College basketball is over. One of the better Final Fours is complete. Viewed in person by an average of 77,000 per night. The North Carolina Tarheels leave Arizona with the Championship Trophy. All three games in the Final Four went down to the wire. And, North Carolina was the only team with experience. In fact, [...]
My first Final Four was in Portland, Oregon, 1965, between UCLA, University of Michigan, Princeton and Wichita State University. It was held in the Portland Coliseum that seated 13,000 and change. I am not sure it was even sold out. A return engagement for John Wooden’s Bruins (1964 Champs). Michigan was a power in the [...]
No disrespect to Jimmy Stewart, but the new “Greatest Show” is March Madness. The number of people caught up in the process to name the best intercollegiate basketball team is second to none. The number of people that are involved in this show is staggering. There is the obvious. It begins with the conference tournaments. [...]
Even though I grew up on the West Coast, loving basketball the way i did, I was aware that the two traditional powers were the University of Kentucky and the University of Indiana. Of course, the University of Kansas was just as big on the college scene with legendary coach Phog Allen and the creator [...]
The month of March has always been a time of joy and sadness for me. Sometimes it had to do with my personal situation. Was I looking for a coaching job (sadness) or did I have a good job (joy)? Many times I was doing well and was an observer of the frenzy of those [...]
College’s March Madness is often referred to as “The Big Dance” and the majority of teams have a goal to get an invitation to attend. Ultimately two teams will play for the honor of being the “King.” Usually the final two are fairly predictable. They thought they were supposed to be there. Is there a [...]
This past week’s Sports Illustrated featured tonight’s football game for the National Championship between the University of Oregon and Ohio State University. It is the culmination of the first real playoff in Division I college football. In this issue there was another article, one by Seth Davis about someone I have always loved spending time [...]
I know it is the time of year for conjecture about the “Road to the Final Four” and who should be on it. However, at some point, maybe we need to “chill” and see how the current system plays out. After all, changing just to be changing doesn’t work and never did. I am definitely [...]
My ode to Bill Raftery ... I have been fortunate in my lifetime to have met some really great people. Back in my other life as a college basketball coach, I had the good fortune to be introduced to Bill Raftery, who at the time was the Head Basketball Coach at Seton Hall University. I [...]
For over 40 years I have been a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). And, as a member I have regularly attended its national convention. This event is always held at the site of the Final Four. Back in the day, the site for this event was rotated from an East Coast [...]