With all due respect to those who have gone before me, there is no debate in my mind. March is the most wonderful time of the year.
Let's start at the beginning - today. March 1 marks the beginning of Championship Week, the week where mid-major hopes and dreams are either filled or burst. These are the conference tournaments that really matter. Some team out of an obscure conference will grab its conference's automatic bid on a buzzer-beater. That same team may go on to upset a top-seeded team. The committee may also feed that Cinderella-hopeful to the birds against Florida or North Carolina. Who knows what will play out? The unknown is part of the beauty of March.
In March, the baseball season is another grand puzzle. The Yankees, Angels, and Mets have paid a lot of money to win the World Series. But so have the enigmatic Red Sox. The only real known about the Red Sox is that they will face Boston College tomorrow in their spring training complex at Fort Myers. Dice-K, perhaps the biggest mystery in the sports world, will make his long awaited debut against the Eagles. Spring training gives baseball fans a small taste of the season ahead. So, too, does the final month of the NHL. Now that the trading deadline has passed, the rosters are set for the league's "second season." Will Billy Guerin and Joe Thornton find chemistry again? Will Peter Forsberg return to form in Nashville? Do the Bruins have a chance in hell? All we can do as sports fans is sit back and watch.
At the other end of the rink, BC's hockey team has picked up its play of late. Their series against UNH this weekend may determine who wins the Hockey East. Next week brings the Hockey East Tournament, followed closely by the regionals and then the Frozen Four. Will BC get hot again, and make another run to the finals?
And then, with apologies to Keith Jackson, there is the real "granddaddy of 'em all:" the NCAA Tournament. It is the greatest annual sporting event - bar none. The World Series or the Super Bowl? C'mon. Raise your hand and risk embarrassment if you paid attention to either this year. The BCS? Please. Every year, March Madness gives us 65 very diverse basketball teams. Look at last year's bracket for proof. LSU, jumped on the 300-pound back of happy-go-lucky Glen Davis to reach the Final Four. George Mason, another semifinalist, jumped on the back of some coach named Jim Larranaga. Last year's tournament brought tears - courtesy of J.J. Redick and Adam Morrison. It also forced goodbyes, like Mike Davis's oust at Indiana. Yet, it still gave us something that the great month of March gives every year - memories that seem to last a lifetime. No one will ever forget George Mason's run to the Final Four. Mason's upsets over perennial powers Michigan State, North Carolina, and UConn borderline the impossible.
Remember the 1998 tournament when Bryce Drew buried fourth-seeded Ole Miss with his running three at the buzzer? His ensuing celebration with father/coach, Homer will forever be played on CBS. You can't ignore the last game of the 2003 first round - defending champion Maryland against upstart UNC-Wilmington. UNC-Wilmington, behind a barrage a threes, led the Terrapins 73-72 with just seconds left. That was before Maryland's Drew Nicholas got the ball on a dead sprint and ran into the locker room, pausing only briefly to nail the game-winning three in the corner. Or take a game 15 years ago, still fresh in the hearts of many. Grant Hill throws a football pass to teammate Christian Laettner, who sinks a turnaround jumper as time expires. The shot propels Duke into the Final Four. These games represent what great sports moments become: memory.
That is what the 2007 baseball season will become to the anxious fans in New York, Chicago, and Boston. That is what the NHL and college hockey seasons will become. Along the way, BC may pick up a national title or make a run to the Final Four. The Eagles' baseball team may even score a run off of Dice-K. You never know. And that is what makes this month so great. The only thing we know right now is that March is the greatest of the 12.
Be the first to comment on this article!