Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Dave Duerson propped a dining room chair against the front door of his Sunny Isles apartment. He neatly laid out documents on the dining room table and on his bed. He also placed two framed certificates, framed medals, and a folded American flag at the head of the bed. Naked except for a gold necklace, he climbed into bed and pulled a green sheet up to his neck.

A crucifix was tattooed on his upper left chest. A Tasmanian Devil cartoon and two Chinese characters were inked on his left arm.

Apparently propping himself up with his elbows, Duerson held a fully loaded .38 Special in his left hand, aimed for his heart, and shot himself through the chest. The lead slug was later found in his right lung.

HOUSTON — Troubled Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly has been arrested on another drug charge in Houston.

Houston police spokesman Victor Senties said Jolly was pulled over about 12:45 a.m. Friday. Senties said officers discovered a bottle containing 600 grams of codeine under the passenger’s seat and another bottle with an unidentified substance in the driver’s side door.

Jolly was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

Senties said the former Houston high school star gave the arresting officers a state identification card instead of a driver’s license. After a background check, police discovered Jolly’s license had been suspended in 2007 and was ineligible for renewal.

NEW YORK -Former New York Gov. David Paterson will do a late-night shift on sports talk radio — at least for one night.

Radio station WFAN in New York City said Friday that Paterson will be a guest host Monday for three hours, starting at 10 p.m. The former governor, who preceded current Gov. Andrew Cuomo and left office at the end of last year, has expressed interest in media work.

Shortly before he left office in December, Paterson appeared as a guest host on a show with WFAN’s afternoon host Mike Francesa.

Station officials say Paterson’s appearance is effectively a tryout for a more regular job.

Tiger Woods had a good round working Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational until the final two holes. He was 3-under par and working his way up the leaderboard, but stumbled on 17 and 18.

Woods bogeyed the par-3 17th and double-bogeyed the par-4 18th, knocking his second shot in the water on the latter, to close with a disappointing even-par 72. He finished at 1-under 287 for the tournament at the sun-baked Bay Hill Club and Lodge.

“Very simple,” Woods said, a six-time winner of the event hosted by Arnold Palmer. “I hit three water balls this week and missed a few putts here and there, and I’m not that far behind. Add all that together, you can’t afford to make those mistakes.”

All the top seeds have gone home, all the “smart money” is down the tubes and millions of brackets are in the trash.

Even in the unpredictable world of March Madness, this is a Final Four nobody could have imagined.

Kentucky, Connecticut, Butler and Virginia Commonwealth fill out a Final Four that, by most ways of looking at it, is the most unimaginable in the history of an NCAA tournament that has never lacked surprises.

In one game in Houston on Saturday, No. 4 seed Kentucky will play No. 3 Connecticut. In the other, it will be No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth against No. 8 Butler.

“Seeds are so overrated,” Kansas coach Bill Self said, stating the obvious after his top-seeded team lost 71-61 to VCU on Sunday. “It’s about matchups. And their players could play for us any day.”

Kentucky emerged from the weekend as the new Vegas favorite, at 8-5. VCU is 7-1 – the long shot again, though nowhere near the 2,500-1 pick it was back when the season started.

NCAA Mens Final Four

National Semifinals – VCU vs Butler- Apr. 2, 2011, Saturday, 6:09 PM @ Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX.
Kentucky vs UConn- Apr. 2, 2011 Saturday, 8:49 p.m. @ Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX
National Championship Game Apr. 4, 2011, Monday, TBD @ Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX.

NEW ORLEANS — Florida had a double-digit lead in the second half, was dominating in the low post and slowly suffocating Butler’s second-straight Final Four run.

How it all went wrong will haunt the Gators for a long, long time.

“I don’t really know what to say,’’ Florida guard Kenny Boynton said, his head leaning against his locker and a blank stare on his face. “We didn’t get a few loose balls, we were outrebounded and then just missed some shots. They just wanted it more, I guess. It’s hard to explain.’’

Shelvin Mack scored 27 points, Matt Howard added 14 and Butler came from behind to beat Florida 74-71 in overtime, denying the Gators a third trip to the Final Four in six seasons.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has come up empty in the Final Four.

Like millions of other fans around the country, Obama lost his last Final Four team — and his national champion — when top-seeded Kansas was stunned by Virginia Commonwealth in the Southwest Regional final Sunday.

Obama picked all four No. 1 seeds to reach the Final Four in Houston, but Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Duke and Kansas have all been eliminated during a wild NCAA tournament filled with upsets.

No. 8 seed Butler will play 11th-seeded VCU in one national semifinal Saturday. No. 3 seed Connecticut faces fourth-seeded Kentucky in the other one.

Obama filled out a bracket for ESPN for the third straight year. He is in the 94th percentile out of 5.9 million brackets submitted on ESPN.com

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Hornets have signed forward Patrick Ewing, Jr. to a 10-day contract.

The move comes a day after the club learned leading scorer David West will be lost for the rest of the season with a torn ligament in his left knee.

Ewing is a former Georgetown standout and the 26-year-old son of Hall of Fame center and current Orlando assistant coach Patrick Ewing.

The younger Ewing is 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds. He has spent much of this season in the NBA Development League with Reno and Sioux Falls. He has averaged 17.7 points and 9.4 rebounds in 49 games.

The Hornets next play Sunday night against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked up an extra 2011 draft pick Friday when the NFL announced compensatory picks for players lost during free agency last year.

Tampa Bay, which lost safety Will Allen and defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson, received a compensatory seventh-round selection, the 237th overall.

The Bucs now have eight picks overall, including one each in rounds one through six and two seventh-round selections.