Route 37 winds south and plummets like a stream of water, skimming over the east side of downtown San Antonio. Across the road from the holy city is San Antonio's largest monolithic building: the Alamo Dome – Jay Wright and John Belein, who are the protagonists under the dome tonight.
Surrounded by countless reporters, the two people sat side by side, laughing and laughing. It's the eve of the war, america's most watched basketball tournament, the annual NCAA Annual Finals, which will be the final showdown between Villanova University and the University of Michigan, which they lead.
The winner wins all and the loser goes home, which is the only ending of brutal competitive sports. But until such an ending finally comes, they still smile like this, looking more like friends than enemies.
Yes, friend. They were friends.
No one can get a glimpse into their inner world, but in the coaching interview before the final, when the two coaches finally meet each other on the interview table, there must be a line that flashes through their minds at the same time: My God, more than 30 years later, we actually met again in this place - how it sounds like an inspirational workplace movie, the kind of two-protagonist mode.
In 1984, the basketball world changed dramatically by embracing david stern and Michael Jordan at the same time, and it was in 1984 that Belein first met Jay Wright.
That was 34 years ago.
The 31-year-old Bellein had just been named the new manager by Le Monnet University, and he was energetically scouting players around the West of New York City, so he bumped into a young man in two directions for three days, which reminded Belleine of his former self, remembering that he was also the kind of person who rushed to the coaching bench immediately after graduating from college. "At that time, I was better than him, I was already the head coach of the NCAA second-level school, and we had a scholarship," Bellein said, unconsciously laughing out loud, "He was still a teaching assistant in the third-level school, and there was no scholarship to give." ”
It's a great story, isn't it? The diligent and kind big brother, the talented little brother, met on the highest stage in the basketball world after more than 30 years, and even their respective wives were tennis partners who had to meet every week 30 years ago.
The journalists who have unearthed this history all think that it is a pity that such a story is not made into a movie. So at the press conference, a reporter raised his hand and asked: Coach, if you want actors to play you, who do you want?
'Anyway, I can guarantee that even at the end of the game, he will still look exactly like George Clooney." Belein describes it this way that Jay Wright looks like George Clooney (left above) and has long been an open secret in basketball.
Jay Wright is recognized as the most personable coach in college basketball, with a straight posture, decent speech, and is seen as a replica of Hollywood movie star George Clooney, and more importantly: Wright and Clooney, both now happen to be 56 years old.
So who will play Coach Belleine? "I wish it was Kevin Costner (above, right), but I don't dare think so."
Thankfully, this year's NCAA, no matter what, can make a brilliant and warm film ending, but people who have cared about college basketball in the past year know what a year it is.
One of the things that Belein most envied about Jay Wright was that the latter already had the NCAA championship in hand. Before this meeting, they had all led the team to the stage of the ncaa final, but Jay Wright's Villanova had successfully won the cup in the fight against North Carolina two years ago, and Bellein and Michigan had tasted the bitter fruit of failure five years ago.
That was the most famous generation at the University of Michigan after the "Michigan Five", and the backcourt of that team was now the Knicks double-gun Trey Burke and Hardaway Jr., and there were three NBA players on the flanks, Stauskas, Puppy Robinson and the still young Caris LeVert, and even the NBA first-round show Mickey McGarry, who had been attracted by the Thunder.
But the talented Michigan eventually lost to Louisville, whose head coach, Rick Pitino, had a morbid pale face that showed joy after winning the championship. A few days later, at the age of 61, Pitino made good on his promise and put the championship on his back as a memorial.
Pitino's light is so dazzling, he is the super coach in the college basketball world, the only person in history to lead three universities into the final four, and the super representative of the early NBA and college basketball. Bellein is a completely unremarkable supporting character in a series that belongs to Pitino, but fate tells Bellein after a lapse of 5 years: the trophy should actually be his.
The FBI's involvement has allowed the NCAA scandal to erupt in full force over the past year, with Rick Pitino and Louisville University becoming the hardest hit areas for penalties, as Louisville was heavily fined by the League Class for allegedly using sexual seduction and other irregularities when recruiting two high school student players, and their 2013 championship was canceled.
But unfortunately, according to the rules of the ncaa, the runner-up Michigan can't be substituted to become the champion, and they don't want a trophy that loses the game and makes up for it, which is weird.
So in the official register of NCAA, the 2013 championship column left a glaring blank: for the first time in history, a team's championship was directly stripped away.
This is where is what a warm inspirational drama, this year's NCAA has been smelling FBI discoloration. The FBI's full involvement led a dark-hued crime drama, with revelations spewing out one after another, with super-elites, talented stars, and respected coaches who remain the central targets of news coverage, but who have gone from praise to question.
It all culminated in January 2018: While the worst of the incidents had nothing to do with anyone else, the unforgivable crimes committed by Larry Nassar, a former U.S. women's gymnastics team doctor, ultimately put him sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. His lengthy, despicable sexual assault on female athletes occurred not only on the U.S. women's gymnastics team, but also in michigan State's athletic department, which is also under the jurisdiction of the NCAA.
"With all due respect, to this day's ncaa has broken down." LeBron, who had never experienced college students, was blunt.
In the bad plot, there may be a few bloody scenes: for example, at Michigan University, the head of the relevant sports department resigned, and the basketball coach Tom Izzo, who was regarded as the spiritual leader of the school, finally told everyone after a month of sleepless nights: "I have decided, I will not go anywhere, just stay here with everyone!" ”
But such agitation was soon drowned out in waves of scandals.
More invulners came rushing in, and in the hot rookies of 2018, a large number of players were involved in the scandal of bribery and school selection, including the popular Arizona center DeAndre Ayton being exposed by espn, and there were audio tapes showing that the relevant people received $100,000 from Arizona coach Sean Miller, thus ensuring that Ayton stayed in the desert of his hometown of Arizona.
However, what is even funnier is that espn's report was immediately pointed out by many parties that there are many problems with the timeline used in its articles, which is not in line with Ayton's own growth trajectory! The academic community began its own counter-offensive, denouncing espn as fabricating false reports, and at a time when the two sides were at odds with each other, the press was completely dragged into the quagmire.
The huge pull of two different forces put the ncaa into an irreversible whirlpool.
On the one hand, there is the original intention. This sports league, which belongs to college students, has always wanted to create a pure, money-independent platform that exists only for college students, so it is always required that all athletes not accept any financial support from the university, sponsors or agents;
On the other side, there are interests. NCAA is already such a huge stage, bubbling around to generate attractive business opportunities, in 2016 CBS and NCAA early renewal, the new broadcast agreement up to 8 years 8.8 billion US dollars. Of course, in this huge market, the giants compete for fame and the big-name agents seek profits, but this is obviously completely contrary to the original intention of the NCAA League.
Former President Barack Obama pointedly pointed out: "NCAA is not the norm of doing business, these children are surrounded by millions, tens of millions of dollars a year, if everything does not change, we may be shocked again and again in the future, because the amount of money they receive will only get higher and higher." ”
LeBron chose to skip the college stage and enter the NBA directly, partly because he wanted to make money as quickly as possible, so for the new era geniuses who are now confined to the rules and must go to college, they also want to earn money as early as possible, how can they be too harsh?
NCAA came to March in the midst of this chaos. Fortunately, they also have the NCAA Championship, and the crazy March of the dark horse running wildly makes people temporarily forget the troubles of the past.
For the first time in history, the No. 16 seed wins the No. 1 seed appeared; the signing tables of the South And West Sides were torn to pieces; and even the little-known Loyola University in Chicago, with the blessing of the 90-year-old nun sister, actually went all the way to San Antonio as the No. 11 seed and walked to the grand stage of the final four.
Coach Jay Wright, Coach John Belein, may you not only continue your friendship for 30 years, but also maintain your innocence in the investigation. Maybe the NCAA's groundbreaking reforms will come in the near future, but before that day comes, we will always need some brave defenders.
At 9:20 a.m. Beijing time on April 3, this year's ncaa showdown will be played at the Alamo Dome.
The name of this stadium, familiar with the NBA, familiar with the Spurs fans will not be too unfamiliar, from the stadium to the west, about 2 kilometers north, is the holy city's most famous Alamo ruins.
More than 180 years ago, the local hard-bone volunteer army in Texas, with 200 people against the Mexican army of 7,000 intruders, fired the last shell, and finally only three people survived, severely injuring the Mexican army with a tragic posture, writing a bloody legend belonging to Texas.
The entire of Texas was inspired by these 200 people to be bloody as never seen before, launching a powerful counterattack under the slogan "remember alamo" (remember alamo).
May this time, too, the Alamo sound the clarion call for the NCAA to fight back; may we, too, remember the Alamo after this post-war battle.