EDITOR'S NOTE: Sportscaster Bob Brooks had surgery March 13 due to complications from a hiatal hernia. He spent one week in the hospital and is recovering at his home in Cedar Rapids).

From the Brooks Rehab Department, which is an ongoing affair, I've had a chance to be brainwashed on the four teams that will battle it out for the NCAA men's championship this weekend in New Orleans.

I have seen so much ESPN-speak that I even know when the commercial slots come. Consequently, I feel well informed about the upcoming weekend championship.

I am also of the same opinion that I had earlier this season when, looking at Kentucky, a team with the obvious talent to win it all, I don't think anything has changed in that regard.

Usually, NCAA championship teams have two NBA starters on their first five. This year, the Wildcats are about five for five.

That doesn't mean that in a one-game-and-out situation that they can't be beat, but the likelihood is quite unlikely. I look for Ohio State to advance to the title game, although if Kansas plays with the verve that it did in the Elite 8, the Jayhawks could be there.

Also in my view, Louisville will play hard, be well-coached and lose.

With that being said, the saddest part of all of this is that as Kentucky and its fans and John Calipari cut down the nets in the Big Easy, the door will open and in will come the NCAA investigators to find out if this team was really made up of so-called student/athletes.

Many a team in the last few years has won the title and lost eligibility. Let's hope this weekend we see some pure basketball with exceptional players and that they're legal.

FROM A PERSONAL STANDPOINT, I'd like to bring the sports fans up to date on my physical condition. While rehabbing at home from surgery three weeks, I have done only two columns for the Metro Sports Report and that has been it. Too many pills, too many doctors, too many appointments and too much weakness have kept me from my appointed rounds.

I do hope to get back on K-Memory next week, probably from home, and I look forward to resuming my television obligations at Mediacom. It's been a hard road and it's not over yet. But I've had the wonderful help of wife Susie, in at least getting on the road to come back.

So maybe by our next column I'll be a little more active and more in the loop. Thanks to all of you for your best wishes and support. It's what makes the world of sports in the Metro area great.