The beauty of March Madness

My bracket is a mess. And as bad as it is, I really don't mind because it's a big reason why the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament has become the greatest sporting event of the year.

Better than the NBA Playoffs, better than the World Series, and yes, March Madness has become a more exciting, more entertaining, and a much more fan-friendly event than the Super Bowl.

Every March we are given underdogs who makes us believe that anything is possible, and it also gives us some faith that maybe sports are headed in the right direction.

As Americans, we were brought up to love the underdog -- it's in our blood.

I heard the odds in Vegas were 200-1 that we even had a shot against England in the Revolutionary war. Once again, smart money would have been on the Yankees.

Whether it's the geek who gets the Homecoming Queen, David beating Goliath, or Rocky beating Apollo Creed, we love the underdog almost more than anything else. It gives us hope.

We cherished Villanova's great run in 1985 when they shot 78 percent from the field to beat a superior Georgetown team. And who doesn't still think of Jim Valvano, running onto the court looking for someone to hug after Lorenzo Charles slammed home Derrick Whittenburg's miss from 30 feet out to give N.C. State the title over Houston in 1983? That moment is etched in my mind forever.

The names Ed Pinkney, Randolph Childress, Keith Smart, Darrell Griffith, Harold Jensen, and Pervis Ellison brings a smile to our face because these were the guys that slayed the dragon. And they will forever be champions.

We American's love an event. It doesn't matter what it is, it can be as brainless as the WWF, or Celebrity Boxing. Put it on and people will come.

I think that one big reason that the NFL is such a success is because the league has done such a great job marketing it as a major event every Sunday.

With baseball and basketball, the games are several times a week, but football is once a week, and you can't miss it! It's the same with the NCAA Tournament, it's once a year, and you don't want to miss one game.

We also love a good story. Millions of people buy People magazine every week, Barbara Walters gets huge ratings out of her "one-on-one" specials, and people froth at the mouth thinking about the cheesy puff pieces that NBC did for the Olympics.

You never know who you will fall in love with during the Madness. Will it be the College of Charleston? Or will it be little Gonzaga University from Spokane, Washington, who play the game the way it was meant to be played. The stories emerge every year. This year the Kent State Golden Flashes is the chosen team, and all eyes are on the Flashes to see just how far they can go.

The greatest part of the Tournament is without a doubt the brackets. Fans who haven't watched a college basketball game all year, suddenly become Dick Vitale as they begin breaking down the Winthrop vs. Duke first round match-up. Never mind that they have no idea where Winthrop even is, the best part is that they don't care.

What they do know is that for a few weeks they have personally become part of the biggest sporting event in the country. The fact that their college hasn't made the Dance in years doesn't make a bit of difference; they now have a rooting interest in every game played for three weeks.

They also have a lot on the line, whether it's a few bucks in the office pool, or bragging rights with their buddies. They know the ribbing could go on for a matter of weeks, so in the back of their mind they'll be wondering how they could have possibly picked Boston College over Texas.

On the flip side, they can feel like a genius because they somehow picked the Southern Illinois Salukis to go all the way to the Sweet Sixteen. Do they have a relative that went to Southern Illinois? No. Have they seen the Salukis' on ESPN? No. But somehow, they hooked their caboose to that train, and they will be along for the ride until the magic runs out. It's all part of the beauty.

The Final Four can even be about fashion. In 1992 Michigan's "Fab Five," lead by Chris Webber launched a fashion revolution by wearing their shorts down to their knees, on their way to losing to Duke in the final game. Ten years later, players still wear their shorts that way. Has the World Series ever launched a fashion revolution? I don't think so.

You get all of this when you give yourself over to March Madness every year as winter thankfully gives way to spring.

To be honest, I wondered how I was going to be able to get into the Madness this year. I hadn't watched much college basketball this season, but after seeing the selection show on TV -- especially when they showed team after team rejoicing because their season will continue, I knew I would have no problem. No problem at all.