Let the Madness Begin

It's that time of year everyone. The time of year where no matter if you have been buried in stats trying to find this year's cinderella since November, or are just now trying to catch some games before you turn in your bracket, everyone starts watching college basketball.

Now anyone who talks knows me knows that I am huge basketball fan, lately though (last four or five years) I have gravitated towards the pro ranks, especially since the advent of the Thunder. Growing up however, I went to more college basketball games than any other sporting event. It became a tradition for me and my dad at a very young age to make
the drive 45 minutes north to Stillwater hours before tip-off just to go to Eskimo Joe's, demolish a plate of cheese-fries and go wait in line for the doors to open to Gallagher-Iba Arena.

My dad, being the tried and true Cowboys fan that he was would make a point of trying to make it to as many games as possible and one of my most vivid memories from early in my childhood came at a Oklahoma State basketball game. I couldn't have been more than maybe ten years old but I still remember my father somehow getting ahold of student general admission tickets for a game against Texas. I was way to young for what my ears heard from the rowdy group of undergrads that night, but that would not be my last taste of what true smack-talk was.

My favorite part of that game came before even the first tip-off. Me and my father had only just gotten to our seats when all the sudden I see students pull out today's edition of the Daily Oklahoman. I had no idea what was happening as they passed them around to everyone in the student section. My dad just told me to take one and play along, saying that it's a game the students do before every game. Then all of the sudden I hear over the loudspeakers "Ladies and gentlemen! now the starting lineups for the visiting Texas Longhorns!" followed by the loudest boo I had ever heard at a young age.

I looked around and all I saw were fans with their faces buried in a newspaper as if they were intently looking all at the same story so I started looking on my page for what was so interesting. Then as soon as I had found something that I thought was the source of all this intention, the announcer says the first Texas player's name and I see all the students raise their heads out of their paper and scream at the top of their lungs, "WHO CARES!".

Needless to say this blatant show of bravado stuck with me at that early age. As soon as it happened I started busting out laughing so hard my dad had to tell me to be quiet. It was probably the hardest I still to this day have ever laughed.

Now I tell this story to explain what is so great about March Madness. During the NCAA tournament everyone in the country gets to relive those days. Everyone from a five-year-old child to a 99 year old war vet gets to feel that feeling of passion and pride that you feel as a fresh-faced college freshman at his first big rivalry game. Every person in the country gets to at the same time be a ten-year old laughing at the absurdity that someone who isn't even competing in the game giving so much effort for their team and the crazed-fanatic painted from head to toe in your teams colors.

It's called March Madness for a reason, and most of the time it isn't even for what's happening on the court. Well I say, let the Madness begin!