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Celebrating March Madness
Posted: Wednesday March 07, 2001 4:14 PM
A nefarious undercurrent always seems to flow beneath the roiling waters of Championship Week, as some folks try to argue that conference tournaments don't "matter." The reasoning behind this is twofold: For the top teams in the country, the real prize is the NCAA tournament; and the teams that emerge from one-bid conferences have little to no shot at making real waves in the Big Dance.
So how come the players, coaches, cheerleaders, band members, athletic-department staffers and fans of Eastern Illinois were dropping tears all over the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn., last Saturday? In overcoming a 21-point deficit in the final 8:36 to beat Austin Peay by one point, all the Panthers had done was earn the right to be spanked by Illinois or Iowa State or Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Or so say all the nattering nabobs who, let's face it, would rather be spitting sunflower seeds at a spring training game or watching Shaq and Kobe play Who Wants to Be a Whiny Multi-Millionaire.
Real Hoopheads like us know exactly why all those EIU folks were crying, just as we know why the good people at Butler, George Mason, Georgia State, Monmouth, Western Kentucky and the like celebrated so wildly at midcourt after capturing their respective championships. The joy and sadness displayed at these tournaments are no less real than the emotions that will be loosed in Minneapolis a few weeks hence. That's why, if I'm going to sleep through 51 weeks of the year (and lord knows I've tried), this is the one week I want to be awake. The thrilling, unpredictable dramas that play themselves out represent some of the last vestiges of purity we have in big-time sports.
So you can have your Super Bowl, your World Series, your NBA Finals. Just leave me March, and remember to wake me when it comes around again next year.
OTHER THOUGHTS ON THE MADNESS
Last week I assured you that Rick Pitino was going to UNLV. Serves me right for trying to get into the man's head. Seems like the only thing the school and the town failed to do was offer to build Pitino a race track. Most people, it seems, assume Pitino will have the chutzpah to go back to the state of Kentucky and build a program a few miles down the road from his former assistant, Tubby Smith. Now people want to believe it's a done deal, but with this guy, no deal is ever done until it's done.
Craziest (and most unheralded) achievement of the week: St. Joseph's guard Marvin O'Connor scored 18 points in the final minute of the Hawks' 91-90 loss to La Salle.
Whatever NCAA tournament site I'm assigned to, I sure hope Pete Gillen is there. He is, hands down, the funniest man in the sport.
Casual observers who assume that Princeton should automatically make the tournament every other year have no idea just how good a job John Thompson III did this season in leading the Tigers to the Ivy League title. Not only did the Princeton lose its two best players before the season started -- Spencer Gloger transferred to UCLA and Chris Young signed a pro baseball contract -- but the Tigers also lost their top two coaches, Bill Carmody to Northwestern and assistant Joe Scott to Air Force. No one would have blamed Thompson if the program stumbled for a year or two, but that didn't happen. Mad props to you, Coach.
The double-double is the single most overrated stat in the history of sports. As Dean Wormer said to Flounder in Animal House, "Out with it!"
Did you see Earl Watson berate his teammates during a timeout in UCLA's loss to Stanford? That kid can play for me anytime. (Not that I'm entertaining a slew of offers at the moment.)
Why are people still listing Georgia and Georgia Tech as bubble teams? They're in; it's not even close.
If Tommy Amaker does go to Michigan, look for Hofstra's Jay Wright to be on the short list of replacements at Seton Hall. Ditto for Rutgers if Kevin Bannon gets the boot.
Too bad Florida senior forward Brent Wright wasn't healthy enough to play in his final home game against Kentucky. I hope he's back in the fold soon.
We media guys sure missed the boat on Southern Miss. They deserve to be in the tourney regardless of what happens from here.
Is there anyone out there who doesn't wince when they hear the phrases opening-round game or field of 65? This idea is about as wise as the Big East's decision a few years back to allow six personal fouls.
If Washington fans (assuming there are such things) got depressed seeing Gonzaga win the West Coast Conference with Dan Dickau, a Huskies transfer, running the show, they'll be even more disheartened next year when another Washington expat, Senque Carey, becomes eligible at New Mexico. I thought only benchwarmers and head cases were supposed to transfer out.
I'm still waiting for Henry Bibby to say something, anything, to justify his atrocious treatment of those walk-ons.
Sad to hear Loren Woods say he wishes he had gone to the NBA last year because at least he would have "gone out on top." I don't know Woods, but I hope in the future he manages to elevate his self-esteem, because after all he's gone through he deserves to be happy.
If Iowa gets into the tournament, you can be sure plenty of people (myself included) will wonder if the Hawkeyes benefited from having their athletic director, Bob Bowlsby, on the selection committee.
Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis covers college basketball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Hoop Thoughts will appear each week throughout the college basketball season.
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