Don't Miss this Game--You won't be disappointed. (steven byron)

The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is the high point of the season for every college basketball fan. Still the first round games that kick off the tournament are usually not that interesting, given that the Tournament's presumed strongest teams face off against the weakest teams, with the stronger teams almost always emerging victorious.  Mostly likely that will be the case on Charlotte, North Carolina this Friday, March 18th, at 7 pm, when the No. 2 seeded University of North Carolina Tarheels meet the No. 15 seeded Blackbirds of Long Island University.  Still, I highly recommend watching this game if you are able (it will air on CBS in many areas), but it will be an impressive match--and not because of Carolina.

The Blackbirds are in the Tournament because they won the 2011 Northeast Conference (NEC) tournament championship.  The Tarheels are in because they are the Tarheels.  I was able to watch the Blackbirds take on the Mt. St. Mary's  University Mountaineers on February 9 at the Mt. St. Mary' campus in Emmitsburg, MD.  The Blackbirds won, 84-64, but that wasn't the impressive part.

I have never really seen a basketball team, college or NBA, play with the kind of teamwork, cohesiveness, and unselfishness that the Blackbirds displayed that night.  Every man knew his part, knew where he needed to be at all times, and knew where his teammates were.  The transition game would always result in the man who took the ball down the court and deep into enemy territory passing the ball rather than shooting.  At no time in the game did any Blackbird try to be the hero and make a play all by himself.  Like finely-tuned machine the Blackbirds racked up the points, never losing their composure, playing with intensity, and always sticking to a well-executed plan.  The only criticism I had watching them was that a few times, a player was obviously open to make a basket but passed the ball rather than shoot it.  But it wasn't  as if they were robots, incapable of adapting their tactics, if need be.  They played hard and smart.  It came as no surprise to me that they won the NEC championship and are playing in the Big Dance.  But if Roy Williams and his Tarheels haven't spent a good part of this week studying film of the Blackbirds, then they may be the ones surprised.  Do I expect the Blackbirds, a 15th seed, to beat the Tarheels and advance?--hardly, but I do expect a very good game, and one well worth watching.