Kendall Marshall was unable to play today. Without him the Tar Heels were unable to knock of Kansas. Marshall was calling plays from the bench, and doing everything he could, to help his team from the bench. At the end o the day North Carolina offense revolves around Marshall, without him the Tar Heels struggled to get their offense flowing.

Men's update: Syracuse just lost to Ohio State, I only have only have one team left in my Final Four, North Carolina. The lost to Ohio State was heartbreaking, they fought hard all the way through, but unfortunately in the end playing, without Fab Melo could only bring them so far.
North Carolina: Point guard Kendal Marshall practiced today, for the first time since his surgery on Monday. He was seen with ice on his right wrist and elbow afterwards. The wrist Was to be expected, but the elbow? Marshall claims that when he when he fell he fell on his elbow too, and that it was not something to be concerned about. Without Marshall on Friday, the North Carolina committed 24 turn overs, before eliminating Ohio 73-65. Marshall has a 3.5 to 1 averages assists to turn overs ratio, it is clear that the Tar Heels are stronger with Marshall. He plans to participate in morning shootaround, and if the pain is manageable, then a decision based on how effective Marshall will be able to be, will be made.

The NCAA Women's basketball tournament is under way. The top four teams are Stanford, Notre Dame, Baylor, and UCONN. Norte Dame and Baylor have something that the other teams don't, two of the best players in the league. For Notre Dame Skylar Diggins, an All-American Sophomore point guard, is the general on the court for Notre Dame. Baylor on the other hand has Britney Griner, a 6 foot 8 inch senior center. Both of these players give Notre Dame and Baylor a huge edge, and intact I think they ate enough to bring these two teams to the Finals.

Yesterday was possibly the biggest day of upsets in March Madness history. Duke and Missouri lost in huge 15 seed 2 seed upsets. Sadly I'm am part of the large majority of basketball fans who's brackets have began to fall apart after yesterday's upsets. Half of the games played yesterday were won by the lower seed teams. Today many expected number one ranked Syracuse to fall to Kansas State. As the game began it looked like Syracuse's critics were right, until the second half. After half time Syracuse lit up and took control of the game, they won 75-59.
North Carolina State is my Cinderella team and after beating the 6 seed yesterday by 15 points they seem to still be looking good. Also Gonzaga is playing very well right now.

Syracuse seven footer, Fab Melo has been ruled academically ineligible for participation, in this year's March Madness Tournament. This changes the playing field.  Syracuse is a number one seed, and many, including myself, predicted them appearing in the Final Four. Loosing your big middle man is a challenge for any team, and Syracuse is no different. This will change their game plan, but without a big man, there will be many more speed and pressing opportunities, for the Orange. The loss of Melo is a bump in the road, however I would not count them out by any means, in fact I think this challenge may motivate other Syracuse players to step up and play at an even higher level in order to fill the gap.

March Madness is one of the most talked about sporting events of the year, and this blog will be giving you my opinion on all of the action for the next few weeks.  I will be following my Final Four Picks all the way through, and hopefully all the way.  My Final Four are... Michigan, Duke, Syracuse, and North Carolina. These four are very well known names in college basketball, but earlier on in my bracket I  definitely have some upsets. My choice for a Cinderella team this year is NC State, actually I have them making it all the way to my Sweet 16. My reason for this is quite simple, they seem to be heating up at the right time.  They will be playing number 6 San Diego St. in the first round, and if my predictions are correct they will play Georgetown in the next round.  Every game will be a challenge for NC state but based on my instincts I see them surprising a lot of people.  Tomorrow March Madness will be on its way, let the games begin!

Last night the Trinity Boys' Basketball team faced the Alvirne Broncos in the quarterfinals.  Through the first three quarters the game was very tight but as the Pioneers entered the fourth quarter they began to pull away. The boys went on to win 69-53. The boys semifinal game has been moved to Tuesday at 7:30 at UNH, due to the Spaulding school bus accident.  Spaulding was supposed to play Nashua North last night, but when their bus was struck by a truck Spaulding was unable to reach Nashua. One player was hospitalized, but as of today everyone had been reported ok.

Wednesday our hockey team played in the Semi Final Game.  The JFK Arena was packed and the crowd was not disappointed. The game went back and forth between the Pinkerton Astros and our Pioneers all night.  The score was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation. In over time the Astros won 3-2. Despite the heartbreaking ending to this years season, our hockey team achieved a lot from the start of their season to the end. After winning their first game on December 17th, the pioneers struggled to win a game, not winning again until January 15th.  However, they then went on to win nine on their last 11 games.

This weekend Trinity alums Connor and Sean Lyons found themselves on the same field as Red Sox players such as Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez, as well as new manager Bobby Valentine. The brothers currently play for the Northeastern University Huskies.  They played on the same field for the inaugural game at Jet Blue Park on Saturday. Connor Lyons and Jacoby Ellsbury both started in center field, a highlight was a running catch made by Lyons retiring Ellsbury. Sean a back-up outfielder for the Huskies replaced his brother in the fifth inning. Both Brothers had the opportunity to share center field with Ellsbury and the inaugural game is one that neither of them will ever forget.

Last night our Trinity Hockey team advanced to the Semifinals after defeating Hanover. At the end of regulation the game was tied 3-3. Early in overtime junior Kyla Valliere scored what would be the game winning goal.  Our defending Champions won 4-3. Valliere's goal earned him a hat trick. The boys will play in the Semifinals Wednesday night at 7:30 at JFK Coliseum.

Trinity Basketball Update:
On Wednesday the Lady Pioneers faced the Pinkerton Astros in the first round of the playoffs. At the end of the game the scoreboard was not in favor of the Pioneers.  In the Locker Room seniors admitted that their sadness was somewhat from the loss, but mostly due to the conclusion of their Trinity basketball careers. On the flip side the boys team played their final home game against the Astros on Friday.  Senior Night was special for many reasons, but the spotlight for the first 30 seconds was definitely on Senior Hunter Viscarello.  Viscarello has officially been diagnosed with a torn ACL, however doctors allowed him to play until the first dead ball on senior night. Entering into Senior Night the Pioneers had already clinched the number one seed, however this may have lessened their intensity as they too fell to the Astros.