Doug McKinney | Staff Writer

1/05/02

Happy Sweet Sixteen!  Well you know 16 can't stay forever.  Yeah soon your Elite Eight, then after that is the Final Four, and the final destination: the Big One.  It's March Madness.  Just witnessing the Selected 64 (cough cough sorry Alcorn St.) turn into 16 oh so quickly, most people have become burned out from the endless games starting at noon and breaking at five, before restarting at seven and finishing at midnight.  But not Mr. Fresh Prince.  I die for this stuff.  It's March Madness.

Call me a dork if you want but I woke up early on last Monday to tear out the NCAA tournament pullout from the Washington Post before anyone else in my family could just so I could reflect on the bracket and read the breakdown of all 65 teams.  I've been doing it for years.  It's March Madness.  I used to stay home on the Friday before the tournament so I could watch the ACC tournament to give me a little appetizer before the Big Dance.

The next week I would act like I'm sick on Thursday and Friday just to watch the noon games, even if my team wasn't in it.  My parents knew what was going on. It's March Madness.   Teams YOU have never heard of are upsetting everyone's favorites, which you initially cheer for but you know deep down inside they cost you money for messing up your bracket. It's March Madness.  And for once, your little boy or girl can say he/she is smarter then you because he/she had more correct picks then you did.  It's March Madness.

Sure I was hung over on Friday morning from drinking during the Wyoming upset of Gonzaga, not because I was upset that I had Gonzaga winning the first round (but then eventually lose to Arizona), but because Gonzaga lost.  I felt bad for them how they got seeded poorly, but they were preparing for Arizona when they should've been studying Wyoming.  The biggest Cinderella story of years past has become the Lion King this past year, and in the first round was upset by one of this seasons Cinderella's. Ok sorry for the many Disney references but It's March Madness.

I went 27-5 in the first weekend of picks but it could've easily been 5- 27.  If you really look at it no team out of the Sweet 16 had the most favorable time getting here. Ask #1 seed Kansas who almost lost to the Crusaders of Holy Cross, in what could¹ve been the first #16 seed to pass the first round in NCAA history. Jayhawk coach Roy Williams said, "I love the fact that Holy Cross is in this tournament."  I'm sure heading into halftime and seeing the Holy Cross faithful go nuts that their team was heading into the locker room with more motivation and momentum then his #1 seed and also with them having a two-point lead, he probably wasn't that happy they were in the tournament.

A week earlier Holy Cross, was playing for this chance to scare the big schools in the Patriot League Championship (right in my backdoor at Bender Arena @ American U) against American and barely won that game in the closing minutes just like Kansas did to them in the first round. It's March Madness.

Sure Duke blew out Radford rival and Big South champion Winthrop by 30 something, but two days later they are trailing to a #8 seed Notre Dame with two minutes left to go. With a minute left, Notre Dame fans started doing the Seminole war chant to try and distract Jason Williams at the free throw line, but it did not work this time around.  The nations best player, who has a notably poor free throw percentage, nailed four free throws to give Duke a chance to breathe for the first time since the Winthrop game, and gave Duke a trip to the Sweet 16.  It's March Madness.

And since: It's March Madness, there has been some madness going through my mind.  And that's why I have listed the top 16 burning questions that have been the only draining things on my mind at my favorite time of the year (no it's not summer yet).

1. Is it just me or does every passing year's bracket contain closer match ups then the year before?

2. Should there be a thing called mid major conferences anymore?

3. Does anyone else get tired of hearing Bill Rafferty say "with the kiss"?  I think CBS needs to sign Dick Vitale for a postseason deal or something.

4.Are we going to see another Duke/Maryland III (last year was IV) this year?

5. Did you know Radford University beat Holy Cross, and Holy Cross beat American (so did we), and American beat Florida State, and Florida State beat DukeŠSo Radford University is the best team in the nation right?

6. Are these teams cheerleaders hot or what?

7. Did you know that Creighton's miracle man, Terrell Taylor, their leading scorer during the tournament, is not a starter?

8. Did anyone else pick Missouri?  I was going to elaborate on this pick but I didn't want to brag.  How could you not pick this team?  Yeah they were a preseason top 5 and slipped big time this season, but how can you not pick a team that is the most dangerous 12th seed in history?

9. Are you guys tired of me repeating It's March Madness?

10. Ok honestly, how many of you had Gonzaga losing to Wyoming?  If you did, you called a good one.

11. How many of you are just a tad confused that some teams in the South region have to play games in Sacramento, and some West region teams have to play in Pittsburgh?  Is it for the good?  Only time will tell.

12. Has anyone seen the cheerleaders in this tournament?  They're as hot as Maryland¹s Juan Dixon and Kentucky¹s Tayshaun Prince shooting hands in the tourney.  That's pretty hot.

13. Why does CBS keep calling March Madness...March Mayhem?  It's March Madness.

14. Is it me or do you just love the look of Missouri's young coach Quin Snyder.  He sounds like such a nice guy and having a fashionable hair do he would be a fun coach to play for.  Take one step further, how many of you think Point Guard Wesley Stokes has the best hair in the NCAA's? He's got my vote.

15. What do you think of CBS' coverage of March Madness, oh excuse me March Mayhem?  I don't think I'm the only ACC fan pissed that CBS cut the last minute of the Wake Forest/Oregon game to go to the Tulsa/Kentucky game.  I think Gumble and Kellogg do a fine job with the halftime activities and such, but the live look-in, isn't doing it for me.  Does anyone remember how they used to split the screen into 4 mini screens so you could see 4 different games?

16. And why not close out this column with one of the best stories of the tourney this year?  Well, how can you not love UNC Wilmington (yes who lost to RU by 13) and their big upset in round one over Southern California, and when star player Brett Blizzard for the UNCW Seahawks said, "People will know where Wilmington is.  Not Delaware.  It's in North Carolina."  Thanks for the geography lesson Brett.  We would only learn that, because: It's March Madness.