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Davis Young
- Mar 28, 2023

DY: In Just a Few Words (#129)

I am sure NO ONE picked this combo.

March Craziness is about over and - as much as many folks may be glad to see it go - I think this was the greatest, most interesting and surprising NCAA Basketball Tournament of all time.

You may remember a year ago when very unexpectedly my UNC Tar Heels came out of nowhere to reach the final game. They were the surprise team of that tournament. And, they had Kansas in a choke-hold after the first half, which ended with UNC up by 16 points.

Lots of articles and opinion pieces are appearing right now trying to figure out what happened to this year’s Tar Heels. After all, they returned four starters and added one very fine player via transfer. They should have been all set for another run. In fact, UNC was the consensus pre-season #1 ranked team in the nation.

I would suggest that the demise of the team this year started in the second half of the Kansas game a year ago, when the Jayhawks staged the largest NCAA championship game comeback in tournament history. Folks, you are simply not supposed to lose after you have a 16 point halftime lead. Doing that plays into a team’s memory (aka psyche) and it’s clear UNC never recovered.

So it is that last year’s runner-up/this year’s pre-season favorite didn’t even get selected to participate in the 2023 spectacle. Talk about a fall from grace.

Speaking of 2023, this year’s Final Four features Miami (the one in Florida), Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and UConn. Say what?

I have a friend who likes to wager a dollar or two on sports competitions. I’ll wager a dollar that he didn't pick a single one of these teams to be in the Final Four. Come on. These teams are all good, but this mix in the Final Four? NO ONE picked it. There can’t be a single perfect bracket remaining. Not one.

What are the lessons from this year’s amazing tournament?

Anybody can win any game. That’s why they play the games.
People who believe their own press clippings set themselves up to fail.
Nobody hands you anything in life. You have to go out and earn it and keep earning it every day.

It’s hard to be a top dog. That’s particularly true in a new era of college sports where huge sums of money are dangled in front of players who have been coddled since the third grade. They are told how great they are from an early age. They go to college for a year, then on to NBA University. They can transfer with ease. Today, as amateurs, they can be paid to endorse products while they are still in school and on the team. They’re fun to watch, but hard to become attached to. As in many aspects of life and business, old-fashioned loyalty isn’t what it used to be. I wish it weren’t this way, but building a team of winners who stick together for four years has to be about as easy as picking a perfect result from the NCAA tournament.

It’s a new world. Adapt or move out of the way. UNC has won six national basketball championships and last year almost number seven. Dook has five. The enemy never sleeps. UNC took a nap this year. It’s time to wake up.

Can they find a way to get back to what their basketball pedigree says they have earned?

We’ll see.

DY: In Just a Few Words is a blog that comes out when something needs to be said or every Tuesday - whichever comes first. Davis Young is a communications professional who adds 50+ years of experience and perspective to issues of the day. His emphasis in DY: In Just a Few Words will be humor (a touch of sarcasm here, a pinch of facetiousness there...). Once in a while, he will touch on something a bit more serious - but hopefully not too deep or depressing.

This blog is a product of DY Author & Speaker LLC. Feel free to quote content with attribution. Respond. Agree. Disagree. Share the content with your friends. Heck - even invite him as a speaker for your group! Enjoy!

Davis Young
- Mar 21, 2023

DY: In Just a Few Words (#128)

Much has changed, but much has stayed the same.

My earliest recollection of what has become March Madness dates to 1957 and the University of North Carolina’s magical 32-0 undefeated season. I was a senior in high school in New Jersey, riding around in my parents' Plymouth while listening to the championship game on the car radio. I would enroll at UNC the following September.

North Carolina had reached the finals after beating Michigan State in triple overtime. The finals also went to triple overtime, with UNC beating Kansas and its all-world player Wilt Chamberlain. And, you wonder why I call that season magical?

A lot has also changed in basketball since I was in high school. Go online and look at the uniform (including shoes) and you’ll see one difference right away. The game was played below the rim back then. The dunk that would become wildly popular wasn’t standard fare until the mid 1970s. The three-point shot - while around longer than the dunk - wasn’t introduced until the 1960s.

The term March Madness had not been invented in 1957. It was a different tournament than today in some ways, but it was eerily similar in others. Only 23 teams played in 1957 versus 68 today. But, in addition to UNC, Kansas and Michigan State, many names familiar to today’s hard-core basketball fans competed that year, including UConn, Syracuse, Kentucky and Notre Dame. And, to prove what goes around comes around, the 2022 final game had Kansas beating UNC, getting even for 1957.

Back in olden times, UNC home games attracted only a few thousand fans to its Woolen Gym with a capacity of 6,000. By the early 1980s, the team had become so popular that students would camp out for up to a week to get a coveted ticket to a basketball game.

The current home of UNC basketball, the Smith Center (aka Dean Dome), has a capacity of 21,750. And, here’s the answer to a trivia question - contractors were prohibited from wearing any Dook or NC State garb on that job.

Rumor has it that one game against Dook exceeded that 21,750 figure by a handful. Hope the fire marshal doesn’t hear about that. If you think home court advantage doesn’t exist, UNC has won more than 400 games at the Smith Center over the years, while losing less than 100.

UNC had a terrible 2023 season - not even being one of the 68 teams good enough to be invited to participate in the NCAA Tournament. What a fall from grace. A year ago the national finals. This year not even a participant. And so it goes. Bet your house that the 2024 Tar Heels will be better, a lot better.

I’m asked all the time what I majored in at UNC. Truth be known, I majored in basketball watching.

It’s a different world today. Next week's blog will have my thoughts about the current state of March Madness.

Davis Young
- Mar 14, 2023

DY: In Just a Few Words (#127)

Who needs snow anyway?

We’ve been in Florida for the last six weeks or so. February on Marco Island on Florida’s west coast and the last couple of weeks in Fort Lauderdale on the east coast.

Both coasts have an ocean, lots of sandy beaches and sunshine (frequently), but that’s where the similarities end. Marco Island is quiet. It’s residential. It’s suburban. Even in the high season, there are no major traffic issues. It attracts a lot of visitors from Cleveland. Fort Lauderdale, on the other hand, is loud, commercial and a traffic nightmare. It’s urban. It attracts a lot of folks from New Jersey. I live in Cleveland. I was raised in New Jersey. I fit in well in both places and I like both. How great to get away for a few weeks to each.

When a blogger has anxious readers like I do waiting for the next edition - and is on the road like I’ve been recently - it’s essential to write columns in advance. So, I confess today’s DY: In Just A Few Words was written back on January 17. You might say it’s all made-up, but I’m pretty darn sure it’s consistent with my experiences over the last few years. Come along with me on a wonderful trip based on real past experiences.

Our Florida adventure started in Cleveland on a cold and snowy day. Who would want to leave home in that weather? I would. That’s for sure. Fortunately, the flights were going and Denny was on time to take us to the airport. Off we went to Fort Myers, a great little airport in the midst of an area that was clobbered by last fall’s deadly hurricane. Off to the right as we land is Sanibel Island that took such a terrible pounding.

The first stop on the way to our condo rental on Marco? The grocery store, of course. Just enough to get us through till breakfast, Karen said. Orange juice, milk, cereal, bread and - for some reason that escapes me - a pot roast with all the fixings and some wine. Gonna be some breakfast.

A typical day on Marco Island means a long walk (or possibly two), a nap in a lawn chair in the sun (or possibly two), and an excursion to one of the nearby nature preserves to see, well, nature… You know, birds, perhaps a snake or two and the ever elusive gators. Saw one the other day that was over 25 feet long. Some said he was world-record size. He was snacking on a tourist when I moved on.

Low salt food is also popular here on Marco Island. In fact, most of the older folks (and most of the folks are older) seem to be thriving on it. I feel right at home.

Alas, it’s time to move on. Enough of Marco. Look out, Fort Lauderdale. Here we come. The drive over from the west to the east coast is known as Alligator Alley. It’s like driving a pencil from one side of the state to the other. There is one very modest itty, bitty jog to the left. Other than that, it’s straight as the proverbial pencil for a bit over 100 miles.

Into view comes Fort Lauderdale. The first time I was there was nearly 60 years ago. Tracy was just two and my destination of choice was a place called the Elbo Room, a beer joint for college kids. It’s still rockin’ and rollin’. Yes!

I thought about stopping at the Elbo Room for a quick pint, but Karen informed me beer has too much salt in it. I think she was just trying to keep me away from the young co-eds there. But who am I to question her?

Putting the Elbo Room into my distant past I set about locating some Everglades-like nature parks. You can find them here, too. And, Karen says they are low salt (as long as you don’t drink the water).

The 24/7 view from the condo Denny and his in-laws share has spectacular views. In the daytime, we look just below to watch boats worth mega millions floating by on the Nu River. Must belong to lottery winners..

At night, we have the most spectacular and colorful view of Ft. Lauderdale after dark. And, anytime of the day or night, we can go to the rooftop pool for a look at the cruise ship terminal and the bustling Ft. Lauderdale Airport.

A short walk across a bridge lands us on Las Olas Blvd., home of world-class food and entertainment.

So, just like on Marco Island, we hang out. What’s not to like in either place? To combine both on a single trip is a dream come true.

Now, it’s time to go pack our bags for Cleveland. Home beckons.

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