Heard in the Cheap Seats

A smattering of sports nuggets from the week:

• Did anyone catch the Duke/North Carolina game last night? If you ever looking to manufacture tournament-type intensity in the regular season, this is the game that comes the closest. And as usual, the game last night lived up to the hype. At one point, Duke and Carolina were trading 3’s to keep the game tied with about five minutes to play. In the end, Carolina prevailed and secured the ACC crown. By the way, every time I watch Tyler Hansborough play I am more impressed. Questions abound about his athletic abilities and how they will translate to the NBA, but I share none of those concerns. This kid is a monster that will succeed on the next level due to will alone.
• Georgetown held off a hard-charging Louisville team yesterday to take the regular season Big East title. Don’t be fooled though, Louisville is bound to make some noise in the Big Dance this year. Their tenacity on the defensive end of the floor will wear opponents down.
• The Houston Rockets continue their solid, if not shocking play, pushing their win streak to 18 games. Who would’ve figured that you lose a guy that goes for 22 points and 10 boards on a nightly basis and actually get better? But as so often happens, the Rockets learned how to play as a team after the loss of Yao Ming.
• Of course, the legendary Brett Favre retired. We’ll miss you Brett.
• The whirlwind that is the Philadelphia Eagles offseason continued. First, Eagles fans were stirred into the frenzy when reports circulated that the Randy Moss contract had not been signed. Those reports were quickly refuted, but rumors still persist that the Eagles will make a play for an impact receiver–with Larry Fitzgerald sitting at the top of their list.
• Following the signing of T.J. Duckett, the Seattle Seahawks also added Julius Jones to the mix. This will likely spell the end of the Shaun Alexander era.
• Pacman Jones says he is ready to play and the Cowboys are rumored to be interested….Lord help us.
• Francisco Liriano had a successful return to the mound. Mike Hampton had a minor setback, if any of his setbacks can be considered minor.
• There has been some rumors that the Mets may be interested in signing Barry Bonds. From a baseball standpoint you can’t argue with the move, but it could turn out to be a PR fiasco if it comes to fruition.

The top story of the past week has to be the retirement of Brett Favre. As I wrote here earlier in the week, Favre brought a passion to the game of football that will be sorely missed. That passion was again on display during his press conference. It is those times and that passion we will sorely miss.