I am a fan of competition. The idea of pitting one team versus another or better yet, one person against another is both entertaining and healthy. Competition is good for business, good for our economy and good for sports. Life lessons can be learned from winning and losing and competition drives success.For me, March Madness is the quintessential competition. It is a pure and simple format that fairly matches teams against in each, generally on neutral sites. 65 teams in a single elimination, winner take all format with no consolation games. 31 teams get an automatic bid by winning their conference and the remaining teams are selected based on merit. There is no ridiculous controversy like, "South Dakota State would have won it all if they had just gotten the 65th spot". These are the best teams in the country... period.
There is no doubt there are problems with college basketball. Graduation rates are low, gambling is prevalent and players sometimes misbehave. But generally the sport is clean, the players are committed and the game is fair.
After a season lasting months and a tournament lasting weeks, it all comes down to one game... a true championship game (do you hear me BCS?). There is something pure and honorable about a format that enables the two teams that have made it through the competition to face each other in one final game. That... is quintessential competition.
March Madness is just around the corner. So bust out your bracket, sit back and enjoy the ride. Once again this year, it will be a great spectacle of upsets, buzzer beaters and quintessential competition. And by the way, the odds of getting your bracket perfect are 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 1... good luck with that!
Tom
