NCAA: Four brackets of madness

The football season is finally over and for us sports fanatics out there it means only one thing. Its time for some round ball! Some prefer to follow the pros while others, like myself, thrive on the college scene. Nonetheless, it means that we can all give these guys our undivided attention (At least for another 3 months!).

We can now truly focus on the likes of Duke and Stanford or Iverson and Kobe. We can pay true homage to these incredible athletics that baffle us with their mind-numbing abilities.

Truthfully, is there is anything like watching Iverson breaking some rookie’s ankle with a lightning fast cross over dribble! Or watching Vince Carter sore through the air as if weightless until finally slamming the ball home with such style and authority that no one dares step in his path for fear of ending up embarrassed on some Sports Center highlight film.

Though the professional players have incredible skills and game for days there is something lost to the game when know matter how bad they play or how many games they lose they will be getting that fat paycheck come Monday. I guess that could be said about all professional sports.

And maybe that is why so many people like myself have found enlightenment and satisfaction in college sports. These kids are playing for the love of the game and with the hope of making the big time cash in a league where most of them will be lucky to get junk time.

These dreams and that passion for the game bring out a competitive spirit that I can only stand in owe of. These kids don’t have a paycheck on Monday to fall back on. They don’t have big time endorsements or the house in the Hamptons. They play all season long with heart and desire as if every game is their last cause the cold hard truth is…it might be. They battle for position in the paint, take the charge and set the picks all year long and if they are lucky they will get invited to what some consider the biggest sporting event this country has ever seen. The NCAA Tournament.

Imagine working your you-know-what off all year striving for one single goal and to have the culmination of all your work and efforts come down to a tournament. It is in this tournament where anything can happen. Where the “no-name” players from Nowhere State University have their chance to shine and it is also the same place where the projected #1 draft picks and soon to be superstars stand the chance of falling on their faces and going home early.

This is where the Wally Szczerbiak’s come to shine. The kids that amaze us by scoring 15 to 20 points a game, draining threes and dunking with authority like its no one business, as if to say “How dare you overlook me.”

This also where the Toby Baileys falter to never appear again. Those that once graced the covers of Sports Illustrated come to this Tournament with big dreams and promises of high draft positions to only end up walking off the hardwood early with their chins tucked to their chest carrying their shattered dreams and hopes that maybe they will still get drafted late in the second round.

This is the tournament to end all tournaments. This tournament can make or break you. Four brackets of madness that spans for three weeks, where anything can happen and I do mean anything.

Remember Danny and the Miracles? That was when 1988 #6 Seed Kansas Jayhawks upset a highly favored #1 Oklahoma Sooners team that had dominated Kansas twice already that very season. Manning played out of his head and ended up the #1 pick in the NBA draft which only proves that this toury and this toury alone can define a college player's career.

So with that being said I suggest you pay close attention to not only the Stanfords, Dukes, and Michigan States but keep an eye open for the ones that like to sneak in the back door like the Gonzagas, Miami of Floridas, and Butlers cause this is college hoops baby and in this game you never can tell what’s going to happen. Close your eyes or turn your head for even one second and your favorite #1 seed team can drop two spots in the rankings with a lose to team from a university you have never heard of! Stop to get another beer or make a quick run to the bathroom and by the time you come back your team that was favored by 24 at home is now down by 36.

The unpredictability of this sport is what draws us all in. The true chance of a total upset or an undefeated season is what drives the hardcore fans to the arenas by the thousands. Game after game and year after year these maniacs show up as if on a religious mission. With their school colors adoring their face and while hysterically waving their schools variation of the “terrible towel” they will yell, scream and cheer their team to victory. I don't believe that there is any other sport in this great country that is met with as much enthusiasm and fever as the sport of college hoops and I doubt that there ever will.

So bust out the barbeque and cooler, call the fellas and post up on the couch cause its crunch time baby and the run to March Madness is about to begin!