Stupid beat reporters

North Carolina and Duke had another classic last night, with the Dookies coming out on top 71-70 after preventing Carolina from getting a shot off in the last 18 seconds.

Naturally, the press can't wait to blame Roy Williams. Williams, of course, compiled a staggeringly successful record at Kansas, but, you see, can't be "considered a great coach" because he hasn't won a national championship. Never mind that he's been to the Finals and the only reason he didn't win there was because Syracuse's McNamera had the game of his life. No, that loss was clearly Williams' fault because, after all, he's never won a championship, so he must be a coach that chokes, right? Typical media circular logic.

Today's game recap on espn.com written by Andy Katz contains more of this highly rigorous analysis; in particular, this absolutely airtight paragraph:

The final play was indicative of how the Tar Heels have finished in big games this season. They couldn't hang with Wake Forest in Winston-Salem and lost by 13. They came back from nine down with five minutes left Wednesday. But they lacked poise on the final possession.

Just textbook journalism, eh? You make an assertion and back it up with facts. "Pretty typical Carolina, that last possession! Just like the Wake Forest game, where, uh, well, I guess they lost by 13, so it didn't exactly come down to the final play, but then there was this game as well, right?" Yeah. I guess it's pretty hard to label a team as a bunch of chokers when they've only lost two games in the toughest conference in the country, isn't it?