Etc...

Return to sender

"Of course, I was surprised," Karel Brozda said after a post card arrived at his home in the Czech Republic. Brozda is well into his retirement years , and not many cards come his way anymore. But that's not what gave this instance novelty. Rather, it was the fact that he'd written the card himself - on April 5, 1945 - from a prisoner of war camp after he was captured by US forces while serving as a conscript in the German Army. He adressed it to his parents, but somehow it ended up at his late brother's residence in Poland only a month ago. His sister-in-law forwarded it to him. "Who knows where it was for 60 years?" he marveled.

The NCAA men's college basketball tournament, which opened with 65 teams, is down to the Final Four: Illinois, Louisville, North Carolina, and Michigan State. Saturday's semifinal games and Monday night's championship game will be played in St. Louis's Edward Jones Dome. While not every year produces a classic finish to the postseason, the tournament has produced its share of nail-biters. Ten of the finales have been decided by a basket or less - three in overtime. The closest NCAA title games, the years, participants, and scores:

1944 42-40* Utah over Dartmouth

1953 69-68 Indiana over Kansas
1957 54-53# North Carolina over Kansas
1959 71-70 California over West Virginia
1963 60-58 Loyola (Ill.) over Cincinnati
1982 63-62 North Carolina over Georgetown
1983 54-52 North Carolina State over Houston
1985 66-64 Villanova over Georgetown
1987 74-73 Indiana over Syracuse
1989 80-79* Michigan over Seton Hall
* - overtime game # - triple overtime
- ESPN Sports Almanac 2005