Live blogging the Big Game (And in the End)

11:14 Still down by 18 or so in a TV timeout. I remember the title game a year ago. I was listening on a car radio waiting for my wife at the airport. She'd gone to Florida to tend to the affairs of a friend who had died. That means Beth Frumpkin's been gone a year now. Wow.

11:20 This is still the third-greatest team in MSU history, right? Two NCAA Titles and now this team that finishes second in the Tournament. So that's not too bad. I still wished they could have won. They played great basketball in this tournament. They beat two #1 seeds. But UNC is a great team. I bet they cheat when they recruit and stuff.

11:23 I just checked something called Gametracker and it says we're outrebounding UNC 35-31. Hard to believe that's true. Of course, it's also says we've turned it over 19 times and they've turned it over 7 times.

11:26 UNC has made only 7 FG this half. State is to within 13 but under 5 to play. Remember hwo we talked about free throws, that UNC went to the stripe 27 times a game on average? They have 32 free throw attempts tonight.

11:32 3:51 to go and we're down 15. We are going to lose but we are not going to be humiliated, at least. I thought we might lose this thing by 40 the way things were going in the first half. I think State played about as bad as they can play at the start of the game and NC played as good as they can play at the start and that's the difference in this one. We'll stick it out till the end and then call it a night.

11:38 Suton just came off with MSU down 17. Pretty good career for MSU right there. Morgan just fouled out. Down 16 with two and a half left, tough way for it all to end. Hey, the Masters starts Thursday. I can hardly wait. You get all of these Georgia Good Ol Boys and for one weekend a year they show up at a sporting event and they are "patrons". Drunk as they ever were, but for these four days, "patrons." And it's pronounced "The MAH-stirs" by the way by the all-European broadcast team CBS will throw at us. Really. They will have two Americans on the air, tops.

11:45 I suppose President Obama will be calling me in the morning to tease me. He won his bracket, I lost mine. I think we'll lose by less than 20. We do. Final: UNC 89, MSU 72. Confetti flies, streamers, etc. Everybody shakes hands which is nice. Good night from Deroit where I am only a little bitter. UNC is a great team.