A Marvelous Madness

In the frenetic world of college basketball’s NCAA tournament, local favorites USC and UCLA are playing today in that most eastern city, Philadelphia, in the East Regional semifinals. Anaheim is host not only to Stanford in the West Regional semifinals but also to teams from Maryland, Cincinnati and the District of Columbia.

The annual tournament may suffer from a quirky reversal of geography, but there is something energizing about the event. It’s a two-week festival of giddy collegiate aspirations and sudden heartbreaks occurring around the vernal equinox. Strike up the band for the local teams and for the host city of Anaheim at this refreshing moment on the sports calendar.

Alas, there also is the inevitability that not every team in the current “sweet sixteen” can advance to the fabled final four. USC plays Kentucky and UCLA plays Duke, two tough perennial contenders. If both local teams win, they will meet Saturday in the East Regional final.

No wonder jaded sports fans find respite in this annual event from the latest conflict over big pro sports salaries and a welcome distraction from the volatility of their own 401(k)s. For a time in early spring, they inhabit a world of singular, excruciating tension. Team strategy is executed with breathtaking speed. Mistaken choices or erring shots are punished with finality. A few student athletes will go on to the pros, but for many there is no redemptive cushion of another day’s NBA playoff game or long-term contract.

If east is west and west is east, then hearing the narrative on TV can be a bit like visiting a new country. “Having good looks” is not about being attractive; it means getting the open shot. “In the paint” is not what your toddler does on the loose in the garage; it’s what happens close to the basket. As the tension builds this week, brace for yet another player off the bench who “steps up to get it done.” At least the cliches apply to moments that are enjoyable without reservation. “March Madness” holds our interest precisely because it delivers such pure sports excitement.