Golf's second-most famous Rory had a great day Friday to put himself in first place in Dublin, Ohio: Rory Sabbatini shot a 3-under 69 on the day to take a one-stroke lead at the Memorial Open.

Sabbatini, dressed in an ... interesting ensemble, featuring his signature wide-brimmed hat, bright green pants and green-and-yellow shoes -- South African colors, I guess? -- was 1-over on the day after six holes, but really turned on the heat as the day went on. He had four birdies in six holes to claim sole possession of the lead at 6-under. He had a chance to put himself two clear of the field on 18 after a brilliant approach shot rolled back to within about four feet, but he missed the virtual tap-in.

Sabbatini will be pleased with his one-stroke lead - he hasn't won a PGA Tour event in over a year, since last year's Honda Classic. That said, there's a lot of golf ahead and three golfers only a stroke back at 5-under, including Tiger Woods.

For updates on the 2012 Memorial Tournament, continue to check this StoryStream. For all news and information regarding the 2012 Memorial Tournament and all things PGA Tour, please visit SB Nation's dedicated golf hub.

Tiger Woods might be playing well for a change at the Memorial Tournament, but a number of big names are going to miss the cut.

Rory McIlroy lost his World No. 1 spot to Luke Donald a few weeks back, and things have gone from bad to worse for him quickly. On Thursday, he started off well by shooting four-under on the front nine, but a quadruple bogey quickly erased that good start. He still managed to finish 1-under on the day, but on Friday, things got bad. He managed to par the 12th hole that derailed his round yesterday, but that's probably the biggest positive of his day: no birdies, three bogeys, and two double bogeys had him at 7-over for the round, 6-over on the tournament, and three strokes back of the cutline. He's in a serious funk right now - nothing's really going right with his game.

Masters winner Bubba Watson had seven bogeys scattered across his two rounds with only two birdies. Do the math and that's 5-over, not good enough to keep playing.

Other notables missing the 3-over cutline were Louis Oosthuizen, Angel Cabrera, Kevin Na, Jason Day, and Keegan Bradley.

For updates on the 2012 Memorial Tournament, continue to check this StoryStream. For all news and information regarding the 2012 Memorial Tournament and all things PGA Tour, please visit SB Nation's dedicated golf hub.

Through 36 holes in Dublin, Ohio, Tiger Woods is a stroke back of Rory Sabbatini in second place, tied with three other golfers at 5-under. Sabbatini is still on the course, and is through 16 holes.

Woods was 3-under through his first six holes, getting into a tie for the lead, before falling off after a double-bogey on 12. He bounced back with back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 to get back to 3-under on the day, bringing himself back into a tie for the lead at 5-under before Sabbatini took sole possession of first. Alongside Woods are Spencer Levin, Scott Stallings, and Kyle Reifers, with Daniel Summerhays and Jim Furyk in a tie for sixth at 4-under.

For updates on the 2012 Memorial Tournament, continue to check this StoryStream. For all news and information regarding the 2012 Memorial Tournament and all things PGA Tour, please visit SB Nation's dedicated golf hub.

Larry Scott turned some heads earlier for the seemingly silly assertion that teams would need to be division-winners to qualify for the proposed college football playoffs. Well, that isn't quite what he meant, but close: he still wants winning your conference as a requirement -- and being a division-winner is implied. Bryan D. Fischer of CBS Sports tweeted Scott's about-face

Larry Scott wanted to clarify his remarks, he's not budging off requiring conference champions in the playoff.

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) June 1, 2012

Obviously if you win your conference, you've won the division. Error on me not making that clear, he's firmly for conference champs.

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) June 1, 2012

Well, that makes more sense. Not tons of sense, but more than the division-winners thing. It should still be noted that under this system, Alabama - who, you know, won and stuff last year would not have been allowed in the playoff.

For more on the college football playoff proposals, stick to this Storystream.

Edit: Scott clarified his comments. He meant conference winners, which implies division-winner, apparently.

The Pac-12 seems to be a little bit out there in terms of what it wants out of a college football playoff: first, Larry Scott insisting a plus-one was still on the table when nobody agreed with him; now, he wants a division-winner requirement for teams involved in a potential four-team playoffs.

"That's been as important as the format. It's my own view, having evaluated all of the options, that I'm for earning it on the field by winning something," Scott said. "I think what the fans want, in the call for a playoff in the first place, is to see it earned on the field. As I've studied it and talked to various people, if you look at the pro sports playoffs you have to win the division. You win the division, you know you're in. Aside from that, you're in a wildcard situation.

Scott's intention - that you should have to win something to be the champion - is good, but the execution is a bit off. Pretty easy to demonstrate why: Alabama won the national championship but lost the SEC West to LSU, while in Scott's PAC-12, UCLA won the division at 6-6 and went on to lose both the PAC-12 Championship game and a bowl game to finish at 6-8. But in Scott's theory, the Bruins would be more deserving of a bid to a playoff than the Crimson Tide. If a conference-winner requirement seems unlikely to stick, this seems even more arbitrary and less likely.

For more on the college football playoff proposals, stick to this Storystream.

A dreadful time on the par-3 12th has Tiger Woods two off the lead at the Memorial Tournament. The lead is now shared by Spencer Levin and Scott Stallings. Woods is now in a tie for fourth place with a bunch of people.

Woods had parred five-straight after a great start to the day, getting him to 5-under on the tournament, in a three-way tie for first. However, he had nothing going for him on the 12th. Woods badly missed the green to the left, finding himself in some tough rough about three feet from the gallery. His attempt to make it back onto the green came up short, and his second chip left him lying three on the green with a relatively long putt. It was his second double bogey of the tourney - he's playing pretty well outside of the rare awful hole.

Elsewhere on the leaderboard, the very recent World No. 1 -- and now World No. 2, I suppose -- Rory McIlroy is struggling to make the cut with a truly awful round -- he's at 5-over on the day to put him at 4-over on the tournament, which looks to be one stroke over the projected cut-line.

For updates on the 2012 Memorial Tournament, continue to check this StoryStream. For all news and information regarding the 2012 Memorial Tournament and all things PGA Tour, please visit SB Nation's dedicated golf hub.

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It was already more or less well known that Randy Wittman would return as the Washington Wizards' head coach, but now it's official. Well, Adrian Wojnarowski reported it, which is more or less official.

The coach will apparently sign a two-year contract extension that will be announced next week. This is probably a good thing for the Wizards: Wittman took a team that was 2-15 and seemingly unwilling to listen under Flip Saunders and went 18-31 with them over the course of the rest of the season. Now he has John Wall, Nene, and whoever the team decides to take with the third overall pick to work with, and things are sorta looking up for Washington. I mean, to a certain extent, but it's better than what Flip had been doing. They haven't given Wittman a long-term deal - two years is pretty non-committal - but they're sticking with him.

Wittman's never really been a successful coach - he's 118-236, which if you do the math, is twice as many losses as wins - but he's never really had much to work with. Maybe he can turn Washington's rebuilding process into an actual, you know, building process.

For more on the Wizards, be sure to visit Bullets Forever and SB Nation DC.

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A strong first six holes by Tiger Woods has him in a four-way tie for first after starting out the day at the Memorial Tournament in a tie for 11th.

Woods was at -2 after the first round — not bad, for a golfer who has seen some genuine struggles in most aspects of his game of late. But he's really turned it on today, with birdies on the first, fourth, and sixth to have him at 3-under on the day and 5-under on the tournament.

Woods is tied with Spencer Levin and Scott Stallings, who are in the clubhouse for the day, as well as Aaron Baddely, who had started out the day at -3 but has a pair of birdies through five holes.

We'll see if Woods can keep golfing like we all know he was once able to. If so, it's looking like he has a shot at winning his second title on the year and his fifth career Memorial Open.

You can find a full, live leaderboard here.

For updates on the 2012 Memorial Tournament, continue to check this StoryStream. For all news and information regarding the 2012 Memorial Tournament and all things PGA Tour, please visit SB Nation's dedicated golf hub.

I graduate in two weeks, but that's only if I don't die from being bad at schoolwork before I finish Wednesday. But let's cut through that nonsense and talk about football.

Brian Arnfelt, No. 90, Defensive Tackle, Lake Elmo, Minn.

Who he be: Brian is now a senior defensive tackle who has played more or less in a reserve role all year. He's had two career starts - Iowa, 2010, Meineke Car Care Bowl last year. He was pretty firmly in the rotation as a sophomore, playing all 13 games, but last season saw him struggle with foot injuries and missed the first four and last four games of the season. He's a big boy - 6-foot-5, 300 pounds - and can lift lots of stuff, as evidenced in this video, but Northwestern was his only offer out of high school way back when. That considered, he's been a consistent player when healthy for NU in his first three seasons.

Random song/tidbits from player profile page COMBO: "Trying To Find A Balance", Atmosphere. Not my favorite Atmosphere song, but it's the one Arnfelt mentions on his player profile page. Not what I expected from Arnfelt, but I guess it's a Minnesota thing? Anyway, Atmosphere is pretty good at rapping and this is a pretty good excuse to post it.

What's a pirate's favorite Northwestern football player?: Brian ARRRRRRNFELT

What's a pirate's favorite former Northwestern football player/LSU baseball player?: ARRRRRRRRby Fields

What's a pirate's favorite Red Line stop?: ARRRRRRRRRgyle. Actually, probably Addison, because, I mean, where else are the Pirates actually going to win a game on the road?

What's a pirate's favorite metric for determining entrance to the NCAA Tournament?: ARRRRRRRRRRRpi, although he admits its flaws.

What's a pirate's favorite cancelled TV comedy about the world of sports agents? ARRRRRRRRli$$. Although, to be fair, that's pretty much the only one.

Going forward: Brian will definitely earn lotsa playing time this season if healthy in a defensive tackle unit that includes him, Will Hampton, and Chance Carter. In his healthiest, most prominent outing last year, the bowl game, he had five stops including a TFL and QB hurry while NU held Texas A&M's running back to 3.3 yards per carry, which isn't particularly great. He's strong as hell and can probably push dudes around up front. We'll see whether he can be a big factor his senior year.

Alpha wasn't a contender at the Kentucky Derby, finishing in 12th, and won't even compete at the Belmont Stakes, because his owners will pull him from the race due to a fever.

The horse had a fever of 103 degrees on May 29, which is ... wait, do horses have the same temperatures as people? Hold on just a second here (googles "horse average temperature") ... two-to-four degrees higher than normal for a horse. Although the colt recovered, his trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, doesn't feel comfortable with him running next Saturday.

"He was fine by 11 p.m. that evening after treatment, fine yesterday, and he's fine today, but it's too high a temperature too close to the race," McLaughlin said. "It's unfortunate."

The Godolphin Racing horse had been successful previously at Belmont, coming in second in the Resorts World New York City Wood Memorial Stakes, and had won two previous races in the Count Fleet and the Withers before his also-ran performance at the Derby. He probably wasn't going to interfere with I'll Have Another's quest for a Triple Crown, but it's horse racing, and you never know. Unfortunate for the horse's owners and trainers.

For more on the world of horse racing, visit And Down The Stretch They Come and stay tuned to this StoryStream.

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From the "disturbing trash talk" department: Rick Pitino's son, Richard Pitino, left his assistant coaching job at Louisville to take the head coaching gig vacated by Isiah Thomas at FIU. And it turns out FIU and Louisville play on December 19! Cute story! Cute, right?

Umm, Rick Pitino decided to make it, well, not cute with some smack talk. Err, spank talk.

"I never got to spank you as a child, would you like to get a spanking this year?" Rick Pitino texted his son, according to the New York Daily News, shortly after taking over the program.

Uhh...

Richard played it off well, though:

"He uses that line all the time on the golf course. He needs some new material. I’m going to ask him, ‘When’s your new album coming out?'

This is only the second father-son college coach-off ever. The first was between Butch and Jan van Breda Kolff back in 1993 when Hofstra (coached by Butch) and Cornell (coached by Jan) went head to head.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, it turns out, are an exceptionally good basketball team.

They showed they meaned business with an 8-0 run to start the game, featuring a thunderous Kevin Durant dunk. The San Antonio Spurs rolled with the first punch and bounced back, holding a two-point lead at 24-22 at the end of the first, but the Thunder started clicking on both ends: They allowed only 17 points and put up 32 in the second period. They were out blocking jumpers and finishing in transition, making this matchup of very talented young guys against very talented old guys look like just a regular matchup between young guys and old guys.

Durant was a vision as always with 16, but James Harden -- he of many GIFs and staredowns -- was his usual sixth-man self with 11 points on only four shots. The OKC crowd is feeling it as usual, and we'll see whether San Antonio can bounce back.

TALK ABOUT THAT.

For more on the Spurs, be sure to visit Pounding the Rock; for the Thunder, Welcome to Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation's NBA page.

In the search for a new GM and head coach for the Orlando Magic, some weird news: Phil Jackson was apparently interested in joining the Magic front office in some role. And more intriguingly, the reason he won't be joining them is because he has apparently received a more attractive offer.

The 11-time NBA Championship coach and two-time NBA Champion as a player is in his first year of retirement after his second stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won five titles. But Brian K. Schmitz tweeted the news earlier:

After showing some interest, Phil Jackson drops out of plan to join Magic because he has another NBA opportunity, apparently.

— Brian K. Schmitz (@MagicInsider) June 1, 2012

Schmitz's story had more details: Former Magic player and Charlotte Bobcats head coach Sam Vincent apparently pitched Jackson and Magic CEO Alex Martins an idea where Jackson, who apparently no longer wants to coach, would take an unknown role in the management of the team. The plan was to eventually pitch the idea to Dwight Howard, who is unhappy with the team and could use the Zen Master's mentoring. But as of Thursday, the deal is off, with Jackson headed somewhere else.

This would have been really interesting, but even more interesting is the prospect of what it is exactly that Phil Jackson will be doing in the NBA next year.

For more on the Magic, visit Orlando Pinstriped Post and SB Nation Tampa Bay.

The horse with a shot at the first Triple Crown since Affirmed almost saw its Belmont Stakes hopes dashed a week and a half before the event, as a riderless horse nearly crashed into I'll Have Another during a training walk.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner was walking a few feet off the outside rail when Isleta, a three-year-old maiden filly, came sprinting by. The horse had shook its rider and charged just to the right of I'll Have Another, grazing the boot of exercise rider Jonny Garcia.

Daily Racing Form had a slideshow of the near miss and an interview with trainer Doug O'Neill:

The fact that the horse was able to avoid the fluke is crucial. Racehorses aren't supposed to run at full speed into each other, and whatever injury I'll Have Another would have sustained if it had been clipped would have probably knocked the horse out of the race and ruined its shot at a Triple Crown, or caused more dire medical consequences. Nobody would've liked to see that, least of all O'Neill. Hopefully, the horse can avoid any other random unseemly situations and run healthily in the Belmont Stakes.

Ed. note: This is just a crazy photo of the riderless horse:

For more on the world of horse racing, visit And Down The Stretch They Come and stay tuned to this StoryStream.

Tiger Woods hasn't been hitting the ball well of late, but had a nice round in the opener at the Memorial Tournament, where he's won four times. He entered the clubhouse one back of the lead, but later performances by golfers such as leader Scott Stallings now have him tied for 11th, four back of the lead at a two-under 70.

He spoke with the press after his round, here's some of what he had to say.

Q. Three out of four birdies on the par‑5s and probably should have been four out of four. Does that help tell you when your game is on, that that's a good indicator of how well you're not playing or how well you are playing?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I haven't played the par‑5s particularly well the last few tournaments, and today was a good example. I played them great. The one on 11 should have been a birdie, as well. I hit two really nice shots in there. I feel very pleased with the way I hit the golf ball all day, and it was nice to actually play the par‑5s under par for a change.

Q. Last week Rory missed the cut at Wentworth, and the story that day was more about him than the leader of the tournament, something that obviously you've dealt with many times when things aren't going right.
TIGER WOODS: Really? (Smiling.)

Q. Just curious what you thought of that from afar and also maybe what you might tell him if he asks, just for counsel in that sort of situation where obviously the scrutiny is ratcheted up now for him?
TIGER WOODS: Just keep going. You miss the cut, so be it, move on and get ready for the next event. I figured when I missed the cut‑‑ the times I've missed the cut, you still have the weekend, two extra days to go prepare and get ready. You have to turn it into a positive. You have to find some of the things that you did right and obviously analyze the things you did wrong, too, and apply them.
But I think you've got to get right back to work. I don't think you can sit on it and let it fester. I think you need to get right back at it and do your diligence and then get out there and do your homework and hit balls or chip and putt, whatever caused you to do what you did, if you're not hurt. If you're healthy, just go ahead and start ripping balls.

Q. There seems to be a real genuine affection for you. Do you feel that?
TIGER WOODS: I've always loved coming here. I love just playing this golf course and this area has been incredible to me over the years. I was surprised at how many people came out yesterday on a Wednesday and supported this event. Today they came out in droves again, and they've always supported Jack's event, and I think it's going to be the same thing on the weekend.

We'll see if Woods can keep up his strong play and perhaps contend for the first time since winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this season.

For continued updates on the 2012 Memorial Tournament, continue to check this StoryStream. For all news and information regarding the 2012 Memorial Tournament and all things PGA, please visit SB Nation's dedicated golf hub.

Remember a few days ago when I did No. 98, Will Hampton, and it turns out he's No. 92 and I'm dumb? Well, nobody wears No. 94 for Northwestern, so we're doing Deonte Gibson today, and deal with it.

No. 98, Deonte Gibson, Defensive End, Lakewood, Ohio

Who he be: Deonte is a freshman defensive end who redshirted last season. Coming out of St. Edward high school, he had three stars and was recruited by some big programs like Stanford and West Virginia and some less big programs like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Stanford.

Random song for the day: "Since I've Been Loving You", Led Zeppelin: My cherry-red sunburst Les Paul is an Epiphone. The one Jimmy Page completely and violently dominates here is a Gibson.

A video by a singer named Deonte:

Enjoy the really elaborate heist set-up for the video which has nothing to do with the rest of the video or the subject matter.

All told, he's not a bad singer. But I have several problems with the chorus,"I can picture us where the weather never rains and where the sun stays up all day". A) Weather doesn't rain. Rain is weather. Rainy is a type of weather. B) Where are you taking me where the sun stays up all day? The Arctic Circle in summertime? Lapland? Svalbard?

Looking forward: Deonte has a lot of upside. (Both the singer and the football player.) HE's got a lot of players ahead of him on the depth chart - Tyler Scott, Quentin Williams, Davon Custis - but I can see him breaking through to the rotation in the next few seasons and being a big player as a junior or senior.

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Wooo! Women's lax! I don't feel like taking away from that, but I have to for the sake of this thing. Also, happy Memorial Day!

No. 95, Davon Custis, Defensive End, Gahanna, Ohio

Who he be: Davon is a redshirt junior defensive end from Gahanna, Ohio. Out of high school at DeSales, he was pretty highly touted recruit, getting offers from schools like Notre Dame, Stanford, and Wisconsin. At NU, the 6-foot-5, 255-pounder hasn't had an immediate impact, only appearing in three games over his two years of actual playing time.

Random song I feel like posting:

"Keep Fishin'", Weezer: My first foray into the realm of songs I just kinda want to listen to instead of songs randomly linked to puns on the players' names.

People named Davon and people named Custis: Davon House, Green Bay Packers cornerback, and Davon Drew, Baltimore Ravens tight end vs. Martha Custis Washington.

Tidbits from Davon's player profile page: He's a philosophy major? That sounds awful.

Looking forward: Davon might not start - Tyler Scott and Quentin Williams probably have that locked down - but Custis seems like a player guaranteed to contribute down the line. He's 6-foot-5 and has the athleticism to compete at a Big Ten level. I'm high on Custis and think that he'll be a good player for NU this season and next.

So, Sunday's Indy 500 was won by Dario Franchitti. But who really cares about that? Not the roughly 200,000 people who attended the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

People took photos of people at Sunday's race, and, well, they're pretty fantastic:

Yup.

I'm pretty sure blue is not a natural beard color, and pink/yellow/green/red/purple are not real hair colors.

I didn't know Mega Jenga was a thing, but I really want somebody to invite me to play Mega Jenga (and or be an engineer capable of building a Mega Jenga set)

This photo is everything right with America. 1. American Flag tube top. 2. Checkered flag skirt. 3. Beer pong. 4. Slightly blurred out Coors Light can.

So, Indy wins. That said, I'm very glad I wasn't at a major sporting event Sunday, because pictures were taken of me and I'm really glad nobody posted them on a sports website and that they will generally disappear.

The worst news ever for racecar drivers is that everything they say is being broadcast to someone somewhere. Some racers probably keep this in mind. I probably wouldn't if I was going 200 miles per hour. Luckily, neither does Marco Andretti. His quotes from the Indy Star:

Lap 22

Andretti, after being passed by Ryan Briscoe for the lead: "(Expletive), I'm going back at him!"

Pit: "Just nice and easy. Long race."

Lap 85
Andretti: "One of my shoes just melted to the throttle."

Lap 90
Andretti, who was leading: "It's going to cost us the race, the freaking overboost."

Lap 113
Andretti: "These guys (other drivers) are trying to (expletive) kill me!"

Lap 147
Andretti, on changes he expected during a previous pit stop: "You didn't put the rear wing in?"

Pit: "No, we didn't put the rear wing in."

Andretti: "That's what I was (expletive) screaming for."

Pit: "Well, I didn't hear that."

Andretti: "I didn't say it because I'm (expletive) bored."

Lap 149
Andretti, on being asked to conserve fuel: "I don't want to give away any more position because we're already (expletive)."

Way to be, Marco. Way to be.

Catch up on the best video highlights, crashes and notes from the race with our Indy 500 2012 StoryStream. For more on Indy racing, including the 2012 Indianapolis 500, please visit Pop Off Valve.

Russell Westbrook's campaign against fashion continues.

Here's what the Thunder guard was wearing after Sunday night's game, which the Thunder lost even after a late barrage of threes by James Harden. It's quite a get-up.

This is from the Twitter account @youbigdummy, by the way.

From the top:

1. Some amber-colored tortoise-shelled glasses

2. iPod headphones

3. A shirt with flags. Not all are national flags, but luckily, I had a very lonely middle school experience and I'm very good at recognizing flags, so, here goes: Scotland, Italy, Costa Rica, Malta, Costa Rica. And more. I think they're mainly nautical flags, like the type ships will hang from their sails to show where they're from.

4. Brown-ish pants.

5. A European carry-all (a.k.a. a purse)

6. Bright, bright green sneakers.

Yikes. This is not really helpful, because oh my goodness, what in the name of all that is holy is he wearing?

Northwestern earned its seventh championship in eight seasons as they beat a surprise Syracuse squad in the championship game in Stony Brook, 8-6.

The final score was modestly close, only two goals, but the game was much less even. Northwestern controlled 10 of the first 11 draws and dominated possession, with Tewaaraton Award finalist Taylor Thornton notching two goals and two assists on the way to the victory.

The game was fast-paced from the offset, with Northwestern leading 5-4 at the halftime break. But afterwards, NU slowed the game down, only taking a few shots and generally playing keepaway to preserve its victory over the Orange.

The Wildcats didn't face their toughest opponent -- they lost to Florida twice earlier in the season -- but Syracuse knocked out the Gators in the semis to prevent the Wildcats from playing the No. 1 seed.

For more on college lacrosse, visit College Crosse. For more on Northwestern, make sure to check out Sippin' on Purple, and for more on Syracuse, check out Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician.

There's really no reason to hoist a three when your team is down significantly more than three points with the time about to run out. However, you might want to in order to make to look as if you're trying to make the game closer, even if it's practically impossible to actually make the game meaningful.

That's probably what James Harden was thinking when he threw up a three even as his team was down six with no real chance of the Thunder coming back to beat the Spurs. But his three was meaningful to gamblers: the Thunder were five-point underdogs, and considering they were down six, and ended up down three.... well... somebody in Vegas is probably pretty angry at Harden. On the plus side, hey, his three-point percentage went up a bunch because he hit that shot!

He probably should talk to former Duke player and enemy of mafias everywhere, Chris Duhon.

Tiago Splitter was a 69.1 percent free throw shooter on the season. Then the playoffs happened, and since? 35.0 percent.

So, yeah, this happened:

Gotta appreciate the double-leg slap and sad face after the miss.

Alert, @jon_bois.

Kendrick Perkins has a passion for scowling. Even in his wedding photos, he's at best kind of making a slightly moderate smile.

After fouling Tim Duncan in the second half against San Antonio, he outdid himself in interesting facial gestures:

Edvard Munch would approve:

Seven championships in eight years. Wow.

Northwestern beat Syracuse by two, but dominated nearly everything about the game besides goals scored. NU had basically twice the time of possession, won draw controls 12-4, and didn't really struggle despite a relatively close game in terms of scoreline. A well deserved national championship for a team that was the best on the field tonight, although it is unfortunate that they never were able to beat Florida, the team that beat them twice.

It was a pretty all around team effort for the Cats: Tewaarton Award Finalist Taylor Thornton had two goals and two assists, including the go-ahead goal that put the Cats up for good, Erin Fitzgerald had two goals, and Northwestern's play on defense and on the draw control was more or less impeccable.

This wasn't the best year for Northwestern sports, with an NIT loss and a bowl loss, but a national championship in NU's best sport doesn't hurt.

Herman will have actual analysis later. Go Cats!