What'd you expect me to write this on?

Contrary to popular belief, THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.  December is great with the holidays and the bowl games but you cannot honestly tell me that it's better than the NCAA tournament and the start of Spring.  The only question is whether to go outside or inside and the only answer is depends on what day it is.  For the purpose of this blog I'm going to focus on Thursday-Sunday when the answer is clearly stay in.

As I said, bowl games are great.  There are match ups every night that you otherwise would never see, but they don't really count for anything.  On the other hand right now there are games going on constantly that you would never otherwise see that matter, and they mean everything to everybody.  Theoretically all 65 teams that make the tourney have an equal chance to win.  Obviously talent and such comes into it and those odds are greatly skewed but no one would argue that each team, player, and coach in the tournament has an equal chance to go down in history with their own unique tournament moment.  It can be a little guy on a little team like Bryce Drew and Valpo or a big guy on a big team like Hakeem Warrick with Syracuse.  Either way, all I have to do is say a name and the moments come to mind.  Drew, Warrick, Laettner, Valvano, and the list goes on.  From the first round to the championship game there is absolutely nothing like the moments in March.

Yes there are moments in other sports:  Manning to Tyree, baseball to the outfield behind Buckner, MJ's shot in the 98 finals.  But nothing is as pure as the excitement in college sports.  Its amateur athletes playing for school and personal pride.  They're also playing for us, the fans, and in particular us the students.  During the Big XII tournament Bill Self did one of the greatest thing I've ever heard a college coach do.  After his Kansas squad lost in the first round he took them back home and back to class simply saying "I'm going to let them explain to their classmates why they're back in class and not still playing basketball."  College sports is a "we" thing.  We as fans of the school that we attend or did attend can truly say "we".  Sure we say it all the time for our favorite pro sports teams but we're not really a part of that franchise and thus "we" aren't really "we".  I however am part of Middle Tennessee State University and thus I'm allowed to say "WE got hosed by the women's tournament selection committee" and I'm right on all accounts.

It's this personal connection that makes college sports great.  These are our classmates and friends and they are representing us.  Add in the office pools with the lady who picks on mascots, the fact we can compare brackets with our President, the endless list of memories that is ever expanding, the constant David vs Goliath match ups that inevitably give way to epic Goliath vs Goliath match ups and you've got something special. It's one amazing month that culminates in "One Shining Moment" so sit back, relax, and enjoy the real most wonderful time of the year.