This is the most exciting weekend of the year in sports. The Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament takes place in Atlanta.
Thirty years ago, the Final Four was also held in Atlanta. Marquette Coach Al McGuire had announced during the regular season that he was retiring at the end of the season, and he led the Marquette Warriors to the NCAA Championship by beating North Carolina-Charlotte and then North Carolina in the title game at the Final Four.
The road was rocky on the way to the championship. On March 17, 1977, Marquette barely got by Kansas State in the semifinal of the Midwest Regional, 67-66. During the victory, McGuire was called for a technical foul by the officials, and afterwards in his post-game news conference, McGuire blasted the NCAA and officials for calling what he considered to be unjustified technicals throughout his coaching career.
Here is the
audio of McGuire’s tirade after the Kansas State tournament game 30 years ago. Highly entertaining, it is vintage McGuire.
Of course, it does contain some language at times that might be offensive to some listeners.
THE VOTE IS NO APRIL 3
