The Mad Hatter of March Madness

The NCAA tournament is the best thing in sports. Period. Nothing else comes close.

For one thing, every game matters. These kids have worked hard all year and it all comes down to one game. Every game could be their last. This is a far cry from, say, pro baseball, where 162 games means a single game counts for next to nothing, and at some point you just get sick of baseball...it's like watching paint dry 162 days out of the year.

For another, the tourney seems more driven by love than money. I say "seems" because yes, money is a huge part of college basketball. Yet, unlike pro sports, there is more to it than that. There are the coaches who are not merely managing egos, but molding young men and women. There are the players who will never make the NBA who are nonetheless playing their hearts out because each game could be their last game, ever. There are the fans who love the schools they went to, to whom the team colors signify an experience, not just a name.

Thirdly, there is the omnipresent prospect of David beating Goliath. Born and raised in an underdog city, I love to see the little guy win. In pro sports, alas, it seems the same teams win all the time - either they make the right moves, have all the money, or both. Moreover, multigame playoff series in pro sports (except for the NFL) mean the underdog has to do it more than once. In a one-and-done tournament system, however, David only needs one chance to beat Goliath. And it happens every year. What is March Madness known for if not for big bracket-busting upsets?

Finally, the NCAA has done a great job of making fans part of the fun by providing them with brackets to fill out and pick the winners. It creates natural buy-in and participation among fans. We watch the games with more interest, rooting for the teams we picked. And this is the only time when being wrong is still fun, because it means something unexpected happened...and the unexpected is the one thing we can expect from March Madness.

So I will be glued to the television for the next three weeks as the tourney plays itself out. I will be rooting for my Boston College Eagles and any Ohio team, and rooting against the pastel-wearing teams from the south or west coast...especially Duke, that bunch of rich, stuck up preppies who get all the calls. The Blue Devils are the Zach Morrises of the basketball world and they are, in the end, all that's wrong with March Madness.