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Excitement Over NCAA Tournament? You Bet

March 20, 2015 @ No Comments

Like some of the teams playing in Thursday’s games in the NCAA basketball tournament, a few of us slept through much of the action. Not that some of the games weren’t competitive (well, some were not, but that’s to be expected in the opening round). Not that there weren’t upsets (there were with a couple of No. 3 seeds — Baylor and Iowa State — losing to No. 14 seeds). Sometimes allergies — or whatever it is — act up and rest is best for dealing with whatever ills might befall us.

Video below of Michaela Isizzu (left) and Sabrisse. For your viewing pleasure.

Video below of Michaela Isizzu (left) and Sabrisse. For your viewing pleasure.

* Speaking of the NCAA tourney, who was the genius who suggested rooting for Iowa State (coached by former Chicago Bulls guard Fred Hoiberg)? All right, that just might have appeared on this site Thursday. Well, before Iowa State lost. On the bright (?) side, if Hoiberg is going to be given the chance to succeed Tom Thibodeau (whenever that might be — possibly after this season), Hoiberg has more time to ponder such a possibility. Or more time to negotiate a better contract with Iowa State — although first-round NCAA tourney exits might not be quite the leverage that a few postseason victories would have been.

* Still speaking of the tourney, March Madness best describes folks who consider themselves college basketball experts and fail to fare as well in bracket contests as those who couldn’t tell you what state some of their picks are in (bonus points if you knew before Thursday Georgia State is located in Atlanta). Most folks presumably could figure out Georgia State was in the state of George, but you never know. OK, I never know.

* Speaking of March Madness, the tournament does end in April, right? April Anger doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

* And furthermore, interest in the tournament is what it is not because of the excitement of the games (although some contests are exciting) but because of the possibility of winning money in an office pool or other contest. In that regard, the popullarity of the tournament is much like the popularity of the NFL with interest based on gambling more than anything else.

* Speaking of money, college administrators, coaches and their assistants can earn bonuses for advancing in the tournament, but players cannot. Makes perfect sense. Well, it would if the administrators, coaches and their assistants were the ones performing on the court. But paying players would take the amateur aspect out of the game. Oh, you mean paying players openly? Maybe it’s the NCAA’s way of providing its student-athletes with an undeniable less: Life’s not fair. And also: Management tends to make more money than the employees — well, unless you can make it to the NBA.

* Anyway, enough for today. Time for more rest and to see whether Friday will be another day of sleeping through games.

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