2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
March Madness contagious as NCAA Tournament looms
Rob Greenfield, Collegian Columnist
Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: Sports
I was hesitant to write a column about March Madness. What is there left to say? Everyone is getting on the bug right now, and there are hundreds of columnists across the land writing what they love about college basketball during this time of year.
Sometimes it's trivial to get so involved in something like March Madness. There are lunatics out there right now, camped out in their basements, glued to a computer screen with the shades drawn (and occasionally detaching themselves to take a look at the bubble teams play on TV in their conference tournaments), waiting to see who will be where in the Holy Bracket.
Of course, there are the gamblers, and not just the fill-out-the-bracket-for-the-office-pool gamblers - the bet-on-how-long-it-takes-for-the-coach-to-take-off-his-suit-jacket gamblers.
So I wanted to take a step back from all of the lunacy this March, kick back and watch the insanity without becoming crazy-glued to it.
Well, I failed.
I'm checking ESPN.com every day for the latest on the bracket busters and the bubble teams, and I'm watching the contenders for the at-large bids very closely because of your Massachusetts Minutemen and their increasingly impressive resume.
Here's the truth about March Madness: it evokes the most powerful emotions and pride, while providing endless opportunities for small-time colleges and secondary basketball programs across the nation.
The University of Pennsylvania won the Ivy League conference tournament and made it into the NCAA Tournament. While Clemson and Florida State are struggling for their season's survival in the bowels of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Quakers are already dancing.
Some might call that the weakness of the system. I call it Democracy.
And it's not just Penn that had a chance to do it. Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, and Harvard all had a shot to make it. That brings in the fans, the students or alumni who have some pride in their schools and go to the games or listen to them on the internet.
Sometimes it's trivial to get so involved in something like March Madness. There are lunatics out there right now, camped out in their basements, glued to a computer screen with the shades drawn (and occasionally detaching themselves to take a look at the bubble teams play on TV in their conference tournaments), waiting to see who will be where in the Holy Bracket.
Of course, there are the gamblers, and not just the fill-out-the-bracket-for-the-office-pool gamblers - the bet-on-how-long-it-takes-for-the-coach-to-take-off-his-suit-jacket gamblers.
So I wanted to take a step back from all of the lunacy this March, kick back and watch the insanity without becoming crazy-glued to it.
Well, I failed.
I'm checking ESPN.com every day for the latest on the bracket busters and the bubble teams, and I'm watching the contenders for the at-large bids very closely because of your Massachusetts Minutemen and their increasingly impressive resume.
Here's the truth about March Madness: it evokes the most powerful emotions and pride, while providing endless opportunities for small-time colleges and secondary basketball programs across the nation.
The University of Pennsylvania won the Ivy League conference tournament and made it into the NCAA Tournament. While Clemson and Florida State are struggling for their season's survival in the bowels of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Quakers are already dancing.
Some might call that the weakness of the system. I call it Democracy.
And it's not just Penn that had a chance to do it. Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, and Harvard all had a shot to make it. That brings in the fans, the students or alumni who have some pride in their schools and go to the games or listen to them on the internet.
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