Tom Suiter: Can UNC Make Up for Last Year, and It's Hard to Compare Anyone to Jordan

It was fun watching the South Carolina-North Carolina Super Baseball Regional this past weekend. It was a great atmosphere and reminded me why baseball was my first love way back when.

UNC was the better team going in and, while South Carolina scared the heck out of them, the Tar Heels had too much good pitching out of the bullpen plus the important "P" word – that's "Poise" with the capital "P," as Dick Vitale would say. The Tar Heels have been behind a lot in this entire NCAA tournament, but with a line-up filled with .300 hitters and top-flight relief pitching, they don't panic. They believe that if they fall behind, it's just a matter of time before they come back. Living on the edge is dangerous, and it may still come back and bite them, but UNC takes full advantage of all nine innings and the 27outs and that's why they're headed to Omaha and the College World Series for a second straight year.

Frankly, Carolina should be going for a second straight title. They were better than Oregon State last season, but blew it big time. That should give this team even more incentive – that plus the fact that only three of the top eight seeds will be there. UNC's starting pitching isn't as good as last years' team, but it's pretty good and all those other intangibles, including CWS experience, are there. This is a team that can win it all. Don't be surprised if they do. They've been waiting a year to make up for last years' debacle.

Whereas the Carolina vs. Carolina regional was (at least to me) compelling television, the NBA finals have not been. San Antonio, through two games, is clearly the superior team. The NBA so wants LeBron James to break out, to have another one of those 48-point games that he had in game five of the Detroit series, but the Spurs aren't the kind of team to let that happen. The Tim Duncan Spurs aren't flashy, they just play the game old school, and they're teaching the young King James that while one day he may wear the crown of a champion, it won't be this season.

James is just 22 and has so much talent and his future is ahead of him. However, I still don't see him as "must see TV."

It's certainly interesting to compare him to Michael Jordan, but Jordan was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime players. ESPN Classic had several of Jordan's championship games on over the weekend, and I must say it was more exciting to watch those games again than anything we're watching today.

What set Jordan apart from everyone is the fact that his love for competition and his desire to win were unmatched. This was a guy who was not just the league's perennial scoring champion, but a first-team, all-league defensive player. Jordan could shut down anybody, and he was one of the great practice players of all time. He wanted to win in practice like it was game seven. And this was every practice. He just loved to play the game, and he wouldn't put up with anyone who didn't want to play as hard as he did. He rode his teammates. He willed them to play hard and, while many resented his sometimes biting words and his dominating personality, they also knew that Michael Jordan meant championships. He made his teammates better. He didn't care if they liked him or not, he just wanted them to want to win as badly as he did. Only someone of Jordan's stature could have commanded Dennis Rodman's respect.

LeBron James is not there yet. He may become a player of Jordan's talent, but will he have the fire in the belly that Michael had? Few before or since have had Jordan's fierce competitive desire. He wanted to win whether it was in the finals or an October exhibition. That's what made him Michael Jordan.

And finally, does anybody think the ACC underclassmen who've declared for the upcoming NBA draft will be impact players next season? I sure have my doubts. I don't think any of them are ready, but who can blame anyone for looking at the chance to make more money in a short period than the vast majority of us will make in a lifetime?