March Madness!

BY LIZ GORKOWSKI

Coincidence that I choose to take a break from Ft Leavenworth and travel to New York to visit my family during the NCAA tournament? I think not! I am sure somebody on this earth will argue with me but I say hands down this was the best men’s tournament I have seen in years and it’s not because I was able to hang out in New York City to watch games. The seeding committee hit the nail on the head providing enough drama to excite the entire country. Finally there is some parity among DI schools and it showed day in and day out of the tournament. No team was safe from the Madness of March nor the fact that team is greater then the individual.

Now we are racing against time to land in Kansas get back to our hell hole of a hotel and catch the championship game that is being billed as David vs. Goliath. It is if you are considering the basketball history of Duke and that the entire second half run in the tournament is a first for Butler. However Butler is not a mid-major Cinderella out of nowhere like George Mason a few years ago. Butler was preseason #11 in the country; they have Heyward, Howard and Mack and have made perfect coaching hires all the way back to Collier in 1989. They are a well coached team with support and commitment from their administration and that my friends is why a mid-major team is in the National Championship game and able to compete with big money.

Now is the time for mid-major administrations to lay the ground work for tournament runs and compete at the highest level by committing the money and resources to the teams. In the age of one and done players this is the perfect opportunity for mid majors to build and perfect the team concept. If not be satisfied with the true Cinderella team every few years and enjoy the tournament. Duke and Butler are both shinning examples of how the team concept will prevail over the teams that take players knowing they will be gone in a year for the pro game. Rarely does Coach K have a player leave after a year of play which allows the team to develop a solid bond so that if a player does depart after three years the void is not devastating. (Not pointing any fingers Kentucky) If you don’t believe that the team is mightier then the individual stud how do you explain Georgetown, Kentucky, Kansas etc being knocked out? Sadly now the NCAA wants to screw everything up with their asinine talks of expanding to 96 teams. This is a tournament for the best of teams, not for everyone to feel kumbaya happy. Next thing you know everyone will be getting equal playing time, taking dodge ball out of grade school and getting trophies for finishing in 4th place in little kid soccer. In case everyone forgot everyone goes home a loser except the team that wins it all.

FOR NOW ALL I CAN DO IS WONDER WHO THE HECK BOOKED THIS RETURN FLIGHT…