UNITED STATES—It is here people the one time of year in the sports arena that I find way more entertaining than even the Super Bowl, I’m referring to March Madness. I mean 2020 was the first year that I can recall where the NCAA Tournament was cancelled. Yeah, it was a blow to many sports fans, especially those avid basketball fans.
Well the pandemic is still going, but it seems in 2021, fans will get to enjoy March Madness and the NCAA Tournament in all of its glory beginning Thursday, March 18. Yes, the first games of the tournament kick-off people for those teams that JUST BARELY, sorry Michigan State and UCLA who snuck in by the thinness of their teeth. Selection Sunday unveiled our #1 seeds in the West, Mid-West, East and South. Gonzaga was ranked the #1 seed overall, followed by Illinois, Michigan and Baylor.
The one thing I love about March Madness is anything can happen and I mean anything that is why when it comes to sports this is such an exciting time of year. With the NCAA Tournament if you have one bad game that’s it people; there is no second or third chance. If you win you move on, if you lose you are out. The first weekend tends to ALWAYS bring upsets. I cannot tell you how many times teams I was certain would get past the first round, found themselves done after a lower seed can to the court and had something to prove.
So let this be a lesson, just because you’re a #1 seed and you’re under the guise that it will be a cakewalk to the Final Four based on what all the sports analyst believe, think again. That is the thing about sports compared to awards shows that I love. People vote based on personal opinion: who they like and at times merit on who shall claim a prize. In sports, it’s all about ability. The team that plays the best will win, granted you don’t have any funny business with the referees which rarely happens. I do have an invested interest in the Michigan State Spartans because that is my Alma Mater, but at the same time they have a tough role as they have a play in game to EVEN enter the tourney. That has never happened as long as I can recall. So the fight to the survive the tournament will not be easy for them. The same sentiment is echoed for Michigan who I also have an investment in, even though Spartans and Wolverines are mortal enemies.
If the Spartans are bounced early on, I will indeed be rooting for Michigan, even though so many people thing that the Wolverines don’t have that much of a fighting chance. I get they are missing one of their star players, but that does not mean others cannot step up to the plate to help push the team thru. This whole Gonzaga is just going to ‘March’ to the end and be champions without much of a fight, that is a bad assertion to make.
There is always a Cinderella team EVERY YEAR, I’m not sure who that team will be, but you better believe most basketball fans will get an idea after the first round of play. Things really get interested next weekend when the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8 compete before we learn who has made it to the Final Four and who will ultimately play for the NCAA Championship game.
In 2020, the tourney was cancelled, in 2021, we actual have a tournament, let’s just hope all games can be played without any cancellations or issues along the way.
Written By Davy Jones
