Weekend Wrap up: Peyton's decision, what's left of everyone's bracket, and what's left of Kendall Marshall's wrist

"Hey... I just took your job"

          Alright so we have a lot to discus so I'll try to get to the point. Decision 2012 has come to a conclusion, Peyton Manning has joined John Elway in Denver and simultaneously stomped out Tim Tebow's dreams. The NCAA tournament has been beyond insane as usual and there are ZERO perfect brackets remaining on ESPN, and Wrist Watch 2012 has begun in Chapel Hill.
          Peyton Manning lands in the mile high city. If anyone has read my last post, I didn't really see this as a fit. And I'm still not sure it is. Apparently no one in the league wants to play in Miami, one of my reasons for Manning potentially landing there, Brandon Marshall, got out of town as soon as he could. Manning wanted no part of that. I actually saw San Francisco being a good fit. Great defense, decent wide receiving corps with the very dangerous Vernon Davis and hopefully up and coming Michael Crabtree (not to mention the 50/50 chance that Randy Moss is still fast enough to burn defenses) and a great running back in Frank Gore. But alas he has chosen the blue and orange. I think this team is missing the offensive weapons that we are used to seeing on Peyton Manning teams of old. Decker and Thomas are far from the Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne that we are used to seeing line up beside Manning in the past. I think that he will find a few of his old teammates joining him in Denver, specifically Dallas Clark his old tight end and one of his favorite targets. Also another ex-teammate of Manning's is Brandon Stokley. Stokley was a Bronco for a while and could be a valuable fourth option as a possession receiver should the Broncos give him a call. There's also a chance that Jeff Saturday, Manning's long time center, could join him in Denver as well. There are definitely some moves left to be made, but if Peyton Manning is even 80% of what he used to be, Denver is easily the favorite to win the AFC West, (a division that has long been sub par at best) and a team that no one wants to see at any point during the season. Also there's a regular season matchup against the Patriots and my beloved Panthers. It should be fun to watch.
          Now where will Tebow end up? I heard an analyst say earlier today that no one really wants him on their team, and I couldn't agree more. Everyone in the league has seen that he does not have the skill set to lead an NFL style offense. There really isn't a team in the league that wants to baby him by making their offense as simple as the Broncos made theirs last season. Now what I have heard is this, owners will take a shot at him. They want to bring the circus to town to drive ticket and jersey sales. My first thought is Jacksonville. Shad Kahn the new owner of the Jaguars has gone on record saying that he would have drafted Tebow if he had the choice, now let's see if he'll put his money where his mouth is. Then there's Miami. No one wants to play in Miami, which makes it the perfect spot for Tebow. but honestly no one is going to give up much for a quarterback who can't complete 50% of his passes. Then there's a wild card. The New England Patriots. I've heard multiple times today that Tebow is a "Belichick type of guy" and he could come in and run some plays as an H-back or a tight end. That would shock me, because we have no idea whether the kid can catch a football or run a route. His days as a quarterback in the NFL may be running short right now, he needs a lot of luck to get another chance.

Gee, 0 is the same number of wins Duke got in the tournament this year too

          And then there were Sixteen. If your bracket isn't busted by now, you probably let a 3-year-old pick your winners in crayon. It had been 11 years since a 15 seed had upset a 2 seed, and within 3 hours on Friday it had happened twice. The Missouri loss KILLED me, I had them in the Final Four, but the Duke loss made me forget all about my bracket. I loved watching the Blue Devils from down the road flounder at the hands of C.J. McCollum and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Truly a thing of beauty. Quick rundown of the Sweet Sixteen: Kentucky is on course to be in the national title game no sweat, and now they get a rematch against Indiana. The Baylor highlighters get a matchup against Xavier. Ohio State is playing great basketball and they're matched up against a very physical Cincinnati team. Syracuse is surviving without their center Fab Melo (hopefully he's home studying), but now must face a tough Wisconsin team. Kansas survived a very tough Purdue team and an offensive show from Robbie Hummel and will now face a very hot NC State team that still feels it has something to prove. Marquette gets Florida and Louisville will meet Michigan State. Last but not least, UNC will face upset minded Ohio. I'm not making any predictions anymore, because we all saw how that ended up (Thanks a lot Missouri and Florida State).

          Kendall Marshall's wrist has become the instant talk of the nation. He fractured the scaphoid bone in his right (non-shooting) hand with 10:56 to go in the game against Creighton. He played through the pain, but was rushed to the x-ray machine after the game. The entire team was instantly downtrodden, and Marshall and Williams had to choke back tears when they delivered the news to the media. Marshall underwent surgery Monday morning, with the slim chance that he could heal and be ready by Friday's game. Tarheel nation can only hope and pray that we can have our engine back. My dad told me during the ACC tournament that Marshall was the leader of our team. At that point I wasn't so sure that was true. Tyler Zeller had just been named the ACC Player of the Year, and he had lead us through so many tough games that I was sure it was Zeller. They say sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone, and I think that may be the case here. His new found scoring has definitely been a valuable addition to our offensive juggernaut. And now he may be gone. He is truly the one player on our team that can't be replaced. I said last night that if I could I would give my right wrist to Kendall Marshall, my left wrist to John Henson, my right ACL to Dexter Strickland, and my left ACL to Leslie Macdonald. That was truly the sentiment all around campus today. The rain this morning was really a reflection of how we felt after we heard our point guard had gone down. But we remain hopeful, this tournament is far from over, and while we may be down right now we are certainly not out. We all just wish Kendall a speedy recovery.
          Well that's that for now, so until the weekend comes around and college basketball commences again take this time to catch your breath and prepare for the next installment of March Madness!