A Grip on Sports: Michigan’s win over UConn on Monday night may not have come in a game for the ages but it did include an ageless wonder bringing it to us

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It was a competitive game. There were exciting plays. Runs. Histrionics. Tension. But Michigan’s 69-63 win over UConn was not one of the NCAA title games many outside of Ann Arbor or Storrs will remember for a long time.

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• Why. Lots of reasons. We would enumerate them, but the early years of the Internet killed our love of lists. Instead, we’ll just kind of throw them at you willy-nilly. And, yes, the Internet hasn’t killed our love for the term “willy-nilly.”

• We’ll start with the positives.

Michigan deserved to win. The Wolverines have been the best team all season – ask Gonzaga if that statement is true – and the best in a mostly chalk NCAA Tournament.

Big Ten player of the year Yaxel Lendeborg gutted his way through the title game, making spectacular plays one minute, doing the blue-collar work the next. His leg injuries, though, took away his outside shot – he was just 4-of-13 shooting, including coming up short on all of his five 3-pointers – and helped keep the Huskies in the game.

So did Tarris Reed Jr., UConn’s senior post who had to battle the Michigan frontline nearly on his own. Held his own, with 13 points and 14 rebounds. It wasn’t enough.

And neither coach made a donkey out of themselves, which, when Danny Hurley is involved, is saying something. Something positive? You decide.

• The negatives?

The narrative about how hard it is to shoot in a football stadium has, seemingly, been replaced by how one basket may just be harder than the other. That came up Monday night in conversation, not just from the TNT crew but also in our home.

At one point UConn was 0-of-8 from long range in the second half. Pair that with Michigan’s missing all eight of its 3-pointers in the first half and the left-side hoop – on our television screen – probably deserved the “Hoosiers” treatment during one of the five-minute long commercial breaks. You know, having Aday Mara reach up with a tape measure to see if the thing was really 10 feet high.

Speaking of Mara, he was one of five transfer portal denizens who started for the Wolverines, the first time that’s happened. It’s not Texas Western earth shattering but it certainly seems to mark a different sort of turning point for the sport. And he was also part of the Hamlet-level acting class the Wolverines put on throughout their win.

The Oscar (and Most Outstanding Player) winner? Point guard Elliot Cadeau, their leading scorer with 19 points. And a guy who never met a defensive possession he didn’t feel he couldn’t steal. Mainly by falling down. He was right too many times.

But it was Mara’s flailing that was the most obvious. There were times in which it looked as if the 7-foot-3, 255-pound center had been run over by an e-bike in a park or something. Then, when the play was replayed, it turned out to be a slight tap.

That’s not to say the game wasn’t physical. It was. One possession three Huskies and one Wolverine were legitimately knocked to the ground. And rebounding demanded a coat of armor. Or a lot of grabbing.

The officials did a solid job of controlling it without killing the game’s flow. At least for a while. But the race car pace disappeared in the second half, morphing into a race pitting two Teslas limping to the next charging station.

Michigan had just enough juice left to earn it second NCAA title and its first since, better check our notes, 1989. Wow. We’re old.

• Speaking of old, Bill Raftery is 82. Again, wow. Not sure there is another octogenarian in entertainment who is closer to the top of his game than Raftery. Not even Mick Jagger, who is the same age.

Luckily for Raf, as partner (and friend) Grant Hill affectionally calls him, he doesn’t have to fly around the stage. He just has to describe how the guys are doing it in front of him.

And no one does it better these days, at least in the college ranks.

His observations about the game are not stuck in the past, though some of his signature lines were born there. He’s not defined by them, though. Nor is he one of those Medicare folks – yes, we’re raising our hand – who dwells in the sport’s historical mansions too often.

That might be by design. UConn’s Alex Karaban was trying to do something no one wearing anything but a UCLA uniform has done. Win three NCAA men’s Division I basketball titles. Raftery probably attended most of the Bruins’ championship wins. But he didn’t bring it up, he let play-by-play voice Ian Eagle do it. And added a pithy comment.

Here’s ours: Raftery is a treasure. May he call Final Four games forever.

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WSU: John Canzano posted some news this morning on X about a Washington State hire. Jon Haarlow will have the interim title removed. Greg Woods has this as well. … When a Kyle Manzardo story appears on the S-R website, we’re always torn whether to put it here or in the prep section, seeing he attended Lake City High. Today’s piece, on his mother’s health, seemed appropriate here. … Oregon State crushed the Cougar baseball team 18-0 on Monday. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, is Cinderella completely dead, or just mostly dead? Jon Wilner has some thoughts in the Mercury News. … His piece on the poaching lawsuit is on the S-R site today. … Canzano had his mailbag Monday. … Oregon State’s men heard mixed news about the transfer portal yesterday. Two players went in, one player decided to stay. … It was bad news only for Colorado. … The new Utah State coach talked two key players into staying. … Another Colorado State player said he is staying as well. … There were many reasons why Arizona had a Final Four-caliber season. Including early bonding. … San Diego State is still waiting on key transfer decisions. … Boise State added one. … The Washington women had two more players enter the portal. … So did Oregon and Oregon State. That makes three for the Beavers. … One more backup is leaving USC. … Arizona State seems to be riding some momentum into transfer season. … In football news, recruiting never stops for Oregon. … Nor does the will to improve for a Colorado player. … USC’s spring practice is over. … Boise State is still working on its special teams. … Colorado State has a three-way player it will count on.

Gonzaga: What was it we said yesterday, before the men’s transfer portal opened? Oh, yes. Players will enter. Many. And Gonzaga is not immune. Monday Braedan Smith and Steele Venters announced their entry, though Venters will need NCAA approval to play another season. No surprise. And it’s no surprise Theo Lawson has the coverage. … Tyon Grant-Foster earned a national award based on courage. Theo has that news as well. … No one knows for sure just who will wear a Bulldog uniform next season. But that doesn’t stop folks from ranking them among their Internet-required lists. We have a couple early prognostications to pass along.

EWU: The Eagle men and women don’t expect the transfer portal mania to have much of an impact in Cheney. Dan Thompson shares more in this story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the Montana State women are losing a freshman to the portal. … Utah Tech will enter the conference with a new head coach. A change was made late last week. … Weber State’s men welcomed their new coach to Ogden. … Montana’s new football coaching staff is trying to change how their players view their positions. … Northern Colorado resumes spring practice today. … So did Idaho State on Monday. … Portland State hits the field today for the first time.

Preps: There was a time when the GSL basically shut down over spring break. That doesn’t happen anymore. We have a roundup of Monday’s action we can pass along.

Hoopfest: U.S. Army Col. Anne McClain isn’t the first person whose names pops into anyone’s head when thinking about the world’s best 3-on-3 tournament. But with the release of this year’s poster, at least it will for some. Erik Etherton has this story on this year’s poster subject.

Sounders: Stefan Frei is still getting it done, albeit not as often.

Storm: Seattle has some needs entering a short free agent period.

Kraken: Calling it. Another season with Seattle sitting at home, watching the NHL playoffs instead of being a part of them. Makes one wonder if the ownership group is up to the task of running an NBA team.

Sonics: Speaking of running Seattle’s expansion franchise, Tim Booth tells us what the NBA is going to require. Besides a few billion dollars, of course.

Mariners: Our long regional nightmare is over. Cal Raleigh has hit a home run. Now can he start challenging more pitches? His lack of challenges last night in Texas might have been the difference in the 4-7 M’s 2-1 loss to the Rangers.

Seahawks: We linked this Times’ story yesterday. It’s on the S-R site today. … Wonder what days this spring you need to focus on the Hawks? This Athletic story lets you know. There is a list involved.

Golf: It’s Masters week. That is all.

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• We are sore. Tired. Achy. Yes, yard work is the culprit. We love spring. Hate some of the effort that has to accompany it. Until later …