The Real “March Madness”

(St. Louis, MO) – I’m sorry CBS, Jim Nantz and Joe Lunardi.  The REAL ‘March Madness’ is found in the world of prep basketball. Don’t get me wrong, I love “One Shining Moment”, bracketology, the field of 64 or 68 or whatever number it is this year. I love the NCAA tournament, however, the madness is truly found in the high school tournaments.

When you watch a play off game and see the losing player sobbing and burying his head in the jersey he will no longer be able to wear, you know what I’m talking about. When you see 2,200 fans squeezed into a gym that seats 2,000 people. You know what I’m talking about.

It’s championship week on the four-letter sports network, but here in Missouri, real championships are being played for. Classes 1, 2 and 3 are playing for STATE championships and classes 4 and 5 are trying to earn a right to be a final four team and a place in history. For high school kids this is that one shining moment.

The great Webster Groves head coach Jay Blossom has won 13 conference titles and ONE state title. Newcomer Justin Tatum is coaching his seventh season and has taken three teams to Columbia for championship weekend. He’s finished third twice and has ONE trophy.

Ah, but when you win that one championship you have etched your name in history. There are only 20 or 25 teams in each class that even have a chance to reach the final four in a state tournament, so each step along the way is it’s own championship. Webster picked up a District Title and that becomes a part of history, but five days later they’re facing Texas bound Jordan Barnett and a terrific CBC team and their season is suddenly over. With the win, Cadets have a second title (District & Sectional), but if they lose at the quarter final round, they will be the ones sobbing.

This is the other difference. When Marcus Smart and Oklahoma State get snubbed or eliminated from the tournament, Smart looks forward to millions of dollars in the NBA. Kirkwood’s Jordan Brown looks forward to NEVER playing competitive basketball again. The ramifications are so much different for these younger players.

I just spent the weekend watching the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and I will be at the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament in St. Louis and the Midwest Regional in Indianapolis. These are special games and this is my favorite time of the year. For all of its hype, the NBA is boring compared to ‘Arch Madness’ (the MVC tournament).  The NCAA tournament is the best drama on television and I can’t wait for it to start, but high school players who aren’t even on scholarship and are true ‘student’ athletes best display what the ‘madness’ is all about in March.

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