On March Madness

And let the MADNESS begin … that is March Madness … NCAA Men’s Basketball … round ball! I’ve always cheered on any and all teams from the state of Florida, any SEC team, plus an underdog. I haven’t picked my underdog team yet, but it will be chosen before 1 pm this afternoon. This year I am looking for two surprising upsets – one against Kansas and one against Kentucky. It will make the tournament very interesting if either of these teams lose especially since it seems that all of the sports writers and commentators have already declared that it will be these two teams in the finals.

Confession is good for the soul … come the end of March I become a “coach potato” – TV set broadcasting the games, some fresh popcorn and a decent novel for the commercials. I enjoy all sports – even Winter Olympics Curling. What I especially like about college basketball is the pace of the game, that it is decided within a fairly short period of time, a game can change - thanks to the 3-point shots - quickly AND they DO NOT drench the coach with a bucket of Gatorade if they win! What I do not like about the game is that they can stretch the last 12 seconds of the game into 10 to 15 minutes … go figure!

Another thing I like about basketball is that you never know … you just never know. From a New York Times article is this story as quoted in the March, 1987 issue of “Reader’s Digest”: “Les Henson, a six-foot, six-inch senior forward on the Virginia Tech basketball team, will never forget a game against Florida State University in Tallahassee last year (1986). With two seconds to go and the score tied at 77 to 77, Henson grabbed a rebound off the Florida State backboard a foot from the baseline and threw the ball overhand toward his own basket. ‘It was eerie--you couldn't hear a thing in the arena,’ Henson recalled later. ‘Then it just swished through the hoop’ --from 89 feet, 3 inches away, making it the longest field goal in college basketball history. And Henson, who shoots with his left hand, had done it with a right-handed throw.” In college basketball you never know … and so bring on the Madness and enjoy a little escape from the daily routine of life!

Quote for today: “The psychology instructor had just finished a lecture on mental health and was giving an oral test. Speaking specifically about manic depression, she asked, ‘How would you diagnose a patient who walks back and forth screaming at the top of his lungs one minute, then sits in a chair weeping uncontrollably the next?’ A young man in the rear raised his hand and answered, ‘A basketball coach?’" from Bits & Pieces