Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
March 2, 2001, Washington Post

Start the Madness!

It's March, and for college basketball fans that means one thing: March Madness.

This weekend, the men and women's college basketball teams are playing in their end-of-the-year league tournaments. Then, the best teams battle it out in the NCAA
championships. One hundred and twenty-nine teams. Two champions. March Madness.

I love college hoops. And I love March Madness. How do I love March Madness? Let me count the ways.

• The Format. The NCAA basketball tournaments have a winner-take-all, one-loss-and-you're-gone format. So, unlike the World Series, the pro basketball playoffs or the early rounds of World Cup soccer, there is no room for a bad game in the NCAA
tournaments. Losers go home, period. Sometimes that means that the best team may not always be crowned the champion. But so what? The tournaments may not be fair, but they sure are exciting.

• The Upsets. Count on it. Every year some highly ranked team gets knocked off in the first round by some school that nobody thought stood a chance. A couple years ago, a women's team from Harvard with no scholarship athletes beat the No. 1-seeded powerhouse from Stanford University. There have been some close calls, but no top-seeded team in the men's tournament has ever lost in the first round. Maybe this will be the year.

• The Buzzer Baskets. Believe me, with 127 NCAA tournament games, there will be some buzzer baskets. You know what buzzer baskets are, don't you? One team is up by a point or two, the final seconds are ticking down, every fan is standing and screaming, one last desperate shot sails through the air, the buzzer sounds . . . SWISH! The winning players race onto the floor to celebrate, the losers fall to the floor in disbelief. Buzzer baskets happen every year and they are always amazing.

• The Women. The NCAA tournament is one of the few times of the year when people pay some attention to the female hoopsters. And that is good news, because these women have got game. Female basketball players have improved their level of play more in the past 20 years than players in any other sport. You don't believe me? Check them out.

• The Fans. Packed houses. Cheerleaders. Brass bands. Students with their faces grease-painted in school colors. NCAA tournaments cannot be beat when it comes to crowd excitement. I love these games so much I don't even mind that stupid song that every school band plays at every game: "Rock and Roll (Part 2)." You know the one. The band plays and then all the fans shout out "Hey!" at the same time. Stupid song. Great fans.

• The Coaches. If you think the fans get excited, check out the coaches. Maryland Coach Gary Williams looks so tense sometimes I think his head is going to pop right off his shoulders.

But my favorite is John Chaney, the Temple coach. Chaney is one of the best
coaches in the country, but he doesn't score any points for neatness. By the
end of the game, Chaney's shirt is soaked, his tie is flying and his shirttail is
flapping in the breeze. He is such a wreck, I am surprised he still has his pants
on.

Great fans, big games, buzzer beaters, March Madness has it all.

FRED BOWEN is the author of sports novels for kids. Write to him: KidsPost,
Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Or e-mail (with
"The Score" in the subject field): kidspost@washpost.com.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company