriguez is the glue. He's physically tough -- a Jameer Nelson-type body -- but crazy fast, and good with the ball. Dominates a game without taking a shot, that kind of player. In case anyone was wondering, Lake Howell really is that good. Their backups got into the game late, surfing a big lead, and ran Steve Kohn's offense almost as well as the starters. With 9 seniors leaving campus this spring -- including Calathes, Parsons, and Rodriguez -- that was an encouraging sign for Lake Howell.

6A: Kenneth Boynton Jr., F, Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach) and Chris Warren, G, Dr. Phillips (Orlando)

28 points for the sophomore, Boynton, before fouling out, and 38 for Warren, a senior. But that doesn't tell half the story. These two went head to head for much of the second half in what was, by far, the most competitive game of the weekend. Warren is a flat-out scorer, the kind of player who was seemingly born to put the ball in the hole. Fadeaways, layups in traffic, three-pointers, you name it. He's only 5'11", but was still signed by Ole Miss to play in the rugged SEC. If anyone saw Leemire Goldwire play in high school down at Palm Beach Dwyer, that's Warren. Boynton, on the other hand, is built like a fullback, and possesses a dogged determination to get to the basket that some might call "stubborn." He's only a sophomore, so cut him some slack. This was the best game of the week, taking a boisterous crowd to overtime before Ely knocked off the Panthers by three.

Many thanks to Mark Wise and the rest of the Sun Sports crew for all the hard work over these last two weeks, and thanks to all the coaches and players for making it so entertaining. Keep an eye on Sun Sports over the next two weeks as these games air on tape delay, and if you'd like to order DVD copies of any of the 12 championship games, you can do it here. And we'll see you in Lakeland next year.