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March is a sports fan's utopia
By Adam Czech
The NCAA Tournament began last Thursday. After about six consecutive hours of laying on the couch and watching it, I had a revelation.
No, it didn't have anything to do with how worthless I was for watching six consecutive hours of college basketball. Rather, I realized the month of March is like 31 days of heaven for sports fans.
Hands down, March is the best month for sports, with October receiving honorable mention. Here's why:
NCAA Tournament
The NCAA Tournament is about the only thing that can keep me sprawled on the couch for six hours on a spring day.
College basketball players expend the most energy and play with more passion than any other athletes on the planet. As a result, games can be rugged or smooth, up-and-down or half-court, sloppy or flawless. But they're always fun.
The past two years, I've discovered something that makes March Madness even more fun: gambling. It's not like you have to be rich to place a little wager, either. I'm in a pool this year that cost $5, but gives me a shot at winning $200. You'd be surprised how much yelling you can do at your television during a first-round game between an eighth seed and a ninth seed if you have the ninth seed upsetting Duke in the second round (thanks a lot Arizona).
College basketball in March is even more fun this year thanks to Lindsey Whalen and the Gophers' women's basketball team.
Spring training
The only thing better than the NCAA men's basketball tournament is the World Series. Spring training signals that the World Series is only seven months away.
When players report in early March, you know winter is almost over. You can begin to ponder if Joe Mauer will win Rookie of the Year or be a bust; if the Twins' bullpen can hold up with the loss of Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins and if we ever will get to enjoy a new baseball stadium in Minnesota.
On a side note, look for the Red Sox to beat the Cubs in the World Series. No, my brain isn't fried from watching too much college basketball - this match-up will happen.
The Yankees will win the East easily and the Red Sox will be the Wild Card. But the name of the game in the playoffs is pitching and defense. With Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling and Derek Lowe, no one's going to edge Boston in a short series.
NFL free agency
Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse likes to tell a story about a man and his young daughter at Vikings' training camp a couple years ago.
It was a typical hot and humid August afternoon and the Vikings were in the middle of a workout. Included in the throng of rubes (fans) watching the workout was a man and his young daughter. The daughter was obviously hot, exhausted and tired from sitting in the sun all day watching large men ram into each other. After the man had enough of his daughter's requests to go home, he angrily looked at her and said, "Honey, this is really important to daddy!"
Obviously, people are (sometimes scarily) obsessed with football. NFL free agency only makes March more of a sports fans' utopia.
Other stuff
State high school basketball and hockey tournaments also contribute to March's lofty status in the sporting world.
Even though the basketball tournament is incredibly watered down and cheapened by the four-class system, it's still fun to watch. I'm not much of a hockey fan, but I love the sport at the high school level. The fact that there's only two classes makes the state hockey tournament even more fun.
March is also the final month we can enjoy the Gophers men's hockey team. I try and disassociate myself from the Huskies' biggest rivals come April after they win the national title and Dinkytown turns into Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict.
And, finally, the NHL and NBA seasons are in the home stretch.
Yeah, March is the most gruelling 31-day stretch for most sports fans. Thankfully we have 11 months to prepare ourselves.
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