Every March, 65 teams, ranging from the tiny liberal arts colleges to the enormous state universities, gather for the ball that is the NCAA Tournament. Over the next three weeks, these 65 teams will be reduced to just one champion as student-athletes from around the country will dazzle Americans with a display of heroism, passion, and love that is still unmatched in today’s modern sporting world.
March Madness provides the sports’ purest with one last place of refuge from the commercialism, scandal, and arrogant nature that now surrounds professional athletics. And while college basketball is by no means immune to the aforementioned diseases that plague the sports world, it does have the perfect antidote, a stage upon which all that is noble and virtuous about the game can be exhibited.
Where else can our romantic appetite be satisfied in modern society? Even the once cherished Olympics no longer offers pure amateurism as the games have now been tarnished by cheating, bribes, and dream teams. And for those who wish to argue, and probably argue successfully, that the Olympics are still the greatest presentation of amateur sports, they do not occur every year. The Olympics often leave our starving minds and hearts to be filled in a day and age upon which there is little food.
Fortunately, every year the NCAA Tournament provides the idealist in us all with a place to feast as the players, coaches, and even the fans pour a life of work and dedication into three weeks of basketball. The sweat and tears openly revealed in the tournament provide even the casual observer just a taste of the zeal these characters have for what many might call a meaningless game.
But why do these players submit themselves to such physical pain and emotional lows and highs? What do these individuals seek? For once it is not about the money or the rings, but instead the answer sits within the human heart. The players and coaches strive, absent of personal reward, to be the best in their game. To feel the sense of accomplishment of being number one—if only for a single year—in the sport upon which they love.
The NCAA Tournament is the last surviving illustration of amateur sports. It is a place where basketball fans can relish in the game’s brilliance while outsiders can ultimately see that there is more to the sport than just putting a ball in a hoop. The tournament brings out the quintessential of human emotions in all those lucky enough to witness the courage, enthusiasm, and affection its participants have for just a simple game.
