It’s finally HERE!!!!!!
It’s here. What is it…..COLLEGE BASKETBALL. This is one of my favorite days of the entire year. I had to blog on it and you can’t blame me.
Each year teams are allowed to start practice and they get the opportunity to show off their goods for the entire fanbase. I love it. I was a big fan when the it was called Midnight Madness. Teams would conduct their first practice at Midnight of the deadline day but the NCAA grew concerned over so many people traveling at such a late hour so they’ve since changed it to be allowable at a more reasonable time.
Teams go all out for these events by usually having a 3 point contest and a dunk contest. It is a big deal for recruiting also. Coaches like to get as many potential players in as possible to show off the arena, fanbase and style of basketball that will be played. Some even go so far as to hire talent to emcee the event.
My favorite, ILLINOIS, is holding their first practice tonight and it is rumored about that Michael Jordan is the emcee of the event. Jordan’s son plays for the Illini, but this rumor can’t be confirmed right now. I can only say that even the rumor of that proves that today is a big day in college sports. Most of the time the event is free and open to the public but Bruce Weber at Illinois decided this year that he’d try to use the opportunity for a worthy cause. Each person attending illini madness must pay an entrance fee and in turn get a pink shirt where a portion of the proceeds go to supporting a cure for Breast Cancer. So far nearly 20k shirts have been sold and it makes me proud.
Other universities like UCLA, Washington and Louisville have decided to go a different route and dont’ make it a big scene. Those teams don’t really have scholarships to give out either at this time so to them they wouldn’t be really taking advantage of a clear recruiting opportunity.
Next month the games begin and the road to the final 4 is underway. I can’t wait…
October 18th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Yes, now this is more like it. College Basketball is prob my favorite sport to watch on TV. No taking games off. No BCS. No guaranteed money. Just 24 college kids doing everything they know how to win a game. Doesn’t get much better than that.