March Greatness
As far as sports in the U.S. go, Super Bowl Sunday is probably the closest thing that there is to a "Sports Holiday," so to speak. Plenty of bets are placed, friendly wagers are made (such as Super Bowl Squares), and plenty of watch parties are hosted. The Super Bowl has become a cultural phenomenon (and the most-watched event in America each year) not just because of the game itself, but also because of the festivities that surround it, such as the unique commercials and halftime show. However, as a sports fan, Super Bowl Sunday is not my favorite day on the sports calendar: my two favorite days of the year on the sports calendar are the first two days of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, colloquially known as "March Madness".
March Madness may be the only annual sporting event in the U.S. that comes close to rivaling the Super Bowl as a cultural phenomenon. Like the Super Bowl, people that normally aren't interested in the sport partake in the festivities. Millions of brackets are filled out each year and entered in to group pools with coworkers, friends, family, etc. Suddenly, people find themselves picking between colleges they've never heard of and rooting for schools that they otherwise wouldn't care about all because they have said school in the Final Four. Naturally, said school loses early on to a small school with a crazy-looking mascot.
With March Madness, the two best (and most exciting) days of the tournament are actually the first two days*. Over the course of 36 hours, 32 games are played. The action starts on Thursday afternoon and lasts through midnight, then takes a short break before starting back up again on Friday afternoon and ending sometime after midnight. While the later rounds of the tournament may end up having more compelling games or stories, the true magic and beauty of March Madness is in those first two days. This is when brackets are busted (it is said the odds of picking a "perfect bracket" are 1 in 9.2 quintillion) and the term "Cinderella" starts getting thrown around. Multiple games take place throughout the country all at once, which leads to all sorts of crazy finishes and buzzer beaters all around the same time. People crowd around screens watching a school they've never heard of knock off a heavy favorite they had in the Final Four. And while there may be the frustration of having a ruined bracket, that's also the beauty of it. In those crazy finishes like that, people care less about having a perfect bracket and more about seeing a school knock off a heavyweight and learning all sorts of fun facts about the school along the way, such as its location and mascot.
Schools such as Lehigh and Bucknell have forever etched their names in March Madness lore for
upsetting Goliaths such as Duke and Kansas. Names like Bryce Drew are forever remembered for making a crazy buzzer-beating shot to win the game. In recent years, academic powers Harvard and Yale have showcased their athletic skills in pulling off first round upsets. These first two days of March Madness are often talked about finding "Cinderella," a lower-seeded team that makes an unexpected deep run in the tournament. Virginia schools such as George Mason and VCU have gone from being controversial selections to making the Final Four. Butler University, a small private school in Indianapolis, came a fraction of an inch of upsetting Duke on a half-court heave in the National Championship. Before Steph Curry became the 2-time MVP he is today, he led Davidson College to the Elite Eight. My mom, a Davidson grad herself, enjoyed that run.
Through all the "madness" of buzzer beaters, crazy finishes, upsets, and Cinderella runs, one thing stands out to me is the genuine emotion in the coaches and players from the joys of winning to the pain of losing. And on those first two days of the tournament, each school enters in with a sense of optimism and hope. For lower-seeded schools, there's the dream of beating a blueblood in front of a national audience or being the "next George Mason" or "next VCU". For schools at the top of the bracket, there's the dream of cutting down the nets after the Championship Game. Whatever the dream may be, each team shares that hope of living out that One Shining Moment.
Happy March Madness viewing, everybody! May the odds be in your bracket's favor!
*Note: Technically speaking, the play-in games (known as the "First Four") are the first two days of tournament play. However, the Round of 64 is known as the opening/first round and when the real action and madness begins.
March Madness may be the only annual sporting event in the U.S. that comes close to rivaling the Super Bowl as a cultural phenomenon. Like the Super Bowl, people that normally aren't interested in the sport partake in the festivities. Millions of brackets are filled out each year and entered in to group pools with coworkers, friends, family, etc. Suddenly, people find themselves picking between colleges they've never heard of and rooting for schools that they otherwise wouldn't care about all because they have said school in the Final Four. Naturally, said school loses early on to a small school with a crazy-looking mascot.
With March Madness, the two best (and most exciting) days of the tournament are actually the first two days*. Over the course of 36 hours, 32 games are played. The action starts on Thursday afternoon and lasts through midnight, then takes a short break before starting back up again on Friday afternoon and ending sometime after midnight. While the later rounds of the tournament may end up having more compelling games or stories, the true magic and beauty of March Madness is in those first two days. This is when brackets are busted (it is said the odds of picking a "perfect bracket" are 1 in 9.2 quintillion) and the term "Cinderella" starts getting thrown around. Multiple games take place throughout the country all at once, which leads to all sorts of crazy finishes and buzzer beaters all around the same time. People crowd around screens watching a school they've never heard of knock off a heavy favorite they had in the Final Four. And while there may be the frustration of having a ruined bracket, that's also the beauty of it. In those crazy finishes like that, people care less about having a perfect bracket and more about seeing a school knock off a heavyweight and learning all sorts of fun facts about the school along the way, such as its location and mascot.
Schools such as Lehigh and Bucknell have forever etched their names in March Madness lore for
upsetting Goliaths such as Duke and Kansas. Names like Bryce Drew are forever remembered for making a crazy buzzer-beating shot to win the game. In recent years, academic powers Harvard and Yale have showcased their athletic skills in pulling off first round upsets. These first two days of March Madness are often talked about finding "Cinderella," a lower-seeded team that makes an unexpected deep run in the tournament. Virginia schools such as George Mason and VCU have gone from being controversial selections to making the Final Four. Butler University, a small private school in Indianapolis, came a fraction of an inch of upsetting Duke on a half-court heave in the National Championship. Before Steph Curry became the 2-time MVP he is today, he led Davidson College to the Elite Eight. My mom, a Davidson grad herself, enjoyed that run.
Through all the "madness" of buzzer beaters, crazy finishes, upsets, and Cinderella runs, one thing stands out to me is the genuine emotion in the coaches and players from the joys of winning to the pain of losing. And on those first two days of the tournament, each school enters in with a sense of optimism and hope. For lower-seeded schools, there's the dream of beating a blueblood in front of a national audience or being the "next George Mason" or "next VCU". For schools at the top of the bracket, there's the dream of cutting down the nets after the Championship Game. Whatever the dream may be, each team shares that hope of living out that One Shining Moment.
Happy March Madness viewing, everybody! May the odds be in your bracket's favor!
*Note: Technically speaking, the play-in games (known as the "First Four") are the first two days of tournament play. However, the Round of 64 is known as the opening/first round and when the real action and madness begins.
One time in college I went and saw Baylor play an opening round game. It was awesome (except for Nebraska fans)
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