The Dance

I love the NCAA tournament. I got to thinking the other day about how this just might be the most uniquely American thing we have in sports. Obviously the Super Bowl is a huge deal but other countries have penultimate championships in their most popular national sport. The Daytona 500 is unique but there are mega huge auto racing events in Europe.

One thing they really don't have in Europe is major college athletics. England comes the closest but the majority of EU countries don't have big time intercollegiate athletics. Some people would point to the BCS national championships and bowl games as our most unique event. Here is why it isn't.

Casual fans get excited for the tournament. Everyone fills out a bracket. People that don't know anything, get involved. They get excited. They know terms like Sweet 16, Final Four, Bracket Busters, Sleepers and Cinderellas. Casual college football fans that tune into the national championship game don't know RPI ratings, Power Conferences, or the Outland Trophy. They watch the game, come up with some dumb reason to root for one of the teams and show their ignorance throughout the game and make you want to yell at them but you're at your friend Lucie's house and it's rude to yell when it's not your house.

That to me is what makes a huge sporting event: the casual fan is involved. The person that won't watch a single college hoops game all year is checking scores and picking a team. No where else does that happen for 3 weeks.

The point of all this is, if you don't like the NCAA basketball tourney, you are a communist.

Commodores vs Colonials: The battle for the best name for old white men.