UNC championship is a victory for many

If you're not a college basketball fan, you can skip this post, but I'm elated about UNC's NCAA championship last night. I've been cheering the Tar Heels for about 50 years, in good times and bad. I was overjoyed in 1982 when Dean Smith finally got the "can't win the big one" monkey off his back. I felt the same way in 2005 when Roy Williams got that same monkey off his back after turning a group of disgruntled, self-centered boys into a team.

This year's championship was special, too, not for the coach, who had the team extremely well-prepared for the final game, but for the players who dedicated themselves to winning the national championship that embarrassingly eluded them last year. Monday night vindicated Tyler Hansbrough's decision to return for his senior year, even though he could have been an instant millionaire as a first-round draft pick last year. Danny Green also decided to come back after flirting with the NBA, as did juniors Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington. I've rarely seen a happier young man than Hansbrough was as the seconds ticked down last night. Lawson's and Ellington's tournament performances certainly boosted their draft standing.

I hope Hansbrough, last year's Player of the Year, will be like Peyton Manning, who chose to put off a pro career to return for his senior year of college. After becoming an All-Pro NFL quarterback, Manning made a commercial for the NCAA explaining how much that final year of college meant to him and encouraging students to remain in school. Hansbrough might not become the professional star that Manning has been, but I think he'll be a reliable, journeyman player in the NBA. His determination alone will take him that far.

One more thing about last night's championship: It proved to me the value of print. Although I watched every minute of the game last night, I couldn't wait to sit down with this morning's paper (thank you, News & Observer, for moving back your deadline to get the complete game package into the edition sent to Wilson) to read every detail. That is where print newspapers excel. They provide information, detail and insight that you don't catch as you watch the game on TV or listen to play-by-play on the radio. And they do it without interrupting to promote tomorrow night's TV show, which the TV announcers do continually and maddeningly.