I love the NCAA Tournament. Love it unconditionally. It seldom, if ever, lets us down. Have you ever remembered an NCAA Tournament that "wasn't that good." I don't. It's always good and often great. Even the NCAA itself can't screw this up, although sometimes you think they are trying.
I love it because it's fair. The best teams in the country don't get a "bye" into the Sweet 16. They've got to make it on their own, just like everybody else. They don't "re-seed" in the Big Dance, like they do in the NFL playoffs. If a #2 seed goes down in your bracket it just makes everybody else more hungry.
Don't worry about who just got upset because you might be next. From the bracket show on Sunday evening to the nets coming down on the first Monday in April, the whole thing takes less than a month. It's long enough, but not too much. The Final Four could hardly be more perfect. We get a delicious double dip on Saturday and run it back for all the marbles on Monday.
Best of all, in the Dance, you can't "duck" anybody. Witness a team like Gonzaga. In 1999, the Cinderella 'Zags romped through the West region and had UConn dead to rights before letting them off in the Regional Final. Before, the only thing Gonzaga was known for was John Stockton. Now suddenly, everybody knew their name.
This year, Gonzaga's RPI took a major beating. Partly because the small-school West Coast Conference was down, but also because that tourney run scared off any major opponent who might want a taste of them during December. Losing to Gonzaga out of conference wasn't worth the risk and setting up a home and home was insane.
The big boys took a pass. But guess what. You can' t duck Gonzaga if they are in your bracket. Somebody's gotta dance with them.
Congrats #1 seeds. Now say "hi" to the 4 teams that really want a piece of you en route to the Final Four.
I love the Big Dance because the players play for the name on the front of their jerseys, not the one on the back. And half of the teams don't even have both. When you start playing for the wrong name, the coach lets you know. If the problem persists, you won't.
Thankfully, the players don't have guaranteed $10 million contracts or David Falk to bail them out. Wizards PG Rod Strickland missed team practices, got DUIs, and loafed on supposedly injured hamstrings. He got his wish, and was traded to a playoff contender. Oklahoma PG J.R. Raymond couldn't quite follow team rules. This week his team is playing in the tournament. He'll be going to Geology class back on campus.
You want passion? Try playing in a game that you know will be the last one of your career. That floor burn will have plenty of time to heal while sitting behind a desk for the next 45 years of your life.
I love the Big Dance for the office pool. For once a year, you and that poindexter accountant in the corner have something to talk about at the water cooler. We love it because it gives us a reason to ignore our adult responsibilities, and for once, stay up past our bedtime. When we were 12, we begged mom and dad to let us stay up late. As adults, we can stay up as late as we want, but usually run for the covers. Stay up, watch the late games, give yourself permission.
Most sports fans have a hard time just remembering who played who in the NBA Finals from year to year. But when it comes to March Madness, the upsets are written into legend. Go ahead ask a friend...
"Remember when Santa Clara..." "...upset Arizona? Uh huh."
"Or the time that Richmond...;" "...took down Syracuse? Of course."
The tournament is not just about witnessing sporting joy but also about witnessing fear. Like the fear in a young man's eyes when he's at the line with just seconds to go. An NBA player could miss, and he'll just say "see you in Game 5." In college, your missed free throw will dry up the kegs on campus.
In college, your teammates are you friends. If you miss that free throw, you know they'll forgive you. But you fear having to look them in the eye and say "I'm sorry."
I wonder if pros ever have that kind of fear. I doubt it. Their list of worries probably starts with "playing time" and ends somewhere near "signing bonus." That missed free throw in the Final Four will follow you to the playgrounds at home in the summer. That missed free throw lives on in school lore. In the NBA, missed free throws don't even make it to the team bus back to your Five Star hotel.
But fear is a funny thing. Watch the fear when a team like Butler has team like Michigan State on the ropes. Big-time schools aren't supposed to have fear, they are supposed to instill it in others. But when a skinny kid from Valparaiso has just hit his fifth three-pointer of the half, you suddenly realize he's not scared.
The fear is now on the North Carolinas of the world. The fear of embarrassment (You lost to who? Weber State?). The fear of watching your 28-2 season get flushed in an instant. The fear of knowing that the team beating you is playing with the house's money. That team the oddsmakers said you should beat by 20, has a quirky defense you've never seen and a player who shoots off his wrong foot. But dammit, he hasn't missed since the first half and you are now 10 minutes from a long and miserable summer.
I hate the fact that so many young stars are leaving early to turn pro. Not because I don't think they should make a fantastic living. It's because they end up robbing us of the chance to watch them. The worst misnomer in all of sports is when people call the NBA "the next level." It's not. We know it. As far as basketball goes, it's a demotion. We pray for the Joseph Fortes and Jason Williams to play it out at UNC and Duke. Why? Because the ACC is must see TV. Clippers at the Hawks is punishment. Going pro means you are now in the witness protection program.
I love the Big Dance because it's about crying. The players cry, the fans cry and boy do the cheerleaders cry. The only people who don't cry are the coaches. This is part of the unwritten rules, I suppose. I'm sure they cry behind closed doors. On TV, walking off the court, the losing coaches simply look like zombies. Their hearts have been ripped out before the entire country. Their reward? A chance to go through it all again next year. If you cry in the NBA it's because you've been hit with a paternity suit.
I love March Madness because it proves that sportsmanship is still alive and well. Go ahead, list the number of "ugly incidents" that have occurred in the NCAA Tournament. That's right, the list is almost non-existent. Players don't dare take a swing in anger at another player because of what is at stake.
Remember that fear of having to tell your basketball brothers "I'm sorry?" Imagine having your team advance to the next round, while you serve a suspension. Most guys would rather die. In the pros, the Knicks and Heat disgrace themselves with street-level, pick-up-ball-caliber scuffling every year. In the Dance there are handshakes and hugs. Win, lose or heartbreak.
Every year, my "inner cynic" tries to tell me that people get carried away talking about how great the NCAA Tournament is to watch. But then every year, the month of March gives me 64 reasons (or more) to love the game of basketball as it was meant to be played.
Steve is a native Washingtonian and has worked in sports talk radio for the last 11 years. He worked at WTEM in 1993 anchoring Team Tickers before he took a full time job with national radio network One-on-One Sports.
A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Steve has worked for WFNZ in Charlotte where his afternoon show was named "Best Radio Show." Steve continues to serve as a sports personality for WLZR in Milwaukee and does fill-in hosting for Fox Sports Radio.
