Boston College Wins College Hockey Championship

We like to apologize for our lack of post-game coverage because Be Nasty decided to watch the game on campus while enjoying Sam Summer's, highlight parties, John Oates, and watching others play individual games of slap the bag.

Moving on:

After two straight years of disappointing performances in the National Championship game, BC proved that the Third Tynes a charm (thank you Lawrence Tynes) after they defeated Notre Dame 4-1 to reach the summit of NCAA hockey. Nathan Gerbe was a man on a mission against Notre Dame, scoring BC's first two goals and tallying assists on the other two. He took the team on his back during its National Championship run with an incredible 7-goal and 11-point performance.

Gerbe Records Hat Trick in 6-1 Win

We here at Bleeding Sports pride ourselves on our analysis and full coverage of every top flight sporting event. Our very own correspondent Be Nasty took time off from his 18-hour a day Investment Banking gig to travel out to Denver and cover the NCAA hockey Frozen Four. Be Nasty even snapped a few photos to chronicle the shellacking that Nathan Gerbe and the boys from Boston College laid on those lumberjacks from North Dakota.

Who are the Chefs?

This classic Snickers commercial popped into my head the other day for whatever reason. Great Googly Moogly, naturally the ad can be found on YouTube allowing Bleeding Sports to share with all our friends. I still get a kick out of it after all these years.

Kansas Breaks Through

They were the worst of the #1 seeds and barely escaped the upset to Davidson in the Elite Eight. Now, they are the National Champions. College basketball fans had become accustomed to watching Kansas fail to live up to expectations and choke in the NCAA tournament. Can you say Bucknell or Bradley? But the Jayhawks silenced the doubters by reaching the Final Four and then blitzing a North Carolina squad that had looked invincible during the tournament.

The National Championship game went back and forth until Memphis and freshman star Derrick Rose took control. Facing a nine point deficit with two minutes to play, Kansas seemed destined to fall short yet again. It looked like just another disappointing ending to a season of high expectations for coach Bill Self and his team. Only this time, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, Mario Chalmers, and his Kansas teammates decided to write a different ending.

Give an assist to Memphis. Despite his best efforts to diffuse talk of his team's struggles from the foul line, John Calipari's Tigers couldn't seal the deal from the charity stripe. Kansas rode their momentum and emotion into overtime exhibiting brilliant offensive execution and stifled Memphis on the defensive end. As the buzzer sounded, the result was one amazing Jayhawks comeback.

Kansas finally has their One Shining Moment.

The Lights Stay On

from Gweeg
gweeg.blogspot.com

"Friday Night Lights" will return for a third season. NBC has struck a deal with DirectTV that calls for 13 new episodes that will begin airing in October exclusively on DirectTV. The deal between NBC and the satellite television provider allows for DirectTV to contribute to the "Friday Night Lights" production costs in exchange for the rights to air the show first. After the season airs on DirectTV, Friday Night Lights will return to NBC in January 2009. Kudos to NBC for thinking outside the box and keeping alive the critically acclaimed program. Far too often, quality programs with a loyal yet small fan base fall by the wayside. Let's hope that in the case of "Friday Night Lights" a new precedent has been set.

Duke Punk Hits Deck

Here is one of Bleeding Sports favorite moments of the 2008 NCAA tournament. As the final seconds of his college career ticked away, Duke's resident cheap shot artist, Gerald Henderson, looked to take out his frustration on West Virginia's Cam Thoroughman...from behind. Only this time, the cowardly Mr. Henderson messed with the wrong guy. Thoroughman, the Mountaineers' third string small forward answered Henderson's final shot with one of his own. The result was little Gerald culminating his collegiate career with a seat on the deck.

And Then There Were Four

Tonight, the men's basketball 2008 Final Four tips off from San Antonio. This is the first time in the history of the tournament all four number one seeds have reached the semifinal round. And while it may make for a competitive Final Four, it makes it extremely hard to pick a team to root. Unless someone is a fan of Memphis, UCLA, North Carolina, or Kansas nobody wants to root for a powerhouse. The NCAA tournament is at its best when there is an underdog for the fans to embrace and root for. If it wasn't for Stephen Curry and Davidson's run to the Elite Eight, this year's tournament would be easily forgettable. Too many games this year were noncompetitive and even that ones that had some mild drama ended with the top seeds moving on. What college basketball is left with is the top four teams all still playing. Where's the fun in that? Why even play a tournament? Anyone who follows college basketball could have picked this Final Four in November. Yawn.

So instead of analyzing the Final Four, here are Bleeding Sports top moments of the 2008 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Siena spanks Vanderbilt

Everyone and their mother picked this upset, which makes it even more amazing that it actually happened. What people didn't expect is how thoroughly dominant the mid-major Saints were against one of the best teams in the SEC. This game drove home the point of just how poor the SEC was this season. For Siena, a team whose loses only one senior and no starters, look for deeper NCAA tournament run in the years to come.


West Virginia sends Duke home

Duke continues to receive too much love from the tournament selection committee. The Blue Devils were given a gift number 2 seed and then backed it up by nearly losing in the first round to 15 seed Belmont. Well the Blue Devils had no such luck in round 2 as West Virgina continued their recent postseason success in a physically dominating fashion. The Mountaineers bullied the Dukies in the second half, exploiting the Blue Devil's weakness on the boards and reliance on the three point shot. Duke couldn't hit anything from the outside and West Virginia smacked Coach K's boys around on the court and in the post-game press conference.

Davidson slays Georgetown

This biggest upset of the tournament. Georgetown shot over sixty percent for the game and still found a way to lose. Turnovers and foul trouble hurt Georgetown, but not nearly as badly as Stephen Curry's riveting second half performance. After being held down by the Georgetown defense in the first half, Dell's son went wild in second half without an array of long jumpers and beautiful drives to basket. Curry carried Davidson on his back and did it against one of the best defensive teams in the country. One of the best individual performances in the history of the tournament.

Xavier escapes against West Virginia

The best game of the year's big dance was this Sweet Sixteen match up. The Musketeers jumped all over West Virgina early and opened up a sixteen point lead in this first half. However, the Mountaineers were able to cut the deficit to single digits before halftime and outplayed Xavier in the second half. However, Joe Alexander and company couldn't finish off the Musketeers in regulation and after taking an early six point lead in the overtime session, B.J. Raymond's two three pointers bailed out Xavier sending Bob Huggins and his Mountaineers home.

Super Giants

Bleeding Sports has dropped the ball in staying current, however, to quote lyrics from a song by Three Days Grace, "It's not too late, it's never too late." This is why over the course of the coming weeks Bleeding Sports will be taking a look back at what has transpired in the world of sports over the last couple of months. Topping the list of sports headlines in 2008 is the New York Giants victory over the mighty New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Suddenly, special teams standout David Tyree is a household name. That's the power of sports on the world's biggest stage. Can you say Catch 42? Let's take a moment to celebrate football's newest folk hero.