NCAA: March basketball bliss

By Peter Gloviczki, Jr. Sports Central, e-sports.com Columnist

It's been called so many things; from the Big Dance to March Madness to March Mayhem. No matter what you call it, it is still the same fantastic tournament. The tournament I am speaking of is of course the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament.

The 2001 Men's Final Four will be held right in my backyard, at the H.H.H. Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

And were it not during my spring break, one can be sure that I would be attendance. However, I will instead be in Florida soaking up some sun, I have yet to decide where I would rather be, however after a long winter, I would have to give the edge to Florida. But anyway, back to the column. As some of you might remember, I have written about my experience at the Final Four in a previous article entitled "Through Blue Eyes" and I must say that my experience there was unlike any other I have ever had while attending a sporting event.

The Final Four that I attended saw none-other than the Duke Blue Devils playing for the title, and it was Duke Superstar Shane Battier that seemed to foreshadow what March would bring to the Dukies.

"We're a program of championships and every time we're in a championship situation, we get up," said Battier.

The situation he is talking about is Duke's 84-82 against the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday night. The 28-4 Blue Devils will now face the North Carolina Tarheels in the game that will determine who is tops in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Games like North Carolina vs. Duke are what sports were made for. A "Clash of the Titans", if you will, this game is pure basketball nirvana. This is the kind of game that makes sports fans fanatical, casual observers paint their faces, and non-believers start doing the wave. It's amazing. And what officially in my mind begins on Sunday, and ends when the NCAA champ is crowned in Minneapolis can be described as simply: basketball bliss.

Article courtesy of Sports Central