100% Cotten - 2004 Tournament Had Its Moments
3/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2004
The 2004 ACC Tournament was one not soon to be forgotten. Unranked and upstart Maryland simply counted backwards and toppled seeds 3, 2 and 1 to win a championship - in overtime. The Tournament started with free basketball on Thursday night and gave us more bang for the buck on Sunday afternoon. It gave us a new champion - finally. Duke had won a record five straight titles and seventeen consecutive ACC Tournament games before uncharacteristically imploding down the stretch against the Terps as Maryland seized its third-ever ACC crown.
Maryland's win was surprising. Or was it? This was a season where no lead was safe - for anyone. And the fact that Maryland set a new ACC Tournament record and came from nineteen down at halftime to beat N.C. State on Saturday - then erased a twelve- point deficit against the Blue Devils in the last 3:30 on Sunday seemed par for the course.
The ACC season ended in the same fashion that is started. With high drama and two very good teams fighting to the finish. You haven't forgotten the first ACC game of the season have you? Triple overtime. Chapel Hill. Wake Forest beats North Carolina. After that game, you could just sense that the final year of nine teams in the ACC was going to be special. And it was.
And speaking of special - what about those shoes that N.C. State brought out for the Tournament? Weren't those something (notice no question mark). Shoe statements rarely swish in athletics it seems to me. I remember Tennessee coming out several years back in Nike orange high-tops to play Alabama in football. One and done after the Tide pounded the Vols. The shoes were an easy scapegoat. I wonder if the Pack will see, er, wear red in the NCAA Tournament?
Georgia Tech made a fashion statement of its own in its quarterfinal matchup with Duke. The Jackets pulled out new blue unis for the first time in years but lost to the Blue Devils by 14. Tech had beaten Duke earlier in the season in gold but opted for blue against Duke's home whites. I can guarantee Paul Hewitt will leave the new blue in Atlanta for the NCAA Tournament. He may have ordered them left in Greensboro.
And speaking of more bang for the buck. On Friday, North Carolina Senator John Edwards - fresh off the campaign trail for the Democrat nomination for the office of President of the United States - was in attendance, shaking hands and watching some good college basketball. Almost directly across the arena floor from his seat was a man with a gun - a gun that went off during the Wake Forest - Maryland game injuring the gun's owner, an off-duty, out-of-state and out-of-touch police officer seated just behind and to the right of the Demon Deacons' bench.
Thankfully the man was not seriously hurt. Someone could have been easily killed. But the fact that he was even in the building with a gun took me aback. The media were routinely searched and herded through metal detectors from day one. Token searches of fans began only after the gun went off. Are you taking notes MCI Center?
It was another long Tournament for us on the radio crew calling every play of every game and everything before and after, including shoes, politicians and firearms. It's the best week of the year and the worst week of the year. And it's likely the last time we'll do it exactly like we have been.
Next year Miami and Virginia will be part of the family, which will add two more games on Thursday and mean a total of ten games for the event. Calling eight games in four days is borderline insanity. Trying to do ten games in four days is suicidal. Eleven in four days when Boston College arrives - impossible. We're working on a new formula with our ISP brethren Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech to continue to broadcast all or a majority of the games but preserve the integrity and quality of the broadcasts by sharing announcing duties.
Until then - enjoy the Madness, and GO DEACS!