Why I Love March Madness

I should start by saying that I do love basketball. I'm not one of those people who suddenly becomes interested when the NCAA tournament comes around. Yet, during most of the season, I'm pretty focused the team I root for, and sometimes the other teams in our conference. I usually know who is #1 in the country, but I don't keep up with the latest college basketball news.

When the NCAA tournament comes around, I'm enthralled. I have been since I was a kid. Every year, after the championship game, I tape and watch the video montage to "One Shining Moment" by Luther Vandross at least ten times. Sometimes I even watch it in slow motion. In fact, I have such a positive association with the song that I downloaded it to my I-Pod. I sometimes play it over and over when I go running. I won't even pretend to understand why I find that this can give me the motivation to get through a run on a bad day.

I heard someone say something the other day that made me realize what is so great about March Madness. They said that you don't have to be a better team to win in the tournament; you just have to be a better team for 40 minutes. This is what gives the little guy hope. This is why teams like Wofford show up full of enthusiasm and spirit.

No one is saying that the conference champion of some obscure conference is a better than Kansas. Yet, they don't have to be. That obscure conference champion may get beat 99 times out of 100 when they play that big name school-but if this is that one time, those other 99 times don't matter.
I love March Madness because it's about the underdog. Everyone loves when a 14 seed beats a 3 seed-unless that 3 seed was your team, of course.

Why do we love to see the higher seeds win? I think it gives us hope. In some way, everyone is the higher seed. We are all in situations where we are the underdog. Maybe you want to run a marathon, but you are 55 years old and out of shape. Maybe you want to ask your arrogant boss for a raise, or maybe you want to quit drinking after being an alcoholic for years. We are all the underdog in some sense. Seeing the underdog succeed makes us feel like we can succeed, too, with just some effort and a lot of heart. When #2 seed Iowa State got beat by #15 Hampton a few years back, I felt like I could accomplish anything--even if the odds were stacked against me.

I love March Madness because everyday people who are typically wrapped up in their everyday concerns stop to celebrate game winning shots and unexpected victories. I remember watching Gonzaga, years back, making a surprise run to the Sweet Sixteen. I had no ties to Gonzaga. At the time, I bet I didn't even know where they were located. Yet, I felt like I was celebrating with the world in my own living room. I remember jumping off the couch, yelling, and shaking my fists. When they lost, I mourned for them and hoped they would be satisfied in their achievements. The guy who worked at the gas station, the waitress at our local restaurant, they felt the same way and we commiserated together. March Madness-bringing the world together (how corny is that?).