BY KEVIN FRIEDENBERG

In print | Published March 22, 2007

It is March, and therefore there is madness of the basketball variety.

March Madness gives me the opportunity to watch basketball, the way I want to watch it. There are no annoying TV timeouts or loathsome first halves in my March Madness. When I watch my basketball during spring break, it is always the final two minutes. None of that wishy-washy halftime garbage; when one game goes on break, the next game is fired up in an instant.

The sheer volume of basketball games during this period literally astounds me. From on high, I can watch my beloved Boston College Eagles close out a victory over legendary coach Bob Knight, or I can watch the underperforming Dukies, adored by Kristen Traband ‘08, blow a game to a team that I knew only by its three letter abbreviation, VCU. The best part is I don’t even need to see the entire game.

March Madness is the only time of the year when I can watch the part of basketball that actually excites me. Sure, college basketball has two halves, but what fun are these halves when kids aren’t playing their hearts out because if they lose in the show, then they may never step foot in the limelight again? Embarrassingly enough, I was so bored as to fall asleep during the first half of one game only to reawaken to the announcer’s shouts as the game started winding down in the final minutes. Everyone wants to be that guy who takes his team to the Final Four and becomes the apple of every NBA scout’s eye.

When I see kids about my age putting everything on the line to win a basketball game, I realize how much more I like college sports than pro sports. In the college games, the kids are there to represent their program, to represent their school, to represent their hometowns. No one is caught up with contract disputes or free agency because the college athletes are the ones who truly play for the love of the game. It’s do-or-die in March Madness and because you don’t get another shot, you’d better play until you collapse.

Any team can win at any time; just look at last year’s Cinderella story George Mason making it to the Final Four. Also, there seem to be new teams in each year. Neither George Mason nor fellow Final Four team LSU made the tournament this year. March Madness is the epitome of college sports tournaments. If only college football could follow suit.

The next time you are in a room full of people watching a tournament game that goes to the wire, as the desperation, throw-up-a-prayer shot leaves the player’s hands, look at the faces of the people around you. You can literally pick out who picked which team. I especially love how I can pinpoint the moment my friend’s heart rips in half as the upset occurs and his bracket is demolished. The prophecy has been fulfilled.

If I could watch only the final 30 seconds of each game, I would. Then I could watch the entire first round of action in less than 20 minutes. Seriously though, how many people actually want to see Kansas blow out NCAA tournament doormat Niagara by 40 points? Maybe the tournament should just be two-minute-long games. Now that would be something exciting. Besides, then I could tell everyone I watched the entire game while watching the same amount of basketball I normally do. I don’t even like basketball that much. I just like the excitement of the final minutes.

Kevin is a first-year. You can reach him at kfriede1@swarthmore.edu.

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