Payne-ful opinion

Everyone has an opinion of Tiger Woods these days. And everyone is entitled to one. Say whatever you want around the water cooler at the office, at a bar, in your living room. I'm sure people around the country and the world run the gamut between complete and total Tiger apologists to others who think he's the scum of the earth.

Billy Payne is somewhere in the middle. But instead of keeping his opinion in the office or at the bar, Payne made his very public when the Augusta National chairman addressed the media on Wednesday before the start of the Masters.

"It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here. It is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and our grandkids," Payne told reporters. "Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children."

Of course, it always comes back to the children. Won't someone please think of the children. Give me a break.

It was not Payne's place to make comments like these, and if I were Tiger, I'd be more than a little annoyed that this self-righteous snob in a green jacket got on his high horse and talked about my life.

If Payne wants to opine that Woods sullied the good name of the Masters with his recent "transgressions," fine. He'd be wrong, but that's a statement his position would allow him to make. Payne isn't Tiger's dad, and he has no right to spout off on what he's done off the golf course.

Dis-Conn-ected

When asked what team has been the most dominant during the last 10 years, most sports fans would answer the Red Sox, the Yankees, the Patriots, the Steelers, the Lakers, the Spurs or some major college football team.

But they'd all be wrong. The answer, without doubt, is the University of Connecticut women's basketball team. Yes, we all know they're riding a winning streak in the high 70s, and with Tuesday night's national championship victory over Stanford, they're again at the top of the heap.

But nobody really knows because this team doesn't get the attention it deserves. And I can admit that I'm guilty: I didn't watch a minute of the season or tournament until last night, when I click it on in the second half to check the score. That's it. Oh, and I watched the replay of Brittany Griner punching that girl from Texas Tech like 40 times.

Still, the UConn women deserve better, because when you look at the body of work Geno Auriemma has put together, it's quite staggering. And, for the record, I think Auriemma is a pompous jerk. The Huskies have now won back-to-back titles for the second time. They claimed three straight from 2002-04. They have another from 2000 and won their first in 1995.

One more title, and Auriemma will tie Pat Summitt - his archenemy - for the all-time lead, and that seems all but a formality at this point. UConn, with an 11-0 start to next season, will break the 88-game win streak by the John Wooden-led UCLA men's teams from the early 1970s.

Detractors will say this isn't good for the game, and that's why women's college basketball will always be panned. And I have to agree. Nobody wants to see one team dominate year after year. It takes the fun out of the NCAA tournament, which is all about upsets and Cinderellas. I mean, who didn't love when North Iowa beat Kansas in the second round of the men's tourney?

But truth be told, the Huskies are on top, and it appears they're there to stay. Now if only they can dominate the TV ratings like they do their opponents.

Duke will dominate

I said it before (last week), and I'll say it again: Tonight's national championship college basketball game is going to be a blowout.

Cinderella stories are great for the first few rounds. But when Butler and Michigan State played their Final Four game, with Duke and West Virginia on the other side, it was a guarantee that tonight's title game wouldn't be close.

Can anyone honestly think that Butler has a shot against Duke? Maybe a few days ago people did, but after watching Duke dismantle WVU on Saturday night, there's not a doubt in my mind that the Blue Devils will win the program's fourth national championship.

They have three stars (Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler) and Brian Zoubek, their 7-foot-1 offensive-rebounding machine of a center. Butler has Gordon Hayward, who is really, really good, but he can't beat Duke by himself. And the Bulldogs, who haven't shot particularly well the whole tournament, will need to improve on their 15-for-49 shooting performance against Michigan State if they're to have any chance.

Unfortunately for the feel-good story of the Big Dance, Butler has no chance.

Duke 79, Butler 59