Ben thinking about....March Madness

The venues are announced, brackets are set, TV times have been released, and America is ready to watch…our Division-I college basketball frolic is upon us…that is, unless you prefer to watch another middle-east war, our congressional millionaires’ continuing silly-season in Washington or all the shootings/fires/wrecks in North Carolina.

It’s not about "College" basketball; It’s "University" basketball and that’s all about TV revenue, ticket sales and logo-clothing sales revenue. This is BIG MONEY!

I have a friend who has written a fine book about Davidson College basketball. Part of his inscription on the copy he gave to me is, " Still looking for that Final Four run." Here’s a tip for Davidson…Raise at least EIGHTY MILLION DOLLARS from whatever sources. Have your General Manager buy the best seven ranked players from anywhere (high school, community college, another university, or foreign nation). Get a coach who understands NBA player development. Make sure the school’s president/chancellor isn’t too fussy about classroom attendance. Have each player shoot a spot in a local automobile advertisement just to make sure he looks "Home Town." Barring injuries, the Final Four is a lock! The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Men’s Basketball Championship…that’s another matter…the other three schools have spent just as much to put together their "Student Athlete" team… so… the best bunch of "One&Done’s" get a trophy.

Thinking about men’s basketball’s student athletes, pay attention to how many times the broadcasters link a player to his "Course of Study/Major" or his grade point average or his academic interests. Compare this to the references about how many schools he has attended to play basketball or where he may place in the next NBA draft.

There are some ancient fans watching the NCAA tournament…these are folks who can remember teams with players who went to classes, wore monogram sweaters and stayed at the same school for at least three years. There are old fans who remember games without a three-point arc. There are younger fans who can recall games without four "Referee-Time-Outs-To-Get-It-Right" in the last three minutes. The youngest fans are just trying to decide which university they want to attend.

If you are bothered by the extraordinary increase in referee time-outs to review a call, here’s a tip. We’re into a sports betting addiction that’s sweeping our nation. So, when there are four million dollars riding on the next time a player scratches his privates, the zebras better get every call right. Who cares about the flow of the game or the players or the fans or the viewers…this is about  BIG BETTING BUSINESS! So, you better get comfortable with seven different replays of whose finger last touched the ball. OK, it’s also about TV ad time and every fifteen seconds that can be squeezed in to increase revenue to share with the athletic departments (the athletic departments have to figure out how to get football revenues to pay for all the other sports that the federal government and courts require so basketball has to at least break even).

As March Madness morphs into the compelling Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight, The Final Four and the Championship, remember these numbers- there are about 5,200 D-1 men’s basketball team members and there are about 990 players on the 66 D-1 teams in the 2026 tournament. The NBA has 30 teams with about 600 players each having around a five year career. The U.S. Marines Corps is a better career choice.

Press PAUSE…It’s time for a commercial break!