I prefer pro sports, but I think March Madness has a certain "Lin-ane" following for people that enjoy spectacle and the whole little school, underdog stuff. It's all about that bracket. Which is something I've never cared enough to fill out in my life.

I also think it's (obviously) a yoot appeal thing, since I can remember getting ramped up for Georgetown games back in the Ewing era, even before we were lined up for the Debusschere lottery moment.

As I age, they just start to all look more and more like high schoolers.

Like I said before, this is the best time to be in Vegas.
This & the world series.

fishmike wrote:I may not share the NCAA = "plantation" views our old chum playa used to post about, but I dont like college sports. The mismatches are stupid, none of the good programs follow the rules, the NCAA is horrible, the whole field is littered with corruption I dont have a school I feel any attachment too.

BUT

This time of year is different. Ill watch some CBB to check out prospects or if Im out with guys having beers etc, but the desperation and emotion produced during the march tourney is appropriatly named, its pure madness. How you can like the sport of basketball and not enjoy watching these games? Im too busy these days to be hanging out in pubs with my boys. It takes like 3 calendar invites to meet marv for beers, but this is the one time of the year I enjoy going to the sports bar, having a few beers and just zoning out watching these games. Its a stream of drama and excitement.

I like basketball but I'd sooner watch people play in the park than a college game on TV. I guess it's the "Madness" hype and overwrought emotion of it that turns me off. If I'd gone to a DI school or had an NYC area school I could get behind I'm sure it would be different though. It's just so much to take in and follow! I like the pro game and having one team I follow as a point of reference and being able to watch players over the course of a decade versus 1 or 2 years. I don't need or want to watch a ton of games everyday for a few weeks.

fishmike wrote:

DrAlphaeus wrote:

fishmike wrote:I may not share the NCAA = "plantation" views our old chum playa used to post about, but I dont like college sports. The mismatches are stupid, none of the good programs follow the rules, the NCAA is horrible, the whole field is littered with corruption I dont have a school I feel any attachment too.

BUT

This time of year is different. Ill watch some CBB to check out prospects or if Im out with guys having beers etc, but the desperation and emotion produced during the march tourney is appropriatly named, its pure madness. How you can like the sport of basketball and not enjoy watching these games? Im too busy these days to be hanging out in pubs with my boys. It takes like 3 calendar invites to meet marv for beers, but this is the one time of the year I enjoy going to the sports bar, having a few beers and just zoning out watching these games. Its a stream of drama and excitement.

I like basketball but I'd sooner watch people play in the park than a college game on TV. I guess it's the "Madness" hype and overwrought emotion of it that turns me off. If I'd gone to a DI school or had an NYC area school I could get behind I'm sure it would be different though. It's just so much to take in and follow! I like the pro game and having one team I follow as a point of reference and being able to watch players over the course of a decade versus 1 or 2 years. I don't need or want to watch a ton of games everyday for a few weeks.

funny... I coach my son's 5th/6th grade rec team (ages 10-12). We just won the title playing the best defense in the league. The title game we controled, but our conference title game (final4) was a grind it out back and forth win. We were down 24-22 with a minute left and tie the game. Then down the other end we get a steal and push the ball and my best scorer finds one of our "hustle bench" guys wide open and the kid knocks down a perfect shot from about 10 feet away for the go ahead score. It was the most fun and excitement Ive had watching any hoops. I totally hear you... Im just rooting for all the high level prospect to dominate so I can drink the koolaid when we draft them

That's awesome, congrats to you, your son and the team! I have nieces who play in the 13-year-old age group, I need to see a game, I'll probably embarrass them cheering like a lunatic!

Yea there are so many options to engage with entertaining basketball here in the US, we are lucky. I totally get the Madness/NCAA appeal though, so many folks I've tried talking to about the NBA over the years and they are turned off and much prefer college. I just would need some sort of focus team- or conference-wise and the door to my fan heart is hard to get through these days!

I'm tellin' ya though, I could see myself following the ladies tourney though. Maybe I'm just a contrarian! Or maybe because the players there stay 4 years more often(?) and it's easier to keep track.

Bonn1997 wrote:If you do watch, what team(s) do you root for and why? I went to a small liberal arts college. So I never really feel any connection to the teams in the tournament.

I root for the Big East. Grew up a big Big East fan, Hoya paranoia, the old Cuse teams with Pearl and later Sherman Douglas, Uconn, The Johnnies, etc. Obviously things are much different now that the powers that be broke up the big east. My interest is not what it once was but I'm still a fan of it...

BRIGGS wrote:In your first post that started this thread you make a complete generalization of what others do

---->Obviously we here are basketball fans. But does that mean we are into the NCAA Tournament?

Who is we? You are talking about your own view--so we is actually just you.

No, we is actually we. When I say "obviously we here are basketball fans," uhh, you do realize we are on a NY Knicks fan site. The assumption that we here at a basketball site are basketball fans would be 100% correct, don't you think? You really think "we here are basketball fans" is actually just me? My own view? Wow.

We is we, pal. We are basketball fans here. I'd say that's a pretty good assumption.