Down To The Final Four:  A Few Thoughts On March Madness, by Chuck Strom

No surprise that my bracket was busted in the first round of March Madness.  It was a little shocking at first that my pick for national champion, Virginia, didn’t even make it past their first game, but as I watched the second half of their game against UMBC, I was more puzzled how the Cavaliers had managed to dominate the ACC and compile a 30-3 regular season record.  Watching them go against the Retrievers (best mascot of the tournament), they were hardly the physical mismatch that one would have expected of a #1 seed going against a #16.  The Retrievers were every bit as big and athletic as the Cavaliers, and they certainly looked a lot more motivated.   Virginia could have used the services of their 1980s alumnus Ralph Sampson, but such was not to be.

There have been a lot of close games throughout the tournament, which has made for many dramatic endings but has also reflected the frequent inability of the teams to hit shots, even from the foul line.  Consequently, the games have tended to resemble the low-scoring defensive brawls that typified the 1990s NBA and the Pat Riley New York Knicks.  In this sense, the phrase “survive and advance” has taken on an additional meaning this year, and it has made me wish for a return of Stephen Curry’s Davidson team that made it to the Elite Eight in the 2008 tournament, losing by all of two points to eventual champion Kansas.  2008 Steph would have feasted from the three-point line against these stiffs.

The one saving grace so far has been the Final Four berth earned by the #11-seed Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, with their 98-year-old chaplain, Sister Jean, by far the biggest celebrity to have emerged from the tournament.  The TV networks always like seeing at least one Cinderella team make a long run, and it wouldn’t hurt my feelings see them finish with a championship.  Maybe they could find a way to hoist Sister Jean up to cut down the net; that would be a picture for a Sports Illustrated cover.

– Chuck Strom

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