March Madness is here. Sports have become a national symbol for Americans. For some, baseball is championed as the American game. But there is something even more special about tournament time for college basketball.
In an era where professional sports are a turnoff to many athletic fans, college sports have taken a place in the hearts of people around the country. The use of illegal substances, the high salaries of athletes and the commercialization of the game have tarnished professional sports.
College basketball and sports have remained above those negative sentiments. College basketball has become an American pastime because it is still about the game. There are no individuals at the center of the game, but rather, functioning teams who concentrate on the basics and true strategy.
The college tournament is not about showing off the fanciest plays or about any one individual being at the center of the media. NCAA basketball, for both the men and the women, are about two teams facing each other. As a result, any team can win on any given day, no matter the odds.
March Madness is about teams calling upon every ounce of energy and passion they have to play their best. The tournament is about advancing several rounds to glorify your school and your personal pride. But, it is also about playing one game at a time.
Because of these mystical qualities, the brackets have historically had a fair share of shocks, upsets and purely good games. For a college player from small-town USA, no odds-line is going to dictate what chance the team has. For a player who knows that the professional scouts are not watching him or her, the fact that the team has a low ranking in the bracket will not ordain any less effort on their part.
The result is simple: good sports and good games. Avid sports fans learn to expect the unexpected in the game of basketball.
College basketball fans around the country took time to fill out their brackets. Whether this custom may be for personal kicks or whether money may be on the line through a friendly office pool, most people will pick the favorites. No matter the team's qualities, most brackets simply result in the better-ranked team being picked to advance with only a few upsets selected.
Even though most people will select the best-ranked team on their brackets, it is common knowledge when game-time rolls around, the underdog is usually the favorite. Americans like to see an upset. More importantly, America likes to see an entire Cinderella story play itself out throughout the course of March Madness.
This year, the selection committee seems to have done justice to the majority of the bubble teams. It is gratifying to see the selection committee seeded a variety of mid-weight teams with good records rather than pick additional teams with poor records and hard schedules in the dominating conferences of the country.
Thus, the question is: Who will be the Cinderella for this year? Fans look and wait to see who will be the team that will destroy everyone's bracket selections by defeating in the first round a team that was expected to make it to the Sweet Sixteen.
Some names being thrown around as Cinderella teams are Air Force, UTEP, Southern Illinois and BYU. Then there are the even more unlikely sleeper teams such as Manhattan, Pacific, Dayton and Nevada. However, whether they win their first-round game may not be relevant to the title of Cinderella. Perhaps by giving their all, but not winning, holding the higher ranked opponent to a close score is worthy of the designation of Cinderella.
Alternatively, perhaps the Cinderella story for this year is a good team who makes it further in the brackets than expected - say the Elite Eight or Final Four. Teams such as Xavier or Vanderbilt could make it further into the brackets than expected with a little bit of luck and passion for the game.
Or maybe, just maybe, the Cinderella for this year is the longest of long shots who will upset a two seed in this year's tournament. After all, the No. 15 seed has pulled off the upset three times in tourney history. Valparaiso is a team that shows fire and energy in every game they play. What would the reaction of the public be if Valparaiso were able to compete with Gonzaga, the greatest Cinderella team of the modern era?
On the other hand, maybe the glass slipper still fits the foot of Gonzaga. Whether it is possible for a two seed to become a Cinderella is beyond current comprehension. Nevertheless, given the magic of the past, Gonzaga clearly starts the tournament as a Cinderella in the hearts of millions of Americans. With just one unexpected victory and a strong overall showing in the tournament, maybe for the first time in sports history, the basketball kings will bestow the title of Cinderella on a team already expected to go far.
March Madness is all about Cinderella showing up at the big dance. For one reason, it is an occasion in sports where the best possible outcome is for the underdog to win. Simply put, Cinderella stories are inspiring.
Seeing the unexpected can easily motivate even the laziest of fans in a small way. An upset is inspiring because of what it says about the effort of the players. For an upset to happen, the average unknown basketball player with no professional future stepped up his or her game. They performed big at the big dance.
We are a country of fans who want to see the average player on the average team rise to the occasion. For this reason, there is no Cinderella in professional sports. The Cinderella and the unanticipated make March Madness great. The bottom line of March Madness is that fans love the underdog and they want small teams to do the unexpected.
Cinderella teams are great unless they are facing the home team. Go Huskies!
Sources:
http://sports-att.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney04/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=1761903 http://sports-att.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney04/news/story?page=04cinderellawatch
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