The Zinch Report

Since its inception in 1939, the NCAA Basketball Tournament has had its share of big wins, upsets, and underdogs. The tournament is made up of conference champions from each Division 1 conference and then from at-large bids selected by the NCAA committee. National rankings, strength of schedule and other factors are considered. They've even got analysts who think they've got the inside scoop on everyone. Give me the full time job of looking at stats and I'll have an educated take on it all too. How am I supposed to know what's going on in the Ohio Valley Conference anyway? But at the end of the day (or end of the game), nobody is checking the team’s ranking or their regular season performance. They’re looking at the scoreboard.

I won’t patronize you with a bunch of basketball metaphors; you guys are all top of your class and can connect the dots :) But I will share some highlights:

The Underdogs. Every year there seems to be a "Cinderella" team that the whole country cheers for. In 2006, a #11 seed made it to the Final Four. Remember George Mason? That was an exciting run, and everybody who didn’t have a home team, and many who did, were cheering for them. Btw- 2 #8 seeds have played in the championship- 1980’s UCLA and 1985’s Villanova squad (who won). Still, George Mason was my favorite underdog- probably ‘cause I was watching.

The Hustle. Diving for loose balls, taking a charge, making 3-point plays, and hitting buzzer beaters are some hallmarks of March Madness. It’s with all this in mind that we created our own tourney of sorts. My favorite run was Arizona in ’97. They beat out 3 #1 seeds to get there, and had 2 OT wins (including the championship game). Mike Bibby was on the team, but Miles Simon was the star- not necessarily because of talent- because of scrappiness and hustle (and probably talent). Dwane Wade was another fun one to watch, and still is…

The Fans. College campuses around the country rally around their team. Every hoops has-been or weekend wannabe emerges from the woodworks (that might be any of several employees in our offices). And, the most unapologetic sportscaster in the world makes his signature mark on the event...

“It’s March Madness, Babyyyyyyyyyy!” -Dickie V

The Team Effort. You know, it’s not necessarily the teams that were stacked with talent that win it all, but those that just meshed. It seems to go hand in hand with a good coach- Roy Williams, Coach K, Bobby Knight, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith. Pro-ball, on the other hand, rarely has that togetherness, especially nowadays where players team-hop in search of championships.

"The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy." -Tark the Shark

Love of the Game. Players have no salaries (at least disclosed). Coach is boss, so egos are in check, mostly. The players are still young, so they haven’t become jaded from the media/pressure. This level of competition is often filled with kids that have played ball their whole life, stayed late after practice to work on their game, and who play for love of the game. I love the cut-off t-shirts (I know they’re going out of style, but a few players still pimp them), the pre-game piles, free throw huddles, and bench on-your-knees arm-in-arm rallies. Did anyone see Joaquim Noah winking at the cheerleaders in one of their championships? That was pretty funny- dude was just having fun the whole way to the championship. (and, I might point out, his attitude has gone sour once he felt entitled in the NBA; too bad).