It is Monday in February, so the Super Bowl must be over and the football is ended. A sad day for our friends in the media. Not sad for too long given March Madness is just around the corner. Thats a conversation for another time.
I wonder why the powers that be think they have to have an extravaganza show at halftime of the Super Bowl? It seems that the most important professional football game of the year would be enough for anyone. It is a wonder to me that the players can even get ready for the second half with the extended break. Why dont the sponsors give the money they would spend on that to cancer research or some other worthy cause? One that needs the money more than Madonna or anyone else for that matter.
There is also the NBA season. Yes they did get it started. Ill bet the book in Las Vegas that makes the betting odds is going crazy with the point spread given how the teams’ performances are all over the place. Probably by the end of this month we will really see who the best teams are. The playoffs might be very good since the teams will be less fatigued than in the past. I have always thought the season was too long and that the quality of play would go up with maybe a 62 game schedule. There would be less travel expense as well. And, maybe the average guy could consider having a season ticket that didnt break the bank. Too optimistic? You are probably right.
Meanwhile college basketball is rolling on toward March Madness, the greatest show on the planet. I am sorry pro and college football. Until the college football teams get to the NCAA Championship by playing their way there it cant compete. Besides basketball is a better game anyway. Football is a little like NASCAR. The excitement comes from some kind of train wreck. The equipment designed to protect has basically been turned into guided missiles. I see inductees into the Hall of Fame in their 40s and 50s who can barely get around because of the pounding they took to get into the Hall.
Dont get me wrong. I know those guys would not trade their playing experience for anything. I guess our penchant for warfare needs to be expressed somewhere. It would be great if football was the only place.
Basketball is not a non-physical game, but played at its highest level it embodies grace, skill and finesse. It is a game of deception, speed and quickness. I am not saying it is always played that way. Remember I said highest level.
What makes March Madness the best is the chance that a school that is not in the elite could end up playing for the National Championship. Back in the day, a team from Loyola of Chicago won the NCAA. USF with the great Bill Russell was not the favorite at all the year they won. Butler University the past two years has been knocking at the door. In my lifetime I dont recall that ever happened in a Major Bowl game or lately in the computer selected finals. Nobody knows what can happen with anything ever. Its why we play the game … as coaches have been saying forever.
A few years back Fresno State University won the College World Series in baseball in Omaha, Nebraska. They barely got into the regional tournament, but as teams can do, they got on a roll and won the whole thing. Thats the possibility that keeps every team engaged in their sport and in their team.
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