March Madness: The Only Thing Keeping Me Alive Between Football and Baseball Season

As Eli Manning thrust the Vince Lombardi Trophy into the air above his head, he and his New York Giant teammates celebrated their victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, culminating the NFL’s 2011-2012 season. As the Giants slowly made their way off the field I started to become overwhelmed by sadness. The post-game trophy presentation, along with crowning the champions of the gridiron, also kicked off my least favorite time of the year. The void in sports action that takes place between the Super Bowl and NCAA Men’s Basketball’s March Madness is so bad it has me wishing I enjoyed hockey more.

 I’ve never been shy about which sports I like and which I do not care for. I am a football/baseball guy down to my core. Those are my go-to-sports and when they are not in session I get seasonal affective disorder of the athletic variety. I mean hockey and basketball are fine games, but in my book they don’t really compare. People get all jacked up about hockey and I just never really understood why. They get to fight? Cool. Something about people getting “dangled,” well that sounds… interesting? I guess it’s just not my cup of tea. In regards to basketball, I generally enjoy it. I am New York Knicks fan and I have enjoyed the emergence of Jeremy Lin just as much as the next sports fan. But to me at least, regular season basketball games are about as compelling as the 7^th inning stretch in baseball. These are all that I am left with to entertain myself as I wait for Fenway to thaw out. It just really isn’t fair.

Baseball season commences in the waning days of March, almost a full two months after the final NFL game is played. If it wasn’t for March Madness, I’m not sure I’d make it to opening day. I mentioned just above this that I like basketball, but the way the college game decides its champion is truly something to behold. This may be overstated, but March Madness is a wondrous event. I mean it’s real good. It’s 68 teams slugging it out against each other tournament style. It is the only setting in sports where David gets a legitimate shot at Goliath. It is an underdogs dreamland. It is actually so awesome that I would prefer to write a follow-up piece when the tournament actually gets under way. Today, I just wanted to pay homage to it and express how the thought of March Madness is the only thing keeping me sane in these dark days of lackluster NBA and NHL contests.

Only twenty-seven days to go!