By Hannah Smith
Focus
Midland HS
1st Place
Division 3, News Writing
Sports Columnist
March. It’s a great time of year. The month with St. Patrick’s Day and the first day of spring. But for myself and other avid sports fans, it’s the month of intensity; also known as March Madness.
March Madness is a time where all sports fans (even those who are not specifically basketball fans) fill out their brackets for the NCAA tournament. From one to sixteen seeds, all of the best teams in the nation compete for the title–and the opportunity to cut the net off the rim at the closing of the tournament.
My family’s tradition is for all of us to fill out a bracket and pay $5. The person with the winning bracket gets the money. Before the tournament starts, we all sit down together and fill out our brackets. My dad always has an advantage due to him constantly watching ESPN and listening to Mike and Mike in the morning on the radio. It’s fair to say he can call most of the upsets.
The first two days of the tournament are madness (the name suits it well), with nonstop games the whole day. During those days, I am constantly checking the scores to the games to see how my bracket is doing in comparison to my family members. My phone is always blowing up on those days with all of the text messages from my family group chat. The typical text says either “I predicted _____ team would win” or “_______ is about to upset _______.” While reading these texts I had a slanted smirk on my face, as I was thinking about my family members boasting about their brackets.
After the first two rounds, the Sweet Sixteen approaches. At this point in the tournament, every single team remaining must play the best basketball they have played all season. If not, they will find themselves at home just shy of a national title. All of the hard work, sweat, and hours in the gym start to pay off at this moment.
Being a competitive basketball player myself, I love watching the nail-biter games that come down to the very end or the classic upsets that ruin a No. 3 seed’s season. The athleticism and competitiveness displayed during the tournament is truly amazing. I think about the high-pressure situations these athletes are put through during the tournament, and it reminds me why I love the game.
Similar to when Trey Burke (of the Michigan Wolverines) hit a step back three to send his team into overtime against the Kansas Jayhawks on March 29, 2013.
No matter what the level of play it is, the high-pressure situations are what shape an athlete. These types of situations and close games that go until the end are what an athlete lives for. I can say personally, a game that is back-and-forth until the very end is a lot more fun than beating a team by 20 points.
To all athletes: Next time you’re in a close game, cherish it, and think of it as a little taste of what March Madness is like.