Simply, it is the time of year for the most unique and riveting playoff formula to unfold.
While perusing through ESPN.com yesterday, I couldn't help but notice a J.A. Adande article in which he says he'll prefer watching the playoff stretch for the NBA over March Madness.
And I quote, "I'm not as excited about the road to the Final Four as I am about the final eight weeks of the NBA regular season. This year the pro game doesn't just offer better players, it offers better games and better story lines."
Quick: Raise your hand if you will miss a NCAA Tournament game on CBS over Spurs-Nuggets on TNT.....
Mr. Adande should know better. March Madness isn't appealing because of the quality of talent. It has so much more to offer. The Association makes you marvel at the wondrous acrobatic tricks a Mr. Kobe or a Mr. LeBron may do. But college basketball has such a unique appeal-- over any professional sport.
I don't think any sport provides the type of draw and wonderful curiosity that March Madness does. It is the only time of the year that people stop what they are doing (or stop what they are pretending to do) and watch college basketball. At work, people will watch these games. In high schools, even just for a little bit, people watch these games. And in the belly of the beast itself, on college campuses, people miss classes to watch these games.
No one, and I mean no one, would take off time at work to watch a professional basketball game if the games were played during the day. There isn't the type of overwhelming appeal.
Your argument for the Association? The players and game play are better.
My rebuttal? If I cared to see perfection, I'd watch porn half the day.
The ugliness and the mistakes add to the appeal! Take last night's Indiana-Minnesota game (uh, it hurts to mention). Down two, Eric Gordon misses the first of two free throws. He then has to miss the second, which he does, and Big Ten Player of the Year (that's right, Big Ten Player of the Year) D.J. White gets the tip in and is fouled. He goes to the line and he misses the free throw. He gets his own rebound and gets put on the line for two. He then misses the first free-be, and finally makes the second. And then something else happened, but I don't really remember....
...but the point is, the Association doesn't have that drama. Sure it may have the story lines but every team has national coverage, and gets every highlight, every absurd quote, every moronic act played over and over again on national television.
March Madness is great because the play is so tight at times, and so crazy. It's madness!
I'll watch Chris Lofton of Tennessee launch a three-point shot in the remaining seconds after a loose-ball scramble to avoid an upset than any dunk, shot, chest pound or random play by the overpaid, over-indulged Association any day.
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