A game changer

If one has followed the ladies version of NCAA hoops, then one likely knows it was almost a foregone conclusion that Notre Dame and UConn would slug it out for the national championship.

This is not meant to be disrespectful to many other fine schools, their programs and athletes -- but all along it's appeared that the Lady Irish and Lady Huskies were a rather large cut above everybody else. After all, both those teams have rolled through the season, and so far in the tournament, remaining undefeated. It's rare either wins by less than 10-15 points and, many games, even against otherwise fairly good teams, have resulted in 30-40 point total blow-outs. The Big Two are just that good.

Time out. A news flash just in. In the search for that pesky Malaysian airliner that disappeared over 3 weeks ago, a British nuclear submarine has now joined the hunt. Tally ho, pip, pip, and jolly good show. Wait a minute. The Brits have nuclear subs? Who knew? Nevertheless, this particular vessel was dubbed the HMS Tireless. Well, duh. I would hope it's "tireless". Nuclear or not, if you've got a submarine rolling across the ocean floor on Goodyear radials, I would humbly suggest your naval engineering department bloody well needs a swift kick in their collective breeches. Sorry. Got carried away there for a second. Where was I? Oh. Right. Ladies hoops. Got it.

As mentioned above, teams like Louisville, Maryland, Stanford, North Carolina, Baylor, and a few others are/were very good indeed. But in the end, it appeared the best they were capable of in this year's tourney was taking home the bronze.

Then a possible game changer happened. Notre Dame forward Natalie Achonwa went down with a torn ACL in their regional final game. At 6'3", averaging 15 points a game on 60% shooting, plus 6 or 7 rebounds, Achonwa was a dominant player for the Irish. Now she's out.

Granted, Notre Dame had already secured their place in the Final Four, but their opponent in the semi-finals, Maryland, might now have a fighting chance. The chances of the Lady Terrapins, or Turtle-ettes, as it were, reaching the championship game just got a bit better.

But in the end, mighty UConn still lurks, and it's unlikely the female Stanford Cardinal will derail them in the semis either. Idle thought: What's up with Stanford calling its teams the Cardinal, as in a singular entity? It reminds yours truly of the Borg, of Star Trek fame. I know college teams want to be close-knit, but let's not get ridiculous.

Ah heck. Notre Dame will still probably knock off Maryland. Despite the loss of Achonwa, Muffet McGraw's crew is pretty deep in talent.

The big Final showdown in Nashville between both undefeated ND and UConn for all the marbles remains the game everybody wants to see. Or at least sappies like yours truly, who isn't afraid to admit he loves watching this stuff.

Yet I suspect the injury to Achonwa has tilted the court decidedly in the favor of Geno Auriemma's Lady Huskies. Between his team and Muffet's, winning such an epic showdown would require a team to be firing on all cylinders, so to speak. They appeared to be that evenly matched. Sadly, when Natalie's ACL went pow, it was like Notre Dame fouled a plug.

A lot of things can still happen in the semis, and oftentimes do, including the possibility of another freak injury, particularly to a star UConn player. You never know....

But if all things stay the same -- given ND and UConn were heads and shoulders above everybody else -- and further given the delicate balance that existed between them, Achonwa's injury is likely a game changer indeed.

Love them or hate them, the already considerably good odds of the girls from Storrs winning yet another national title just got ratcheted up a notch. Meanwhile, in South Bend, love them or hate them as well -- yon fair maiden Muffet McGraw might well be thinking about a Shakespeare play. Richard III, to be exact. How so? When considering the loss of her star player Natalie Achonwa, and how it could prove to be fatal against Maryland -- let alone UConn -- she might well have her own similar lament as those games progress.

"Another horse. Another horse. My queendom for another horse."

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. That's the lamest pun you've ever heard. And I would agree. But hey, you try writing this stuff 6-7 times a week, and see how fast your brain turns into cream of mushroom soup like mine did a while back.