From Williams' standpoint, his decision to stay at Kansas the first time was a no-brainer; he had a great freshmen class of Kirk Heinrich, Nick Collison and Drew Gooden, and knew that this was his best chance to win a national championship. How could he leave? (By the way, how come during the NCAA tournament no one brought up the fact that Drew Gooden could have been on the Kansas team this year had he not left early for the NBA? Can you imagine Gooden in that lineup?).
With Heinrich and Collison graduating this year and North Carolina with its best freshman class in years, Williams decided this might be his last and best opportunity to coach at his alma mater. He inherits a tremendous amount of talent, including current freshmen Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton and Sean May and will be immediately expected to bring North Carolina back to its glory.
In a time when so many college coaches are tempted by the millions of dollars lurking in the NBA, I think Roy Williams made a good decision to leave Kansas to go to North Carolina. Kansas had just fired its football coach, a close friend of Williams, and he was at odds with the recently fired Athletic Director, Al Bohl. The University claimed that Bohl's firing had nothing to do with Williams, but I wonder whether his firing was a desperate attempt by the University to convince Williams to stay.
Williams has repeatedly told reporters that the North Carolina job is the only one he would even consider leaving Kansas for, and he kept his word. Williams knows what he is good at and leaves Kansas for the right reasons. He learned from the mistakes of Rick Pitino and John Calipari and was never tempted by the NBA.
Many people will criticize Williams over the next year for abandoning Kansas and will question his decision to leave such a great job, but Williams' true love for North Carolina should assuage all their doubts as to whether he made the correct decision. Sure, Williams would have loved to win a National Championship in Kansas, but his love for Tar Heel blue will be obvious when he brings home a National Championship to Chapel Hill.
The Masters
Two years ago, Augusta National Golf Club was the most famous golf course in the world. Now, because of the past year's debate over membership, Augusta is the most infamous golf course in the world as well. It's really disheartening to think that the only reason many people know the name Augusta National is because of Martha Burk's outrageous ignorance and pathetic fight. Okay, so maybe that comment was a little harsh coming from someone who actually thinks Burk has a point. I think there is actually a legitimate argument for Augusta's inclusion of women members; I just don't think Burk should be the one making the argument.
As much as Hootie Johnson is old-fashioned and sexist, he does have a point. The Masters (and Augusta National) will continue to exist whether there are women members or not. The club is privately run and the tournament is privately sponsored. This weekend's coverage of The Masters was the first commercial-free major in golf history. Johnson and the members at Augusta showed that they do not need sponsors in order to run their tournament, and they probably increased their audience by not accepting commercial offers, upping the demand for future years in the process.
The Masters is not about the members at Augusta National Golf Club; it is about the game of golf and its tradition. Women guests are allowed to play Augusta National just as easily and often as men. Women are allowed to buy tickets for the Masters and attend the event. The fact that the membership is all male has nothing to do with the Masters Tournament itself. If Martha Burk knew anything about golf history, she would know that and realize that she should be fighting her battle independent of the Masters.
Because a few of you probably knew what The Masters was before you ever heard the name Martha Burk, I should probably say something about the tournament itself. Give credit where credit is due. Mike Weir played great golf this weekend and deserved to win the tournament despite a fantastic final round by Len Mattiace. Weir has firmly established himself as one of the best players in the world and now makes a case for being the best lefty in the world (Sorry, Phil). The tournament came right down to the wire on Sunday, just as if it were scripted, with multiple players having an opportunity to win during the final holes. Plus, was a joy to watch commercial-free and interestingly enough, Tiger-free.
Strangely enough, I think we may see a woman playing in the Masters Tournament itself before we see a woman member at the prestigious club.