In a day when it’s hard to get and keep excitement levels high, along comes a three-week season known as March Madness.
Hearts beat faster. Television sets are turned to something that makes sense, for a change. And, American families, neighbors and back-fence friends cluster for sodas and popcorn in the nearest living room where a large-screen TV might lurk. A squawky, flickering 13-inch TV in the garage will work just fine, too.
Even the selection process is exciting, as college basketball fans keep their fingers crossed in hopes their favorite team makes the “big dance” list, which is sharply cut off at 65 teams. That happens on a Sunday, and by midweek those teams find themselves playing in arenas that span the nation. By the end of that first week with every team playing single elimination, brackets quickly diminish to the Sweet Sixteen. Then everybody returns to work where they talk basketball around the water fountain and check their “pot” that is placed conspicuously on the wall.
The weekend comes and each team plays another game. “The Elite Eight” emerge then after a second game the Four Final are sent to the national finals. After that, it will only require two games to decide who will be bring home the national championship.
In our house, we seldom watch sports unless KU or K-State are on TV. Until, that is, the NCAA Tournament starts. Then my wife and I start early and watch until the final horn sounds in the last game of the night. I’m married to a vocal sports fan, even if she’s the only one in the room, and even if it’s Siena and Villanova who are on the court.
We are loyal to the Big 12 teams, so it was a heartbreaker last weekend to see Mark Turgeon and his Texas A&M team lose to UCLA after leading most of the game. And we so much wanted to see K-State make it to the Sweet Sixteen, so there were groans and frowns when a tough team from Wisconsin waltzed right by them.
We cheered for Duke to beat West Virginia, and we just knew Purdue would easily handle Xavier. Neither happened, but we loved the games anyway.
As longtime KU fans, we sit on the edge of our seats from the tipoff till the final second and our Jayhawks never disappoint us. Oh, sure, somebody occasionally slips by them, but we have become so accustomed to 30 wins per season that we’d be murmuring for Bill Self’s firing if, heaven forbid, it ever dropped to 20 or 22.
We like basketball because it’s a simple game. Just run down the court and throw the ball in the basket. Well, it may be a little more complicated, but you get the drift.
That’s so different from football where a plethora of sideline and top-of-the-stadium coaches devise strategies for each play of the game, and even the players don’t know until seconds before the ball is snapped what play is being called.
Basketball games are swiftly played, emotionally charged and downright exciting, especially during those final seconds when the scoreboard shows either team could end up the victor. College basketball fans are loud and rowdy. And nobody on the court, except the referees, get paid.
So, for another two weekends, we will watch and cheer, obviously hoping this will be KU’s year for the big banner. But if nothing else happens during March Madness, it will be this: Television shows with their inane plots and simple-minded themes will plunge in their ratings. And, that’s got to be good for the good ol’ U.S. of A.
