March Madness Concludes

The end of the NCAA Tournament was last night as Kansas was proclaimed the national champion after defeating Memphis in overtime.

I have to admit, I did not watch the game. To me the NCAA Tournament is all about Cinderellas, and having all four No. 1 seeds make it to the Final Four sort of took out a lot of the glamor for me. Plus the fact, that I only had two Final Four teams, and ZERO final two. I had a rough going in my picks this year, finishing near the bottom in all of my pools.

Davidson had a nice run, and could have been this years George Mason, but they couldn't get past Kansas, as a jumper at the buzzer didn't land. It would have been a more exciting Final Four had that shot found its way.

I can't speak for everyone, but I find myself losing interest after the first couple of rounds in the tournament. On the first days of the tournament, the Thursday and Friday, I am ecstatic and wishing I wasn't at work so I could watch each and every game. When it gets knocked down to the Sweet 16, I am still enthralled, but not as much as on the opening weekend. And once the Final Four hits, well, I can honestly say I didn't watch an entire contest.

Perhaps it's the amount of time it actually takes to finally get to the final game, almost three weeks in all. Maybe it's the fact that last night's game didn't start to well after 9 p.m. Eastern time on a Monday. But I do know I think I would have been more inclined to watch had Davidson, or Western Kentucky, made it to the final games. Or, of course, my beloved Pitt Panthers.

Oh well, the college basketball season finishes just as the NBA is finishing it's final week, and the NHL is heading into the playoffs - yes I said the NHL, hey the Penguins may actually have a chance this year, so I might watch a game or two.

I hope all of you college hoop fans got a good look at some of these freshman stars, because you won't be seeing them on a campus near you come June. Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Kevin Love, O.J. Mayo - they are all NBA bound.

The NBA is looking into extending the age boundaries to two years out of high school, which would force some of these players to stay an extra year - which would also allow a college program to develop, and many of these players to actually attend a class or two.