Brackets, Baskets, Big Bucks, and Busts
The month of March has it all
By Brian Richie
Who's going dancing? Who's nailing the jackpot on the NFL's version of Vegas' one-armed bandits? March offers it all for the sports nut.
Although March is usually dedicated to the “madness” of college hoops, I can't leave out a discussion of NFL free agency in a year where the league seems to be teetering on the brink of disaster. The next month or so may determine whether there will even be football played in 2011.
If no collective bargaining agreement is reached between the owners and players' union, football may cease to exist two seasons from now. If that happens, you might as well rip my television out of the wall and smash it to bits. I won't need it for anything, that is for sure.
On a more positive note, the sports world has a ton to look forward to this month, starting with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
March Madness is a great time of year to approach that guy at work you never talk to (who also happens to be nerdy and doesn't watch any basketball) and take his money. All it takes is to convince him that predicting the results of the basketball tournament in your office pool is equally difficult for everyone and that he has a great chance of winning. For those of us that actually follow March Madness, we know this is fairly true, except that we should have a slight advantage over the geeks on those Duke v. Middle Tennessee State type of matchups. Nerds seem to always like the Middle Tennessee States in those matchups. All of this, of course, is fine and dandy unless you are like me last year, heartbroken by the early exits of Pitt and Louisville and ripping my bracket to shreds. Meanwhile, my dorky roommate sat grinning at his computer as his national championship team, North Carolina, kept rolling and eventually earned him a fat stack of cash.
But the agony of the “Big Dance” is also the beauty of it. It is unpredictable. It is thrilling. It gives the little guy the chance while also shining a huge spotlight on the goliaths of the game.
This year, I'm titling the tournament, “Battle of the Bigs.” I believe the Big-12 and Big East Conferences will perform best and produce three of the final four teams. My preliminary picks are Kansas, Kansas State, Syracuse, and Kentucky.
In the NFL, this offseason will perhaps be the biggest change in landscape in recent years. Countless big names will likely switch teams, including Julius Peppers, LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook, Karlos Dansby, and Donovan McNabb. The most likely reason for such a widespread change is the lack of certainty about the future. Teams may lose a year of service from older veterans as they sit at home and do nothing but get older if there is a lockout in 2011. There may also be the dissolution of the NFL's salary cap, which is most certainly causing apprehension of owners and players this offseason. Rules could change drastically in the NFL if a collective bargaining agreement isn't reached.
Life with football as we know it could crumble. If there is a better reason to pay attention this free agency period in the NFL, I can't think of it. As Terrell Owens (who is ironically also a free agent) once put it, get your popcorn ready.
March will certainly live up to its billing of “madness” in many ways. Grab a spot on the sofa and crack open a cold one. It's about to get wild.
