Coronavirus May Turn Out To Be The Ultimate Bracket Buster
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Sports Blogger
Somebody took away our mid-winter Christmas.
Stole all the presents. We walked out one day to see a tree full of gifts ready to be opened only to discover empty space the next day.
March Madness as we know it is gone for 2020. The NCAA’s decision to cancel the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (as well as the women’s tournament) due to fears of coronavirus sucks the life out of one of America’s great showcases.
The phenomenon known as March Madness – a tournament in which 64 teams are knocked down to 16 in a single weekend and then down to eight and then to the “Final Four”with games often decided by last-second game-deciding shots, often by unknowns against traditional powerhouses – is as American as backyard barbecues in the summertime.
And this year, somebody stole our apple pie. Ate all the hot dogs.
Think about what March Madness will be like with no fans. How can one get charged up about an “upset alert” – a No. 14 seed has a three-point lead over the No. 3 seed wth 10 minutes remaining in the second half – if there’s no crowd to feed the emotional frenzy? The upsets happen when the fans scream during every possession, making the favorite nervous and giving emotional energy to the underdog.
Instead of hearing a roaring crowd after a made three by the lower seed, we’ll get the “thump, thump, thump” echo of the basketball hitting the hardwood and the voice of the coaches yelling instructions to the players.
No matter your opinion of whether or not this was the right thing to do – and it is my opinion this is the wrong move, one made to avoid any social media backlash more than to protect players and fans – and no March Madness wipes away a big culture of American culture.
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