Dress it up & make it real for me

MATTHEW ROBERSON | SPORTS EDITOR | @mroberson22

March Madness. Without any context, these are just two words that have been thrown together without any clear connotation. This could be referring to a high school marching band that is being torn apart by jealousy and pettiness. Or they could be used to describe a parade that has gone awry. On college campuses, March Madness could be the time of year when the dark clouds of midterms hover over the sunny Spring Break sitting on the horizon.

Of course, sports fans, both diehard and casual, understand that the term March Madness is a nickname for the NCAA Tournament. Undoubtedly the most exciting tournament in sports, the tourney’s single-elimination, high-stakes tension that accompanies every game tends to captivate America. People old and young who failed to watch even a single possession of college basketball all season seem to gain an extensive knowledge about the game each time the calendar turns to March.

Even the term March Madness itself transcends the actual tournament. Look no further than the song of the same name, which was one of the hottest rap songs of 2015, and informed Americans that Future was “balling like the March Madness.”

No matter what you call it, the NCAA Tournament is consistently one of the best sporting events of every year. There will be some underdog team from the middle of nowhere that somehow knocks off a college hoops powerhouse.

Count on a player you had never heard of making a huge shot at the end of a game or carrying their team to victory in a game they had no business winning, only to find out that they of course have a crazy backstory rife with tragic adversity they had to overcome.

I don’t know who will win this thing. If our society was more honest with itself, we would accept the fact that no one does. It’s all just speculation, but with an incredible bracket-based platform behind it. I do know that it will be some of the best sports-related entertainment of the entire year, and that just like Future, I will be living lavishly during the whole thing.