It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Today begins the best 2-3 weeks in sports. I mean think about it, why do we watch sports? Most of the time we watch just hoping to see a good or close game. That will happen exactly every single hour over this first weekend of madness. Other times we want to be sure and watch a great team play so we can compare them to other great teams of the past. How good was that Florida team that went back to back a couple of years ago compared to any team this year? Some people will watch the same great team play and hope it loses to a greatly inferior opponent. Who doesn’t love to hate Duke? Or, if you are lucky enough, your team has finally made it to the big game and you watch while living and dying with every basket, rebound, and of course every blown call (I have found, however that this is often the least enjoyable reason to watch sports, as it causes extreme amounts of stress and ensuing depression with defeat). Perhaps the most rewarding reason to watch sports is the feelings of comradery and community built with other fans. What other sporting event can bring you closer with people at work, help you reconnect with old friends, and enable you to meet someone in another city, state, or country. This is all accomplished by the power of the bracket; practically everybody has one, even people who don’t follow sports all year will fill out a bracket.

Well whatever your reason for watching sports, over the next few weeks you will get the chance to see and experience all of these things in tremendous excess. Which is why these weeks are the BEST weeks in sports, and for my money nothing else is close. Disagree? Let’s look at the NFL, we’ve actually had some underdogs make it all the way to the super bowl, and last year win it thanks to Mr. David Tyree. But how often is your team in the super bowl? Or even the playoffs? And imagine if the Ravens had beaten the Steelers, would there really have been that much interest in it outside of Baltimore and Arizona? Heck for the average fan who has no rooting interest you’re really hoping for close game and an excuse to root for team. I live in Houston and I’m a Cowboys fan, and this year my excuse for cheering for the Cardinals was to keep Pittsburgh away from being the first team to win a 6th title. But what if I’m a Texans fan? My team is several years away from even winning a playoff game (sorry Texans fans I just don’t think Matt Schaub is the answer: side note Schaub and a 2nd round pick for Cutler? They should do that in a heartbeat) much less get to a Super bowl. College Football comes closer to at least providing the same drama of every game mattering in the regular season, but I think you could find 1 or 2 Texas fans willing to argue the validity of that statement. The subjective ratings are everything in CFB. But in march madness you can be ranked number 1, have everyone in the country including the President and a certain four letter network bowing down to you, (I’m looking at you North Carolina) and all of a sudden you lose to Oklahoma in the elite eight and you’re out. (Fingers crossed, holding a rabbit’s foot, and four leaf clover, Boomer Sooner!)

Moving on to our nation’s pastime, Major league baseball. Quick who played in the World Series two years ago? Thinking time…..Ok, How many people got the Colorado Rockies? If yes good job! They were a nice Cinderella story as were the rays this year, but too many times baseball games are not close, it’s the only major sport where you can consistently predict who will win with as much as a third of the way to go. Yes there are times when great comebacks or dramatic finishes might happen, but they are far from guaranteed. I don’t know if you saw the tournament championship game last year, but it was kind of dramatic, well if you like buzzer beater threes to force overtime, but back to baseball. How often is your team in it? Good luck staying alive long enough to see your team win the World Series. If you were a Red Sox fan born in 1920 I hope you lived to at least 84, otherwise the most comforting news you heard at the end of the season was, “there’s always next year.” I could talk about the cubs here, but that would just be mean, right?

Now let’s address the NBA’s case for best time in sports. Before I start I must confess to something: I LOVE the NBA! Seriously, I will watch the Grizzlies play the Wizards. And if the Rockets are in the playoffs I’m probably not missing a second of it, but I must admit that March provides much more excitement then the NBA playoffs could ever hope to have. Most years there are two three teams in each league that have a legit shot at making the finals. (Anyone want to take any team besides the Lakers, Spurs, Celtics or Cavs to make the finals?) This makes it hard for your team to have a shot at the title and as a casual fan it’s harder to root for either team when you really don’t like either one. It also makes it a little less interesting even though a certain four letter network would beg to differ; as they shove said team or player down your throat, hoping to induce your admission that the player truly is the chosen one.

I know that all of things I have said either don’t happen or won’t happen in other sports very well could happen this year. Heck, a huge reason we watch sports is that anything is possible: USA over Russia in the 1980 Olympic Games, George Mason in the final four, Cubs winning the world series...well most things are possible. But consistently they don’t happen, save for these few awesome weeks in March. Where, as I am typing these words, number 3Villanova is tied at 55 in the second half with 14American University. American was the champ of the Patriot league this year. You might remember another Patriot League Champ from a couple of years back: George Mason. Let the Madness Begin!