I don't think there's anything I look forward to less than this
two week period in March when CBS subjects us to non-stop college basketball action. Not the Olympics, not root canal
surgery. And it's not even the basketball that bothers me, it's that it's college basketball. I mean, unless
you go to the school or went to the school, who gives a *&#%? And it's one of those events where people who ordinarily have no interest in college basketball all suddenly join in and bet money in various pools. They become pseudo experts, and become obsessed with scores and matchups and who's playing who and when and what happened and what the score is and everything else. And all the other networks have news stories about the games, my local paper covers it as if it's the Super Bowl (it's not, sorry), and everyone just sort of tries to force it down our throats. Ugh.
It's funny, but I don't even watch that much on CBS, now that I think of it (Letterman, maybe one of the Monday night comedies, Survivor), but this two week interruption still bothers me.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-16-2006 @ 3:40PM
Lampbane said...
I don't know if my college had a basketball team (NYU). I do hate how people suddenly become interested in basketball like it's something so new that we never see. At least with the Olympics, that's crap you only normally see on obscure cable channels during work hours. And rooting for your country makes a lot more sense, then rooting for a school you may not have cared for that much.
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3-16-2006 @ 3:40PM
Brian said...
Yeah you're right. There's not nearly enough absentee fathers in college basketball. And I hate the way they actually try to run offensive plays instead of just running isolation plays the entire time. And I hate the way they play their hearts out because they care about their teammates and school instead of just the money.
It's all about the drama of the little guy over the powerhouse. Pacific just now almost knocked off 4-seed Boston College and people everywhere were on the edge of their seats rooting on Pacific instead of working. Can't beat that feeling if you're any kind of sports fan.
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3-16-2006 @ 3:41PM
Aaron Peck said...
Well, take your pick it's either "All Basketball All The Time Channel" or "All Forensics All The Time Channel" I choose Basketball.
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3-16-2006 @ 3:48PM
Derek said...
I think you might be alone there, my friend. For many, many other people, THESE TWO DAYS, not the Super Bowl, are the greatest days in sports.
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3-16-2006 @ 4:02PM
Keith McDuffee said...
Brian:
"And I hate the way they play their hearts out because they care
about their teammates and school instead of just the money."
You are a fool if you believe that they are playing simply for the spirit of their school. Don't think for a second that they're not trying to look good for pro scouts. And that, untimately, equals big money.
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3-16-2006 @ 4:04PM
elf said...
A real big reason for me to hate March Madness is because it DOESN'T END in March!
Last year my wife and I (well, mostly her) wanted to go to Vegas to renew our vows for our 10th anniversary on April 2nd. We wanted to make an event out of it, inviting some family and friends to come with us. We're try to book hotel rooms in January and the few places that have rooms left are charging an arm and a leg for crappy rooms, and three limbs or more for decent ones.
I know that the three worst times to get rooms in Vegas are New Years, Super Bowl and the NCAA finals, but the damn thing is called MARCH MADNESS and I'm screwed because they don't really end until April! It's just not right. We had to move everything back a week and everything worked out fine, but damn it all, if you're going to name something after a month, it should end in that month!
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3-16-2006 @ 4:12PM
kel said...
One of the reasons why so many people (including myself) like the NCAAs is that the level of competition is much greater than your typical NBA game. All the hype only adds to the excitement (although yes, it's a bit much). You don't seem like much of a sports fan, otherwise this would appeal to you.
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3-16-2006 @ 4:25PM
Robert said...
Yeah I don't pay too much attention to NCAA basketball, although I keep up with a few teams. But, i love March Madness, these games are so much better than NBA games. They don't have all this money yet, so they play the game like it's supposed to be played. This is a great time for TV.
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3-16-2006 @ 4:50PM
Harry said...
While some of the athletes playing may be bound for pro careers, the tournament isn't about that at all, it is about the players who may be playing their last basketball game anywhere facing a lose and go home proposition. It is about shocking turnabouts and rollercoaster rides of emotions. If we have to endure multiple nights of Deal or No Deal, can't we enjoy several days of tournament drama?
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3-16-2006 @ 5:05PM
Mayorjimmy said...
You know what, if us sportsfans have to tolerate 52 weeks of crappy "reality" shows, carbon copy crime-dramas, made for TV chick flicks, boring sitcoms, and other trash (except 24, Family Guy, Simpsons and Battlestar Galactica) then the rest of you can just shut your pieholes and deal with 2 weeks of basketball.
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3-16-2006 @ 5:16PM
Aaron Peck said...
I agree with the above poster #8. Also, poster #5 if you think that most of these players are playing for pro scouts you're very wrong. They are playing for school spirit. But, for most of these guys the NBA is not a choice for them. It's a very small percentage of players in the NCAA that are going to the NBA.
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3-16-2006 @ 5:23PM
Lampbane said...
I just realized you forgot to tag this post with "Things I Hate About TV" - want it to go away so soon, eh?
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3-16-2006 @ 6:38PM
Brian said...
"You are a fool if you believe that they are playing simply for the spirit of their school. Don't think for a second that they're not trying to look good for pro scouts. And that, untimately, equals big money."
Yeah I'm sure several of the mighty Winthrop Eagles are going to go in the lottery in the next NBA Draft. And for the guys that are actually going to be drafted, 2 weeks of on-court performance has little weight on how high they go. Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge has games where he is an absolutely non-factor against mediocre Big 12 competition, but he'll drafted in the top 5 because at 6'10" he can run the court, has a good shot, and oozes potential.
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3-16-2006 @ 6:57PM
Captainmicahp said...
March Madness is wonderful. IN Norht Carolina growing up, we got to watch the early rounds of the tournament. Back then (almost 20 years ago) that was the only chance we ever got to watch TV during school. Even though i never was a big basketball fan, I would look forward to those games all year long.
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3-16-2006 @ 7:38PM
Aaron Peck said...
Don't worry Bob (the blogger) is an Idol fan that should tell you something.
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3-16-2006 @ 10:54PM
Richard Lawler said...
Best sporting event there is, period. Day after day you see teams go at it and leave everything on the court, winner stays, loser goes home with their season over, it's all on the line, every night.
nfl playoffs are similar, but theres a week break between every game. march madness is like repeated shots of adrenaline right up to the big game, I love it.
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3-17-2006 @ 8:12AM
chu said...
"two weeks of COLLEGE basketball?"
What--you'd rather watch NBA basketball? Give me a break. Most of these kids are playing for the last time in their lives. It's about tradition and competition. And it's so much more about the TEAM in college basketball instead of ME.
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3-18-2006 @ 2:30AM
MS said...
The greatest thing about March Madness is when somebody who doesn't care about basketball gets involved in these david and goliath battles. That is why people watch. What we should be talking about is how crappy the coverage is by CBS. They never show what they should be. They should let ESPN cover the games not in the geographical region so we have a choice. They constantly are to late switching to a close game. It sucks
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3-19-2006 @ 8:34AM
Wendy said...
what I hate about TV? Sports EVERYWHERE! I rarely turn the thing on anymore. I don't like daytime soaps, I don't like reality shows (although I do hope Taylor Hicks wins - first time ever I've rooted for anyone on that show), I've always disliked "talent" shows, and I don't like watching sports. I'm tired of every channel having some kind of sporting event showing. I'm really sick of multiple ESPNs - I programmed them out of my box altogether.
In my neck of the woods, sports is an obsession. I fail to see the logic in a sports bar having 7 or 8 televisions, all on to different channels, none of which has any sound. Who knows what is happening??
My neighbors channel surf all day and night looking for some kind of sporting event to watch. The husband, now retired, even got up at 5 AM to watch the Olympics. They watched nothing BUT the Olympics while it was taking place. (Is that all there is to their life?) I just looked forward to getting out of their house. It's no wonder their sons hate sports having been force fed sports all their lives.
I'm not anti-sports. I tried to get my son involved in baseball as a kid. I thought it would be good for him to participate and learn to be a team player - he hated it. He loved to swim, so he joined a competitive swim team in our town. That lasted just long enough to find out there were rules he had to follow. My daughter was on a competitive cheerleading squad - as much of a workout as anything else she could have done. She stayed with it for two years until we moved. But, I wasn't about to force them to do what they didn't enjoy.
I have a cousin who was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals last year out of Rowan University. I think it's great. I hope he gets to play the major games. He loves playing and he's good. But, I am not and will never be obsessed by sports. It's become too much of a business and no longer a sport.
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3-21-2006 @ 2:46PM
sandra said...
I'm really happy to see that most comments disagree with you, that makes me feel alot better and I 100% agree with #10. I hate reality TV as much as I possibly can and that comes on almost every single day of the year. so you can just suck it up and deal with 2 weeks of basketball, and not be such a dick and complain about it.
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