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The Ides of March Madness
Bracketology and some Tourney love
March is Madness!
For a sports fan like myself there’s certain times of the year where we are inundated with more athletics than we are physically capable of watching. For a guy who thrives on overstimulation (that’s why i don’t need to get tested) March Madness is the crown jewel of “too much to watch”. Coming on the heels of football season and right before the playoff push in the NHL and the NBA it’s nestled right into the perfect positioning. I’ll be honest i don’t follow college basketball UNTIL we’re gearing up for the madness, but for these couple of weeks i am LOCKED THE FUCK IN. The introduction of sports betting in Massachusetts last year only fueled my fire and added a whole new element (for better or for worse, my bank account decides) to my preparation and viewing experience. Even if it’s just a bracket where you fill in teams based on mascots, locations, or some other deep seated logic, or you’ve got a connection to one of the schools in the dance there’s something in March for everybody.
Intensity
The games are more intense than a typical game, some of these kids are playing in their last game of organized basketball OF THEIR LIVES. They’re out there giving it every ounce of what’s in their tank to progress to the next round. The edge of your seat intensity in March is absolutely unbeatable. From upsets to game winning shots, razor thin barn burners, coaches losing their minds on the sidelines, court storming and everything in between, these next few weeks are going to be special and the conference tournaments were already indicative of such. March is for moments and they’re birthed through intensity on and off the court.
Cinderella stories
Every year we try to predict who’s going to make that magical run to the sweet 16, what team that has absolutely no business being there is gonna defy the odds prove everybody wrong and be there anyway? Everybody remembers where they were when #16 UMBC came storming out of the gates to curb stomp #1 Virginia and cement their place in history. Farleigh Dickinson repeating that same magic against Purdue just last year is another example of a story book moment created from this tournament and one my bank account will not soon forget (donations are welcomed but not required) weather it’s a one off upset or a prolonged run like Florida gulf coast dunking on everybody’s heads back in 2013 or the series of game winners the Sister Jean led Loyola Ramblers had in 2018 America is always looking for their next Cinderella story and if we can’t find one we’ll force the slipper on one anyway. Storylines, moments, a shot at history, and defying the odds just more fuel to the fire that is my love for March madness.
Cementing a legacy
There’s a million other things I can drone on about but AC would kill me if i wrote a ten page love letter to the tourney. So to keep it brief I’ll finish up with talking about the heroes and what it means for a player to cement their legacy in the tournament. I’m gonna date myself a little bit here but the first player that comes to mind for me since I’ve been watching March Madness diligently has gotta be Kemba Walker. That entire run he went on top of the nastiest step back we’ve ever seen (pour one out for that dude from Pitt’s ankles) cemented him in UCONN’s history , basketball history forever, and turned everybody’s head to him right before he decided to take his talents to the nba and that god forsaken charlotte bobcats team. While yes, it’s true star power has severely diminished over the years for the NCAA, there is ALWAYS a chance for a guy to become a household name off the back of his tournament performance. There’s always a chance for a guy to cement his name in his schools history forever (free shit for life!) because he carried their team to their best tournament run since color tv came out. Before this turns into an episode of Unforgettables and i just start naming players from that Mercer team that upset Duke or guys like Prince Ibeh from Texas I’ll leave you with this. March madness is just that, it’s madness, there’s a million crazy things that can happen (and it feels like half of them DO every other year) but no matter what I’m gonna be enthralled by the chaos that ensues over these few weeks in March/april. Oh and it’s still really fucking dumb that this bleeds into April, can we not just wrap this up in March?
Who are you guys looking at to make a deep run? What players are gonna be set for life in their respective states? And what’s YOUR favorite part of March Madness? I simply can’t choose one. The first 4 days of the tournament are arguably my favorite of the entire year. Let us know your thoughts on the socials, tell Your friends about the newsletter, sign up anybody who emails you spam we’ll take the support from anywhere and most importantly make sure to check out The Sportsocracy: The Ocho Wednesday nights at 8:00 EST on YouTube and Facebook.
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