Outside Oberlin

March, how I love thee? Let me count the ways

One, for thy upsets. There's a little bit of "Hoosiers" in every March. Only in the NCAA Tournament do teams from Spokane, WA (Gonzaga University) and Tulsa, OK (University of Tulsa) get a chance, on national television, to show up larger, more prestigious programs that feature blue-chip players with lots of tattoos.

Though the first round was relatively free of upsets this year, save for Pepperdine's humiliation of Bobby Knight and the Hoosiers, the later rounds were full of surprises and heart-stoppers. Wisconsin, Purdue, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Tulsa, Seton Hall, and Florida all beat higher-seeded opponents, and, in the case of Wisconsin and UNC, top-seeded teams. By the Sweet Sixteen, only two top seeds were left. Two of the teams in the Final Four, Wisconsin and UNC, weren't even supposed to make it into the tournament.

Two, for thy underdogs and thy walk-ons. Darius Peppers, a football standout at UNC who walked-on for basketball, and Tai Shine, a back-up at Seton Hall, played important roles in their teams' respective tournament runs. While one shouldn't compare either to Rudy, they both made larger contributions than their teams or coaches expected. Kurt Warner did lead the Rams to a Super Bowl as a back-up, but in football, that happens about as frequently as Meatloaf puts out an album.

Three, for thy brackets. There is no lovelier sight than beholding a bracket on the Monday morning after the tournament selection show. The perfect symmetry, the straight lines, the mixture of rectangles and squares - it's enough to make one have a genuine aesthetic experience.

Four, for providing a reason to watcheth TV during the day. Usually, I feel guilty about sitting down during the day to glance at TV, even if it's only while I'm eating lunch. I just can't think of a good defense for watching two fat people fight on Springer like it's an Appalachian ritual. No such shame in March, though. I happily tune in to CBS for the opening One vs. Sixteen match-up, and I watch it all. Even if the game's a blow-out, there are highlights from about eight other games, and at least six are nailbiters.

Five, for thy commercials. The Super Bowl's commercials were disappointing this year, except for the cat-herders. Tournament commercials, on the other hand, never flop. Nike's Bracketville series got better and better. I especially liked the one where the mascots chased each other under the expert tutelage of John Thompson and Dean Smith.

Six, for thy afros and headbands. Beating Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers was only one of the many virtues possessed by Pepperdine. The majority of the team grew Fletch-like afros and wore headbands, which made them look like that one character from the 70s TV show "The White Shadow." If an entire NBA team tried that, they would probably be fined.

Seven, for thy affection. National Player of the Year Kenyon Martin, sidelined by a broken ankle, wept openly as his Cincinnati team tipped-off the tournament without him. Duke senior Chris Carrawell, also weeping, embraced Coach Krzyzewski after he left his last college game on the losing end. Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and Charlie Bell, all from depressed Flint, Ml, kissed and hugged each other as Michigan State celebrated their first NCAA championship since 1979.

Rarely do you see so many invest so much of themselves in such a genuine way.