Lost Lake Tribune April 7th Part two

Tar Heels One Shining Moment Monday, April 6th will be a day that will be forever engraved in the minds of those who wore the powder blue and white, and especially those named Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green. These four shunned the quick millions the NBA offered and bucked a trend that is becoming all too prevalent in the culture of modern college basketball, and instead followed their hearts back to Chapel Hill and Roy Williams. You see, they had left some unfinished business, the matter of a national championship banner to hang besides the previous four in the programs history.

Monday night, their sacrifice and swear paid off and their dreams came true as they convincingly handled the Spartans of Michigan State 89-72 in the National Championship Game in front of some 72,000 fans at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. This team was supposed to win it all at the beginning of the year, the experts said. And their regular season, while not overly dominating, certainly didn't do anything to diminish that feeling among most. Yet, that feeling had cooled a little by tourney time as Big East powers Louisville, UConn, and Pittsburgh flexed their muscles and swayed many filling out their brackets. Michigan State, on the other hand, while the Big ten regular season champs, and ranked in the top ten for a good portion of the season, didn't seem like they hand the experience yet to make a run at the national title. But the Lord of Lansing, Tom Izzo, in perhaps his best job of coaching in his distinguished career, brought his bruising squad through both Louisville and UConn and had them primed to defeat their 3rd # 1 seed of the Tourney. With the advantage of an in-state court and crowd, many predicted that they were this tourney's team of destiny.

But, that team never seemed to show up Monday night and Carolina's experience and desire never gave the Spartans a chance, as they set the record for most points at halftime (55) and kept the lead between 15-20 points throughout the majority of the second half.

UNC's defense was stifling and its offense executed at peak performance as they riddled the vaunted Spartan interior defense. Ty Lawson set a Championship game record with 8 steals and Tyler Hansbrough moved in to 4th place all-time for NCAA Tourney points. Wayne Ellington was named the Tourney's Most Outstanding Player with his superb shooting and defense in the Final Four. Roy Williams, amid the tears, admitted that other than the birth of his kids, this was the best moment of his life. He has now won as many championships at UNC (2) as his mentor Dean Smith did during his legendary career in Chapel Hill, which leads yours truly to personally consider him the top coach in the game presently. For this fan, the joy and genuine excitement that permeates March Madness is what college basketball is all about, and why it is the greatest sporting event we know today; and UNC is the poster child. If you ask Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington, and Green if it was worth it, their smile would be all the answer you'd need. And as for destiny? For some strange reason it seems to shine the brightest on those who sacrifice the most and work the hardest, my friends.

This article was written by the Lost Lake Tribune Bracket Challenge Provisional Champion: Kyle Courtney

UCONN Huskies win Sixth Women's National Championship

ST. LOUIS -- Unbeaten, unchallenged and national champions. After one last blowout, Connecticut could finally exhale and take its place in basketball history. Tina Charles had 25 points and grabbed 19 rebounds Tuesday night as UConn routed Louisville 76-54 and captured the Huskies' sixth title. "I'm so overwhelmed how I feel about the way it ended," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said a few minutes after he helped cut down the nets at the Scottrade Center and was carried off the court. "This is the first time since the brackets came out I didn't feel like I'm going to get sick, physically sick, thinking about everything that was ahead of us." It wasn't just that Connecticut claimed another championship. It was how they did it.

Tina Charles has been overshadowed and bore the biggest brunt of her coach's criticism throughout the season. But on Tuesday, the junior center ensured Connecticut would cap its perfect season, writes Graham Hays. UConn won every one of its 39 games by double digits, a first in college basketball. "This is the first time we can stop and enjoy the win for more than a couple of days," said senior guard Renee Montgomery, with a beaming smile and a championship net dangling around her neck. "We're always looking to the future. Now we have time to enjoy this win and all the other ones."

Charles was the star of the final victory. She commanded both ends of the floor and Louisville, which lost badly to UConn for the third time this season, had no one who could stop her. Auriemma had said before the tournament that his junior center would be the key to UConn winning the title. A year after he benched her in the NCAAs for inconsistent play, Charles delivered. "I'm really happy for her," Auriemma said. "I told Tina before the game, I said 'Sunday night you played against an All-American center and you played defense and you worked as hard as the best center in America and now you have to prove it tonight' and she did." Charles was 11-for-13 from the field, and fell just one rebound short of becoming only the second player ever in a championship game to have at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. She was named the outstanding player of the Final Four. Maya Moore and Montgomery each added 18 points for the Huskies. "It was another challenge and I wanted to show my teammates they could depend on me," Charles said. "I wanted to send off Renee being happy. I wanted her to have all smiles for the next step in her career." Angel McCoughtry finished off her stellar career for Louisville with 23 points. Candyce Bingham was the only other Cardinal in double figures with 10 points as Louisville (34-5) shot a dismal 31 percent from the floor.

Information Gained from: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/recap?gameId=294000063

EDITORIAL

First of all I'd like to say congratulations to UNC, UCONN and Penn State for their respective championships.

Now, let me get serious. Should the US flag now have 46 stars? Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, and Vermont have seemingly started a new trend that may sweep the country before I am 35. These four states have one way or another legalized same-sex marriage. As Alliance Defense Fund, would state same-sex marriage and heterosexual marriage are not the same. Heterosexual marriage is the right to procreate and raise children within the marriage relationship. Same-sex marriage is the right to raise minors outside of the marriage relationship. These are two very different ideas that have been blurred in these four states and could be in many other states. Instead this is what should be done:

No state should legalize same-sex marriage without two consecutive majority votes of the legislature and one vote of the people with 60% of the people voting for same-sex marriage. No Justice of the Peace should be forced to perform any kind of marriage ceremonies if his conscience deems the marriage wrong. Once there is a vote by the people, no state should change its marriage laws again. States should also have the people vote on whether out-of-state marriages should be realized. No state should allow minors to get married, ever again (I have to make an exception for my grandmother whom I dearly love). No state should allow any marriage certificates without at least a one week waiting period between the application and the final state ceremony.

Meanwhile churches should not perform any marriage ceremonies unless the candidates are already legally married by the state (or could be during the ceremony). Churches should not ever perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. Churches should only perform marriages for 6-month or more members of the church and at least six month citizens of the same state. Churches should not promote the "gay" agenda in any way, shape, or form.

So read these ideas to your family, churches, friends, enemies, leaders and those idiots in the Iowa Supreme courts and those idiots in the Vermont legislature. Because those men and women have disdained their high offices by taking the law into their own hands and changing it with little warning and little wisdom. Those officials should be voted out as soon as possible. Vermont needs a whole host of new legislators and Iowa needs a new supreme court. If these foolish leaders are not run out of state then let those states start their own sovreign nations.

This is the opinion of editor Benjamin Fugate please email him at benfugate2005@yahoo.com with any questions or comments or articles.