Let me tell you in one word why March Madness is such an amazing time for basketball fans, the passion. When you put together a sport that is loved by millions of people with college students from across the country who have different skill levels and different interest levels, you get the most exciting postseason tournament in all of sports. Watching kids throw their bodies into sports, watching heroes emerge from unlikely places, that’s what sports and March Madness are all about. We were excited to hear stories about schools like George Mason making it to the final four and derailing a number of great programs along the way. Seeing teams like Davidson that have transcendent players like Stephen Curry who have escaped from the main programs and seeing them take down main programs single-handedly is part of the beauty of March Madness.
Seeing every fifteen and sixteen seed get excited every time they lead and hearing the raucous atmosphere every time an upset seems to be brewing is part of the beauty of March Madness. Seeing the passion that comes with college athletics is something we just don’t see in professional sports. Instead of thinking about their next paycheck or the next season, for many of these kids, this is the last meaningful basketball they’ll ever play. All of this leads to a level of passion that is unmatched in any sporting arena. In case you need something more convincing, think back to your college days, imagine training, practicing and traveling on top of classes and then putting your whole body into a sports tournament that could mean everything to you. For these reasons, I find March Madness to be the best sports tournament in the United States and perhaps the world.
