Poole: NCAA tournament is an obsession like no other

We as a nation love the Super Bowl, the single biggest sports dayin America, and we're easily lured to the World Series.

Many thoroughly enjoy the NBA finals and the Stanley Cup finalsand the Bowl Championship Series title games, and some must see theMasters or the Indianapolis 500 or the Daytona 500.

But all of us know the significance of the calendar turning toMarch.

That's when the clock strikes Madness.

For the NCAA men's tournament is one annual obsession that soengages us that we temporarily suspend our routines. From conferencetournaments through Final Four weekend in April, it is a month ofincessant drama that can steal our breaths.

It is the only sports festival that blends and binds dedicatedfans with folks who don't know a shot clock from a shock jock, muchless a crossover dribble from a double dribble. Even those whowouldn't know a Butler from a Duke know of March Madness.

No other event in this country, perhaps on Earth, compels so manyto summon such passion despite utter ignorance. We don't know, yetsuddenly we're interested. How else to describe people in all 50states rooting for and against complete strangers from 68 collegesotherwise foreign to them?

Minutes after discovering the mascot, we are adopting the team.And betting on it.

Anyone doubt that millions will watch Selection Sunday and spendthe evening cramming for the tournament? They will scour theInternet for information about a Wofford or a Belmont, seeking anedge in filling out a bracket Monday. They remember Butler'sincredible work to reach the Final Four last season and GeorgeMason's run in 2006.

This element of mystery is one of the four components in theformula that makes the NCAA tournament magical and unique.

Another component, directly related, is the anticipation ofsurprise. The tournament is the home of the most memorable upsets insports. Villanova beat mighty Georgetown in '85. Stanford, a No. 1seed, fell to Alabama in '04. Yes, UCLA actually lost to Princeton.

Players and programs making their national TV debut confrontplayers and programs they recognize from TV -- and sometimes beatthem. There is a rich history of underdogs rising to topple fatcats.

It is symbolic of our daily lives. It is the haves competingagainst have-nots, rich vs. poor, products of privileged homestrying to conquer those who barely had a roof.

Never is there a March when some unheralded mutt doesn't put biteto its bark. This is where David can, and sometimes does, slayGoliath. Stephen Curry and Davidson smacked No. 2 seed Georgetown in'08. Back in '93, a rail-thin freshman named Steve Nash made hisfree throws down the stretch to lift No. 15 seed Santa Clara pastsecond-seeded Arizona.

The third component of the formula is the sheer finality of thesingle-elimination format. There is no stacking the rotation for afive- or seven-game series, no home-and-home to provide balance andrarely any resting anyone for the next game.

Every minute matters, every second counts. Each game amounts to aone-round fight for the right to continue pursuit of the ultimatechampionship.

One team advances, the other goes home. Though the NCAAtournament is not literally do or die, it is quite literally win ordie a little bit inside.

The TV cameras capture it perfectly, from the reserves on thebench trying to will a rally to the tears sure to be shed at thefinal horn. Whoever was crying in the Miami Heat locker room theother night took his cue from Gonzaga's Adam Morrison, whose collegecareer ended with him sinking to the floor and bawling.

That was a vivid illustration of raw emotion, which is the fourthand final component. We thrive on competition, are attracted tomystery and are stimulated by the prospect of immediateconsequences, but we're suckers for anguish or delirium.

And that, above all, is why the tournament prospers. Why nothingcan kill or even diminish its popularity. The quality of the teamshas slipped, as has our knowledge of those teams. Yet we continue toshow up. We remain committed. That's why the current TV package isworth almost $11 billion.

There was a time when we were familiar with the faces of thetournament. Programs and players spent years coming together andbuilding reputations. From Bill Walton and Darrell Griffith toMichael Jordan and Danny Manning to Tim Duncan and Nash, we watchedthem develop.

Today's college stars are like comets, leaving barely a trail ofvapor. From Derrick Rose to Blake Griffin to John Wall, we meet themand they vanish, gone to the NBA.

Jared Sullinger and Kemba Walker, already familiar to NBA scoutsand college hoops junkies, will be introduced to the nation, sharingthe stage with the likes of Jimmer Fredette and Nolan Smith.

We may or may not love them, but we love the tournament. Wealways do. It's "American Idol" and "Survivor," except confined toone month. It owns March, and the Madness is magnificent.

Contact Monte Poole at mpoole@bayareanewsgroup.com.