Oakland Illustrates The Beauty Of The Big Dance
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies are in the NCAA tournament. Yep, the Division One tourney. The Big Dance. The same tournament Illinois, Duke and North Carolina will be playing in. And the Grizzlies lost more games than they won this year. Six more. In the Mid-Continent Conference. They won only nine regular season games.
Still, they're in.
I love it. This is exactly what makes March Madness such a huge draw for so many people across the country. We all want to see David take a shot at Goliath on national television. We all want to see that first 16-seed knock off the number-1-seed. And if it happens to be a team like Oakland--a team that wouldn't have been invited to play in my driveway tournament before upsetting top-seeded Oral Roberts Tuesday night--that would make it even sweeter.
It's not that anyone truly believes a team like this is going to run the table and win a national championship. But what if a couple players get hot? We'll hear all about these guys and who they are, where they're from. We'll cheer for them because they don't have a chance. Maybe they'll pull off the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history and defeat a 1-seed. It's been so close so many times. If and when it happens, what if that team feels a jolt of momentum and rattles off a couple more wins? What if there was a game between Oakland and Illinois; the winner goes to the Final Four?
That might be getting a little carried away, but you can count on this: someone will pick Oakland to win their first round game in their office pool. Someone will be calling in sick next Thursday or Friday to watch the game. He will perch on the edge of the couch, potato chips in one hand and a cold one in the other, and cheer his brains out, pulling for the Golden Grizzlies. Maybe it will be a game for the first half. Maybe it will come down to the final minute, or even the final second.
That is what March Madness is all about.
Still, they're in.
I love it. This is exactly what makes March Madness such a huge draw for so many people across the country. We all want to see David take a shot at Goliath on national television. We all want to see that first 16-seed knock off the number-1-seed. And if it happens to be a team like Oakland--a team that wouldn't have been invited to play in my driveway tournament before upsetting top-seeded Oral Roberts Tuesday night--that would make it even sweeter.
It's not that anyone truly believes a team like this is going to run the table and win a national championship. But what if a couple players get hot? We'll hear all about these guys and who they are, where they're from. We'll cheer for them because they don't have a chance. Maybe they'll pull off the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history and defeat a 1-seed. It's been so close so many times. If and when it happens, what if that team feels a jolt of momentum and rattles off a couple more wins? What if there was a game between Oakland and Illinois; the winner goes to the Final Four?
That might be getting a little carried away, but you can count on this: someone will pick Oakland to win their first round game in their office pool. Someone will be calling in sick next Thursday or Friday to watch the game. He will perch on the edge of the couch, potato chips in one hand and a cold one in the other, and cheer his brains out, pulling for the Golden Grizzlies. Maybe it will be a game for the first half. Maybe it will come down to the final minute, or even the final second.
That is what March Madness is all about.
posted by Joe Siple | 1:41 PM
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