M4. Uh Oh

For my choice blog this week I'm writing about the upcoming NCAA Tournament, and the tragic news I received around 2:30 pm Tuesday afternoon.  As some of you know, I love Syracuse Basketball; I live and die by it.  And so as you would expect for all the college basketball followers out there, I was really excited for the Tournament as the Orangemen went an outstanding 31 and 2 throughout the regular season, good enough to be the #2 ranked team for the last month and a half of the season.  They also were able to receive a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament that started two days ago.  But anyway, about the news I discovered the other day.  Fab Melo the center for the Syracuse Orange was declared ineligible for the entire tournament.  Now, Melo may not be the best player on the team, but he is by far the most important player on the team, and anchors that famous Boeheim 2-3 zone.  There is no one on the team who plays as big of a role as he does.  He blocks shots, gets the majority of the rebounds, and even takes a charge which is a very unique quality for him that not many other big men have.  All in all, Melo gets the Orange more stops and more possessions.  He has had this issue earlier in the year and missed three games because of it.  In those three games, 'Cuse went 2-1 and their lone regular season loss happened as well.  With him the team averages a 16 point margin of victory, without him they are even.  Now they have a much steeper hill to climb and have to prove all the doubters wrong.  I’m pulling for them but it will not be easy.  Their run begins today at 3:10 pm.