By DAVID JONES, The Patriot-News
December 25, 2009, 9:09AM
More than any other sport that I’ve covered, basketball allows for the occurrence of the highly improbable. Something about the erratic emotional schisms of the game mingled with the ability of a smarter, more cohesive team to overcome a much more gifted and talented one.
When a savvier underdog fells a bloated favorite, especially at a non-aligned NCAA tournament venue where much of the crowd wants to see an upset anyway, there’s this exquisite beauty to it. It’s the best of why we watch spectator sport.
That’s what happened in my two favorite moments of this decade, recorded on the same date four years apart. Paul Vigna, our sports editor, has asked us to write small pieces about the best events we’ve covered in the aughts. Though the 2005 PSU football games against Minnesota and Ohio State announcing the arrival of the Nittany Renaissance were prime candidates, for sheer excitement and astonishment, these are my picks…
Penn State 82, North Carolina 74
NCAA South Regional second round
New Orleans, March 18, 2001
The longer it’s been since this happened, the more I doubt it actually did.
The Tar Heels entered this second-round game in New Orleans as massive a favorite as they were. Their 7-1 center Brendan Haywood is now an 8-year NBA vet with the Washington Wizards. Their 6-7, 270-pound power forward Julius Peppers became the second overall pick in the NFL Draft the following year and has been a regular Pro Bowl defensive end since.
Neither was supposed to be UNC’s best player. That was wing guard Joseph Forte, the 2001 ACC player of the year and soon to be a first-round pick in the NBA Draft – chosen ahead of Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas….
Read it all: My moments of decade: PSU and Bucknell upsets in Dance | David Jones with The Patriot-News – PennLive.com.