I've done some philosophical thinking as to why I like March Madness and I came to the conclusion that it combines some of my favorite things: Colleges and Universities, basketball, and close competition. I have this weird interest in visiting colleges around the United States and will often make a college one of the "stops" on a trip to a new city, like visiting MIT in Boston, or University of Chicago when in Chicago. On these trips I like to feel the ambiance of the city, remember what city the college is located in, and know their mascot/team name. And it's not even restricted to Ivy League schools or nationally known schools: To MJ's slight annoyance, we stopped at UNC-Charlotte (49ers!) on the way to IKEA, or UC-Santa Barbara (Gauchos) on the way to the beach, Pepperdine (Waves) everytime we take the US-101 Malibu scenic route, or even the small oasis in an urban surrounding Santa Monica College (Corsairs!) where MJ took some classes on her way to nursing. I've watched enough March Madness over the years to know most of the Division I schools in the country, even the obscure ones from the Horizon League or Conference USA, but I still get pleasantly surpried by new information like the St. Bonaventure Bonnies are in New York state or amused that University of North Texas is nicknamed the "Mean Green."
Basketball is self-explanatory, but I always associate basketball with college, where I played the most pick-up basketball at the health center, but also where students were avid about their sports teams (Illinois was a basketball school). To this day I prefer the collegiate atmosphere and intimate setting of a college game including the student section (it could be that I just got better seats and enjoyed the experience more) rather than the more corporate feel of pro games, $20 beer and $7 hot dogs.
Most likely, though, I love the competitive nature of March Madness, where any game can go down to the wire, neck and neck, with everything on the line as both teams know it's a one-game playoff (not best of 7 like the NBA) and there's a level of urgency to every possession, especially since most college teams only score 60-70 points. Every TV network would love if a game were close, but it's even more important for March Madness when there's no star power like Lebron James to carry people's attention. What March Madness has going for it, though, is the relatively shorter length of the games, divided into halves instead of quarters for less interruptions, and especially on opening weekend, a bunch of other games going on at the same time with equally close scores. That's the essence of March Madness, is when multiple games are coming down the stretch in the second half going back and forth, but another game is just as close at the same time, giving fans opportunity cost anxiety and FOMO trying to decide what to watch at the same time. I doubt the Bachelor and American Idol give you that effect ( I might be dating myself, maybe the better analogy nowadays is "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Masked Singer?") Then again, the fans of thoe shows may not enjoy the blood-rushing-to-head thrill of a game going down to the wire and the game being decided by one possesion, one shot. That's the type of game I savored as a player (of recreational league dodgeball), but also as a fan.......everybody wins. It's also the type of game I love on Jeopardy.......not the runaway games where one competitor far outpaces his/her competitors like Ken Jennings did during his epic run, but the back-and-forth answering among all 3 competitors as their point totals gradually build up, often with the added tension of who's going to find the Daily Double, an artificial but ingenius TV plot device to swing the outcome of a game dramatically, like if during a basketball game suddenly there was the ability to complete a 10-point or 20-point play. I can see how the TV shows are luring me in, but I can't help it: I'm a sucker for neck-and-neck games.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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