~STORY OF THE WEEK~

DUKE WINS TITLE IN INDIANA

The baseball season has begun, Tiger Woods denied steriod use and took the field for practice admist applause, and most importantly, Duke won the title. The dark sky, tornado warnings and pelting rain here Monday night portended something ominous. The backdrop all week at the Final Four had been one of change, a feeling that the tournament as it has existed for the past quarter-century could be forever altered. And the championship matchup between Duke and Butler offered the N.C.A.A., in Butler’s hometown, a reminder on the largest stage of the quintessential joy of this tournament. Butler — with the disparity in traditions, budgets and name recognition — represented the best of the tournament. But as tournament history has shown, the best team often wins. Behind Kyle Singler’s stellar defensive effort and game-high 19 points, Duke won its fourth title, 61-59. Duke (35-5) outslugged scrappy Butler, which had won 25 consecutive games, in a tense, edge-of-your-couch game with 5 ties, 15 lead changes and 2 potentially game-winning shots by Butler that caromed out in the final five seconds. “This was a great basketball game,” said the Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. “I want to congratulate an amazing Butler team. We played a great game and they played a great game.” (NY Times)