That made him the favorite among bookies

McIlroy has won twice and finished no worse than third in nine of his last 12 tournaments, and his win at the Honda Classic a month ago made him the second-youngest player (behind Woods) to be No. 1 in the world, even if the top ranking lasted only two weeks.

That made him the favorite among bookies _until Woods ended a 30-month drought on the PGA Tour by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational three weeks later.

Here they come again.

My middle-class family was bathed in Louisville

The Kentucky state flag shows a city guy and a country guy who are shaking hands, but you don't see the country guy's left hand, something that my eighth-grade history teacher ominously noted.

"That's because he has a knife in it," said Mr. Young.

My middle-class family was bathed in Louisville. It's work ethic fit us. It's underdog status defined us.

My father once threw a shoe into our television set when Terry Howard cruelly missed his first free throw of the season in the final seconds of a 1975 national semifinals loss to UCLA. My older brother Brad attended Kentucky, transferred, and now has a Louisville license plate. Several of my relatives attended Louisville at night or on weekends, including cousin Art, who became a family hero by working his way through school to become a noted radiologist.

My best grade-school friend, Charlie Gabriel, received two degrees from Louisville, played in their pep band, began the "C-A-R-D-S" cheer, in which the name is spelled out by body parts, and today cannot even begin to describe Kentucky.

"I can't talk about them without seeming mean and stupid and small," he said this week. "Let's just say it's all about how you were brought up."

All this extracurricular banter started Jan. 25

"People talking ... that doesn't matter," Thibodeau said. "It's what happens out there. Some guys talk more than others. Some guys don't talk at all. It's all meaningless stuff. Just be ready when the ball goes up. That's all."
All this extracurricular banter started Jan. 25, when the Pacers handed the Bulls their first home loss. Rose and Co. took exception to the Pacers' postgame posturing. Two physical teams who engaged in last season's memorable first-round playoff series pointed to this rematch.
"I do look at this game differently, not because of any talk but because they're the best in the league," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "And we want to be the best. Anytime you play against the best, you have to raise your level and show you belong."