Upsets are what set the NCAA basketball tournament apart from every other major sporting event.
American sports fans, from the die-hard to the most casual, get sucked in every year by the prospect of seeing previously unheralded teams win games against foes from major conferences.
This “anything can happen” climate garners so much interest in the event that even people who don't know O.J. Mayo from O.J. Simpson fill out a bracket and root for “their” teams. Even the rare few without a bracket can quickly hop aboard the bandwagon and root for any team.
Not too long ago, all the perennial “little guy” hoped for was the chance to hang with a superior team for 40 minutes, and maybe get lucky enough to pull off a shocking win.
In the cases of Old Dominion in 1995, Coppin State in 1997, or Hampton in 2001, each of whom pulled off first-round upsets, no one cared that the teams bowed out in the second round. When it came time for the “One Shining Moment” montage, we relished their time in the spotlight, and reflected positively on their achievements.
If a team could win two games, like Valparaiso in 1998, then it was praised as one of the great sports stories of all time.
But times have changed. We have all become spoiled.
Two years ago, George Mason turned the NCAA tournament on its head with their shocking run to the Final Four. They also radically changed the expectations that fans and commentators have for “Cinderella” teams. Now, an underdog does not have a good story unless they make it out of the first weekend.
Today, an upset can be forgotten as quickly as it happens. CBS’ lightning fast coverage has improved to the point where rarely is a crucial moment from any game missed by viewers, and all games are also accessible via the Internet.
We, the fickle fans, are able to move on quickly from one underdog to the next.
Collectively, we're like a heroin addict looking for the next big fix. We’re all just chasing the dragon instead of appreciating what is happening right before our eyes. When an underdog team wins, we say, “Congratulations!...Now who’s next?”
Siena? Sorry, no one cares anymore. You may have been the lowest-seeded team from your league to win a (non-play-in) tournament game since 1995, but you got knocked out before the prognosticators could find time to talk about your season.
San Diego? Again, we apologize. There was just no time to point out that you beat two tournament teams in a row to win the WCC and earn a tournament berth.
And that first-round overtime win against Connecticut? Worth some highlights, but Western Kentucky did the same thing and then beat you. So, they get all the attention. It doesn't matter that the Hilltoppers beat Drake, which had not been to the Big Dance in eons, while you beat UConn and their legendary coach Jim Calhoun.
If you can’t win two, you’re no good to us anymore.
In today's sports world, full of lightning-fast information, we can't possibly devote five minutes of Monday morning’s SportsCenter to reflect on what happened Friday.
Friday? Are you kidding? There's baseball in Japan, Pacman wants to be a Cowboy, and Patrick Roy's kid is going Chuck Liddell in Junior Hockey.
And of course, the NFL draft is only ONE MONTH away! We must know the weakest positions for every team in the NFL, and we require full coverage of the wind-sprint/ bench press competition in Indianapolis.
Why would we want to hear about the biggest wins in the history of some mid-major basketball teams, when we can see clips of Felix Jones jogging around the RCA dome in mesh shorts?
I understand that “balanced” coverage is the supposed goal of ESPN and other sports media outlets. But, as a former athlete and a current high school coach, I believe that it is not always the wins that define the measure of an athlete.
Let's not take anything away from the compelling stories of Davidson and Western Kentucky. But I'd also like to hear about the state of Siena and San Diego's programs, in the aftermath of their tournament appearances.
How have their fans, coaches, and young players reacted to reaching the pinnacle of their athletic careers and then, merely two days later, suffering a crushing defeat?
In my mind’s eye, I can envision a two to three minute video package on either team.
It begins with video of the team celebrating their win. Then there are two post-game quotes from the winners, one about the win and one about preparation for their next game.
And then the images of defeat flash upon the screen, visceral reactions from the moments directly after the second round loss. Press conference clips from the losing players and coaches are spliced-in with the footage. They talk about the loss, and what went differently than in their first game.
The piece ends with the team's return to campus. After everything has settled in for a day, the players and head coach try to put the tournament experience in perspective. What was the stronger emotion: pride in victory, or the sting of defeat? How does this affect the future of your program? How do you keep the players’ heads up and focused on what they accomplished?
To me this is more compelling television than a report on what Jerry Jones wants to do with his first round pick.
But maybe I’m in the minority.
(Subtext: Thanks to the Internet, we can all see what the respective teams' local media has to say about these two particular schools.
The North County Times has an article about San Diego here: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/03/26/sports/collegesports/30524bd2ce7fe8958825741800153eac.txt
New York's Daily Gazette caught up with Siena after the loss: http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/mar/24/0324_fisher/
It'd be nice to see more coverage in this vein.)
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