March Madness

As I type this, i'm excited and disappointed at the same time. I'm watching one of the best basketball games I've watched- perhaps ever- as I watch BC play UNC in the ACC semi-finals. It's exciting, but there's less than a minute and UNC is down by a few... But I'm excited because we're coming up on what i consider to be perhaps my favorite time of the year (for sports, at least...)

Maybe it's because when I was growing up, we only had CBS, PBS and CBC and so the only thing on in March on CBS was March Madness. It was also wicked cold in Maine in March, and nothing better to do besides watch the games... But, until I was in high school, I didn't really care, anyway. Maybe it's because my time in college made me a huge sports fan of all kinds (before, I was really only a hockey fan...).

But I'm pretty sure that the real factors are these.

1. College basketball is the best at demonstrating their sport when they play. Just in general, I find college sports to be better than professional. Not necessarily the level of the play, or the style of the players, but fundementals of the game. And college basketball is the best of college sports to play their game. they play both ends of the court- rules are not altered so much to increase scoring- players are not show-offs (hoping for increased contracts or corporate sponsorships)... it's just a better mindset. and they play the GAME!

2. You will never see a Cinderella story do as much as you will find in the NCAA tournament. The fact that there are 65 teams means that there is HUGE opportunity to be involved, even from lesser known teams. And while there is yet to be a number 16 upset a number 1, there have been multiple close calls and we have seen a number of 15s beat 2s and 14s beat 3s. For those of us who like to root for the underdogs- we get ample opportunity to do so. And even those who are not a number 1 seed seldom live up to the hype- only three times in the history of the tournament have three or more number 1s made it to the final four.

3. Buzzer beaters. everything from half-court, 3/4's court, last-second lay-ups and the inbetweens- buzzer beaters make it exciting. If the lead is only 3 points, it doesn't matter if there's .9 seconds left on the clock, the game isn't over!

4. There is just no end to the action, especially in the early rounds of the tournament. I couldn't turn the television on after noon in the first weekend (first 2 rounds) on CBS and not be watching some game- most likely a great one.

There are other reasons why March Madness is so great, but these are some of the best. I grew up in hockey country- the University of Maine did not have much of a basketball program. So while I'm a UNC fan (and UCONN- my dad lives in Conn), I can cheer just about anybody on (except Duke... always root against them).

As much of a sports fan as I am, I simply am not as excited about any time of year as much as I am about the coming of the NCAA tournament!! it truly is March Madness!