Carolina Blue Remains Gold Standard

DETROIT -- They celebrated together, arm in arm, bouncing and hugging and laughing and ultimately crying as the confetti buried them. It isn't the best time for traditional brand names in America, with even the surest things reduced to chilling vulnerability in a volatile, wacky world. But the North Carolina basketball name, a constant for ages in this country, remains safe and secure.

You might have been bored by it all Monday night, driven to beddy-bye by one of the most lopsided national championship games ever. You might have been bummed that Michigan State, backed by 60,000 fans in a geographically convenient love-in, didn't complete the mission of soothing the collective psyche of a battered city and state. You might have been worn down by the familiar sight of Carolina Blue prevailing again -- ho hum, ad nauseum, bring on baseball and Tiger Woods at the Masters -- and annoyed by the thought of President Obama trash-talking that he picked the champion in his Barack-O-bracket.

Me? I was mesmerized, gobsmacked, blown away.

In a sport of stretched-out parity, no one should dominate a title game the way the Tar Heels dominated a 89-72 romp, minimizing the partisan noise to a shellshocked whisper. "The perfect storm,'' marveled Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who was rendered helpless. Carolina had me at the opening tip, which had to be re-done when Tyler Hansbrough -- the all-encompassing symbol of this tale -- tied up Michigan State's Travis Walton for a loose ball and jumped right back up as if possessed. It was obvious, then and there, that no one was beating Psycho-T and the Heels. "He got his nose busted two years ago, when blood was coming down his face,'' Walton recalled. "So me and him tying up for a basketball and falling to the ground, I'm pretty sure he's gonna jump up real fast. It's the national championship game.''

If you blinked, you missed all the drama. Ty Lawson, playing with a jammed toe the last month, attacked Michigan State for seven first-half steals en roue to 10 for the night. Hansbrough was his physical, efficient self. Wayne Ellington was open and draining jumpshots. The first man off the bench, freshman Ed Davis, played like a force who might be an NBA lottery pick, which is all you need to know about this team's amazing depth. Barely four minutes into the game, Carolina had scored 17 points against an Izzo-coached defense. Soon enough, it was 24-8 ... then 32-11 ... then 43-20 ... then 55-34 at halftime, a gap punctuated by 14 MSU turnovers.

"Stage fright,'' said a disappointed Michigan State guy, Magic Johnson.

"I did feel a little deer-in-the-headlights look,'' Izzo admitted.

Actually, this was about Roy Williams accumulating the nation's elite talent, coaching the dickens out of it -- to use one of his corny words -- and overcoming injuries and doubts from the national peanut gallery to win Carolina's second national title in five years. If anyone doubted it last year, when the Tar Heels laid an egg in the semifinals against Kansas, this is the gold standard of college hoops programs. Everyone else hopes to reach the Final Four. North Carolina expects it. "You've got six NBA players who could be drafted in the first round or early second," said Walton, who committed four turnovers while teammate Kalin Lucas was committing six. "You're really looking at a team that could probably beat the worst team in the NBA."


And while Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington, Danny Green and maybe Davis skip off to the NBA, be fairly certain that Carolina will be back soon. Williams simply reloads because top players want to play in Chapel Hill. Duke? It's no coincidence that Williams has won two national titles and reached three Final Fours in his six years while Mike Krzyzewski hasn't been to a Final Four in the last five years. Roy has defused the power of Coach K, though he wasn't about to take much credit after midnight in his aw-shucks mode. Never mind that he becomes only the fourth active coach to win multiple championships, joining Krzyzewski, Jim Calhoun and Billy Donovan.

"Somebody told me if I won, I'd be the 13th coach (ever) to have more than one. I have a hard time believing that,'' Williams said. "I mean, I really do. Roy Williams is not that good. But, boy, old Roy has got some big-time players, and that's what it takes.''

The legendary Dean Smith had even better players, including a certain fan in the stands named Michael Jeffrey Jordan. And Williams now has as many titles as Smith in a much shorter time span. Is it possible Roy is better than Dean? Do we dare suggest it? "Roy Williams and Dean Smith don't fit in the same sentence,'' he said. "I really believe that. I'm not being humble. I just don't believe that. I've got an unbelievable staff. I mean, we've been to five Final Fours in the last eight years (including Kansas). When I'm about to mess up, they take care of me. They give me great suggestions, and I get to make decisions.''

Williams isn't the romantic figure here. What's impressive about Carolina is how Hansbrough and others who could have opted for the NBA last spring, as the vast majority of good players do, chose to reunite for one final try. "As I walked off the floor, I told Hansbrough that it was really nice to see a bunch of guys that stayed in school and put winning above everything else,'' Izzo said. "Even though we did have a cause -- we had a bunch of causes -- they had a cause, too, and I was pretty impressed by that.'' In Hansbrough's case, he may have lost money because his pro stock has dropped somewhat this season, but no one was more emotional during the celebration than the most-maligned player in the land. Why people don't like him, I really don't know, but you don't have a heart if you didn't take a look at his tears and smile.

"Sounds like I made a pretty good decision. This is the best feeling in the world,'' Hansbrough said. "It's the greatest way to go out. I mean, what we've been through as a team? But we stuck to it and climbed, and we did it.''

Old Roy loves all his players. But he has a special affection for Hansbrough, a self-made player who has ignored the taunts and crank phone calls to become the quintessential college basketball player. Williams almost broke down and wept when talking about him, but he somehow kept his emotions together. "I can say this, and you guys can choose to believe it or not,'' he said. "I wanted this championship for Roy Williams, yes. And I'm extremely, extremely satisfied. But I desperately -- and it's not war and it's not the economy or anything -- but I desperately wanted this championship for that young man. I know that's corny. But, hello, that's who I am. Let me explain it this way. Yes, I earn a good salary, but if you put $10 million in a pile, and say, 'Roy, you can have that $10 million, but if you take it, you'll forget that feeling you had when that big rascal came over and hugged you,' you guys can split that $10 million because I wouldn't give $10 million for the feeling I had at that moment.''


For a program known as a stoic blueblood, it's remarkable how many tear ducts were tortured. At haltime, when the public-address announced barked, "One of the most recognizable figures in the world ....'' most of the 72,922 fans in Ford Field began to roar. In a shock of unprecedented proportion, Jordan's election to the Basketball Hall of Fame had been announced earlier in the day. He waved to the crowd with the others in his class, including John Stockton and David Robinson, but if you looked closely, you could see his eyes filling up with tears. For most, the Hall of Fame election is a joyous occasion. For Mike, the ultimate competitor, it's killing him.

"This is not fun for me," Jordan said. "I don't like being up here for the Hall of Fame, because at that time, your basketball career is completely over. That's the way I look at it. I was hoping this day was coming in 20 more years, or that I'd actually go in when I'm dead and done. Because the way you always look at it, you can always go and put shorts on and play. Now you get into the Hall of Fame, what else is there to do?

"Look, it's a great accomplishment. It's great the respect everyone is paying. But for me, I always want to have you thinking that I can always go back and play the game of basketball. As long as you have that thought you never know what can happen. You never know what my abilities can do.''

Please. God, no. He wasn't thinking about coming back again, was he?

"No," Jordan said. "But I'd like for you to think that way.''

It was a milestone day in his life, His youngest son, Marcus, committed to play at Central Florida weeks after winning an Illinois state championship. In Chicago, Jordan was shown on a video used by 2016 Summer Olympics organizers to sway visiting members of the International Olympic Committee. Yet all he could think about was playing ball again. Hey, why not a one-on-one, Carolina vs. MSU warmup between Jordan and Johnson?

"You really think he can beat me?'' Jordan shot back. "He couldn't beat me in the (NBA) Finals at all.''

Soon enough, deep into the night, His Airness was celebrating with Old Roy, the current players and former greats like Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. If it felt like North Carolina is the essence of college basketball, the class of the sport, reality simply was sinking in. Accept it and move on to next year, when, surely, the Tar Heels will be ready to win again