Memphis blues haunt city, Calipari

SAN ANTONIO -- Time moves on. There is recruiting to be done. College basketball waits for no loser, or winner for that matter. But one thing first.

How long does John Calipari stay haunted by this?

For months?

For years?

Forever?

And what of his hard-luck, hard-loss city, its spirits at half-staff, if not its flags?

By now, shock has given way to pain. The coach of Memphis said late Monday night that it would "probably hit me like a ton of bricks tomorrow." The tomorrows have begun.

Calipari is on a list nobody wants to join, those who are the victims of fate's cruelest sports jokes. Championships are lost every year. But seldom do they just ... vanish. Poof. Like the wine bottle under the handkerchief in a magic show.

He is not the first guy to have that happen in a Final Four. Some pretty good ...