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AD PARTNERS
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Can't y'all just get along?
Posted: Sunday March 19, 2000 11:57 AM
By Ivan Maisel, Sports Illustrated BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Two newspaper articles have raised eyebrows among the officials and media members in Birmingham. In Friday's USA Today , Connecticut women's coach Geno Auriemma -- whose rivalry with Huskies' men's coach Jim Calhoun is well-documented -- said that in his opinion four teams have a legitimate shot to win the men's tournament and called Michigan State the team to beat. He never mentioned UConn. In Saturday's Birmingham Post-Herald, columnist Paul Finebaum called for North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge to retire and compared the Tar Heels' slide to the Fall of the Roman Empire. Apprised of the column, Guthridge, whose sense of humor is desert-dry, said, "Well, it's not like I haven't heard that before." Culture clash: The matchup of South Carolina State and Stanford Friday provided a wonderful clash of cultures, something that the NCAA Tournament offers up more often than any other sporting event in the country. When a South Carolina State player went to the foul line, the Stanford Band chanted "Loot! Pillage! Burn!" over and over. When a Stanford player went to the foul line, the South Carolina State band chanted, "You sorry! You sorry!" Why is the ball round?: Birmingham has secured its reputation as the football capital of the south. Barely 11,000 fans came to the Birmingham-Jefferson County Civic Center, which seats more than 17,000, for one Friday session. As of Saturday afternoon, 2,500 tickets still remained available for Sunday's doubleheader. Two streaks worth noting for Sunday's games: Tennessee has never won two games in the same NCAA tournament. Stanford is 0-8 lifetime against North Carolina. Official barbecue of the NCAA: Dreamland, the renowned barbecue joint in downtown Birmingham, has been a hub for the teams, officials and media this weekend. Utah State ate there Thursday night. Stanford brought ribs and chicken into its postgame locker room Friday night. As forward Mark Madsen answered questions after the Cardinal's victory over South Carolina State, he kept glancing at the aluminum trays that held the food. Finally, he said, "Excuse me, guys, the chicken's about to run out." He walked over, refilled his plate and came back to finish up the Q&A session. Ivan Maisel is a Sports Illustrated senior
writer.
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