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<noscript><a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/8747475/”>Did you fill out any March Madness Brackets this year?</a></noscript>
It’s amazing how much can change in the span of a couple of weeks in March. Snow is out, and Madness is in! The NCAA tournament is one of a few sporting events that have become an unnofficial holiday in America. Two others come to mind to me. The Super Bowl, of course, is the Christmas Day of sporting events. And New Year’s Day has a long tradition of being a buffet of bowl watching, punched up this year with the simple brilliance of one Larry Culpepper…
His College Football Play-off idea has put New Year’s Day football back on the must-see TV map. These two football extravaganzas are elevated by the build-up that their regular seasons create. NFL and college football are on the front burner from September on.
Regular season college basketball, on the other hand, is almost an afterthought for many sports fans. If you don’t believe me, tell me how you would have done on this 2-question quiz prior to the start of the NCAA tournament:
A. Name the starting five of Ohio State (or you own favorite team).
B. Name five other college basketball players.
How did you do? For A, I would have probably went 3 for 5 (Russell, Williams, and Scott), and for B, I would have been 0 for 5. Part of that might be due to me being a 44-year old man caught up in the busy-ness of life. Another part is all this new-fangled technology–internet, TV, smart phones–that competes for our attention. Part of it is that college basketball doesn’t develop college superstars anymore. The best ones usually leave after their freshman year. No more Bill Waltons, Patrick Ewings, Christian Laettner’s, or Jimmy Jacksons. If I’m gonna invest my time into some hoop watching, Lebron, Kyrie, and their NBA buddies put on a much better show than their little brothers at the college level. The battle for the crowns of the Big 10, Big East, ACC, and company just isn’t as relevant as it was decades ago.
So why is there so much passion of March Madness? I think it has the perfect recipe of personal connection, the life-and-death thrill ride, the underdog story, and rapid fire endings. Let’s break these down.
First of all, unlike most other sports, March Madness creates a personal connection with all of its fans and maintains it throughout the tournament. In other sports, most only are invested emotionally if their team qualifies for the play-offs. Thus, if you are a fan of a certain team that recently unleashed this hip new logo…
you watch the NFL play-offs with little rooting interest. Well, that is, unless you are rooting against a certain team…
Concerning college football, we are fortunate that Ohio State is usually playing significant games in January. But if you are a Purdue fan, or anyone other than OSU, Alabama, Oregon, or Florida State, you probably didn’t get too emotionally invested in play-offs. And once your team loses in any post-season, your heart loses its interest as well.
College hoops, though, hooks you in with a simple sheet of paper…
Sure, many fans play fantasy football, and some do those College bowl pick-ems, but I am guessing those numbers pale in comparison to those fill out these sheets. Pretty much every workplace has a March Madness competition, and this is one that hooks in many women along with the men. The only argument that I ever remember having with my wonderful, beautiful wife was years back when I asked her to turn off a March Madness game on a late Thursday night so I could go to sleep. Yeah, that was our only argument, right honey?
But even if your team loses (see ya later Buckeyes! Go out to the driveway and work on your offense!), that little piece of paper keeps you emotionally invested.
Secondly, the one-and-done format of the tournament creates a life-and-death thrill ride for its viewers. You don’t get that with a best of seven series in baseball and the NBA. A team having its very survival on the line creates an anxious feeling that keeps the viewer from flipping the channel. And CBS does a great job of portraying that anxiety with shots of the players, the coaches, the benches, the fans, and the parents in the crowd.
And one thing that basketball has over football is the quantity of game-changing plays in the final minutes. Football usually has one score in the final two minutes. Basketball usually has at least 10, with one often coming down to the last second. What’s more exciting, watching some skinny field goal kicker putting the ball through the goalposts, or watching a buzzer-beating jump shot?
And what makes a buzzer beater even more special is watching an underdog knock it down. Replays of #14 seed Georgia State’s last second victory over #3 Baylor will be around for decades, especially with its coach (whose son just hit the game winner) taking this joyous spill…
Cleveland State University’s biggest claim to fame is it’s 1986 tourney run as a #14 seed with Mouse McFadden and Kevin Mackey. We remember Kent State getting to the Elite 8 in 2002. We love underdogs, and March Madness is about the only sports venue that truly sets the table for Davids to slay Goliaths.
Lastly, the quantity of games keeps our attention in world where distractions are a way of life. A couple years ago, CBS wisely (and belatedly) put the tourney on four different channels so that every game would be on TV. Viewers now could seek out the score and storyline that best interests them. I do have to admit, though, that my wife and I just had our second ever argument in 20 years yesterday when she wanted flip over to the end of an episode of the show, “Love It or List It”, while the Buckeyes were playing. In case you are wondering, I caved in, and–SPOILER ALERT–the couple decided to ‘love it’.
March Madness has created an enormous portfolio of memories: the Christian Laetner shot, Jim Valvano running around in search of a hug after his ultimate underdog upset, John Thompson hugging Freddy Brown after his errant game-ending pass. But my favorite comes from my freshman year at Muskingum College. It was an opening round Thursday evening, and my best buds–Steve and the Maz boys–and I had two tests the next day. So being responsible students, we decided as a team to turn the TV off in our dorm room and spend an hour or so studying. Well, about three minutes went by before Mike came up with the idea of turning the TV on, but putting it on mute. After a lengthy intellectual discussion examining the pros and cons of his proposal–it lasted about four seconds–we decided to approve his motion. TV on, sound off, study caps on. Yeah, that should work. Our eyes played ping-pong between our textbooks and the TV for another three minutes before someone mysteriously unmuted the TV. Grades are important, but come on, this is March Madness! To add fuel to the fire, in those days, CBS would have one last game tip off after midnight. And that night, the game was Providence vs. THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY.
Umm, let’s just say that none of us got one of these stickers placed on our tests…
But this story has a happy ending. Alex Davis hit a buzzer beater to get the Buckeyes the win, and all four of us eventually graduated college.
Best of luck with your brackets!
Follow the author on twitter: @macaljancic
You can also e-mail him: macaljancic@yahoo.com