March Madness is upon us and MAD she is! Three teams from the state of Alabama have been shipped to Upper Siberia as punishment for whatever sins it is that those three teams have committed.Can you say, Spokane? (In my best Mr. Rogers voice). And here’s the kicker. It is the EAST Regional. Washington state is on the WEST coast. What am I missing here?
Evidentially it is the Pod system, that the geniuses at the NCAA have devised, that created this head-scratching predicament. Remember the Led Zeppelin song Dazed and Confused? Sports fans, that would describe my state of mind. Pods are for peas or they’re containers that people rent when they clean out the garage.
Aight! That’s off me chest. Let’s get down to it. In spite of the perceived ineptitude of the NCAA, the Big Dance remains one of “amatuer” sports grandest spectacles. Great fun! And millions of people from around the globe either fret and fume debating who defeats whom or they whimsically fill out their brackets without a second thought. Some enter contests which award prizes and cash. Others dutifully comply and participate in the office pool. I fill out one bracket as does my wife “Paul”. I have only tweaked mine a slight bit since the initial run through it. I had three SEC teams in the Final Four and decided one of those had to go. It was Kentucky. I don’t think the Cats have the defense to make that deep of a run.
Ok! A couple of memories and I’ll share my Final Four and which team I think will win it all.
My earliest memories go back to the year 1961. That was when I began my deep dive into an all consuming passion for sports of every ilk. Football, baseball, basketball, and even a dip into golf. I followed college and professional athletics. I pored over the sports sections of mutiple newspapers. I even followed high school sports in the state of Alabama. The Robert E. Lee Generals and Sidney Lainer Poets rivalry garnered my attention. I was a Lee guy. And, of course, I lived and died with my Auburn Tigers.
I collected professional sports cards, memorizing batting averages, home run and RBI totals, yards rushing and passing, points per game, wins and losses.
Naturally, Auburn athletes were my primary focus. My heroes included Bobby Hunt and Dave Edwards, Jimmy Sidle and Tucker Frederickson, Tom Bryan, Loran Carter, Freddie Hyatt, Tim Christian, and my favorites, the dynamic duo, Pat Sullivan and Terry Beasley.
The earliest in the pro football ranks were Baltimore Colts stars Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry, Jimmy Taylor and Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers. And even an alumnus of the University of Alabama was high on my list. The brash young quarterback of the New York Jets, Joe “Willie” Namath.
There is neither the space or time to get into Major League Baseball. Aaron, Musial, Mays, Drysdale and Koufax, Luis Aparicio and Maury Wills (the base thieves), Frank and Brooks Robinson. But my favorite team was the Yankees. And Mickey Mantle was my all-time sports hero. Millions of kids worshipped The Mick.
Before I attrmpt to climb out of this rabbit hole I must give a nod to Bob Cousey, Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Oscar Robertson of the NBA.
And God bless Arnold Palmer. My PGA hero. (Also I do love that iced tea and pineapple juice mocktail !)
Reel ‘er in, Bird.
Yes! The Big Dance! Let’s cut to the chase!
At the earliest she takes me back to the incomparable John Wooden and his UCLA Bruins. Ten Nattys. Adolph Rupp and Kentucky. Both dominant forces in my formative years. Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosirrs came along later. How about Dean Smith and his “Four Corners” rolling down Tobacco Road?! Then there was Jimmy Valvano and the miracle his NC State Tar Heels pulled off.
Auburn was pulled off the mat by Coach Sonny Smith with a five year “dance” run beginning in with Charles Barkley in 1984. (We won’t mention my Tigers lost to the Richmond Spiders in the first round). Now Auburn finds itself a basketball school. What Coach Bruce Pearl has done on the Plains speaks ever so loudly and clearly and is, indeed, utterly remarkable.
My Final Four. (I’d LOVE to hear yours!)
From the East! The Auburn Tigers!
From the West! The Arizona Wildcats!
From the South! The Houston Cougars!
From the Midwest! The Tennessee Volunteers!
I have it all boiling down to Auburn and Houston from the hardwood in Phoenix, AZ.
In a heart-stopper! The 2024 NCAA Men’s National Basketball Champions!
The Auburn Tigers!!!
“Well let’s dance, well let’s dance
We’ll do the twist, the stomp, the mashed potato too,
Any old dance that you wanna do
But let’s dance, well let’s dance”
Bird's Banter 