Sports Blog

All along Woodward Avenue, throughout the bars and restaurants of Greektown and on down to the Riverfront, sports jerseys of all colors lit up the streets of Detroit over the weekend for college basketball’s ultimate party. Fans from the Connecticut, Michigan State, Villanova and eventual-champ North Carolina lined the neighborhoods wearing sports gear backing their school of choice.

In the end it was the Tar Heel blue that stood tallest, overcoming the tens of thousands of hometown Spartan fans who turned out in their green and white. North Carolina won its fifth national championship in dominant fashion, drubbing Villanova in Saturday’s semifinal before hammering MSU in the final 89-72.

Until that point, it was the Spartans - on the 30th anniversary of MSU alum Earvin Johnson’s magical run to the title over Larry Bird – who received the bulk of the media attention, particularly after Saturday’s upset win over top-seeded Louisville. But Spartan coach Tom Izzo had no answer for a North Carolina team that featured the speed of point guard Ty Lawson and strength of center Tyler Hansbrough.

Even in the shadows of that loss, though, Detroit did itself proud, showing as it did three years earlier when SuperBowl fans poured into town, that it knows how to throw a sports party.