The sooner March Madness is over, the better!!!

Now I hate to sound cynical, but I really can’t get into college basketball. Sure, maybe I can watch the Final Four or even the Elite Eight -but this whole ‘March Madness’ thing consuming all the sports pages, ESPN news, prime time network television coverage, and sports talk radio is a bit much. I know a lot of women, girlfriends and wives can agree with me on this one.

Some men take days off work just to watch the games, or even worse, they call in sick because they can’t stand to miss the live action. The tournament is like a drug to them. I can relate to this type of stimulation, but not in college basketball.

Boxing is my favorite sport. There is nothing better than a big fight. Incidentally, I write part time for a boxing website. The ring entrances, the stare down, and the high stakes in a huge prize fight can generate a huge amount of emotional electricity. Couple that with having a barbeque at home with your friends and family, drinking beer, hanging out - it is always a good reason to get people together. I get the same emotions with the Super Bowl in football, the NBA Finals in basketball, and the World Series in baseball. Somehow, I can’t seem to get into college basketball - I just don’t know why.

I have to admit that I can’t wait until the tournament is over. What bothers me is that the NCAA tournament consumes the majority of the month of March every year. The tournament selection day is on Sunday, March 14th to determine the teams that will be playing in the big dance. Prior to this are the conference championship games. Prior to this you have all of the speculation about the tournament on all the talk shows.

The tournament itself starts on Tuesday, March 16th in Dayton, Ohio. The 65 team tournament will bleed all the way into April, ending on the 5th at Lucal Oil Field. There have been rumblings that the NCAA is dead set on expanding the tournament to 96 games. Yikes. This would make the NCAA basketball tournament ever longer and cause more headaches. Players would miss more classes, the tournament would be endless, and it would give the regular season even a lesser significance than it already has.

Bottom line- the NCAA needs to reform the tournament and perhaps shorten it. The NCAA needs to establish a playoff system for college football instead of the BCS championship series. As a matter of fact, I think we should pay the college players. How do you like them apples?