Tich’s Take

College basketball can be ugly. Like, step-sister in Cinderella on a bad day right after she wakes up ugly. Scoring droughts can last as long as it takes to make a frozen pizza. Some guards cannot dribble, some big men cannot finish at the rim and some coaches just cannot help themselves with the amount of hair gel they use. It is an all-around smorgasbord of awful more often than high-level basketball should be.

But I still love it.

To be clear, I am not one of those “college basketball is more pure than pro basketball” people. The NBA makes a better basketball product. NBA players do play hard and play defense, despite what some people (who never watch the NBA in 9,999 of 10,000 cases) may believe.

For some reason, we live in a world where we have to choose between liking the NBA or college basketball. Do we have to choose between liking tacos or pizza? Not while I am alive. Why would you have your cake if you could not eat it too, anyway?

I want to live in a world where all forms of basketball are appreciated, flaws and all. Sure, fixing blemishes in the game should always be a focus. There is no reason for college basketball to not switch from a 35-second shot clock to a 30-second clock for instance, but to not watch college games because scores are not in the 100s is dumb.

That is like not eating a perfectly good steak just because it is not the best steak you have ever had. Sorry, I promise at least three more paragraphs until another food reference.

And even the most bitter, anti-college basketball person has to love March Madness. March is a magical time in the world of sports. The first four days of the NCAA tournament feature 13 straight hours of basketball. Yes, I said 13 hours. In a row.

Good thing basketball gluttony is not a sin.

Those 13 straight hours are then filled with upsets, buzzer beaters, crying fans/players/piccolo players. Sounds a little bit like sports heaven to me.

This past Thursday, when the tournament kicked into gear, marked the first legitimate “you can roll the windows down in your car and not be cold” day of the year.

Coincidence? Well, probably. But it was still awesome. Everything about that day felt like a holiday. And it does almost every year.

Once I get a place to call my own, I will immediately invest in four televisions, strictly so I do not accidently miss something on those first two opening days of the tournament when up to four games are going on at once. I will always make more money to pay for the TVs. I will never be able to shed the regret of not watching a magical sports moment happen live. Gotta keep priorities in order.

While the sheer volume of awesomeness dies down after the first super-weekend (Thursday through Sunday) of the tourney, the importance of the awesomeness ratchets up. Some of the best things to ever happen in human history have been a part of March Madness.

Lorenzo Charles’ dunk to beat a Clyde Drexler/Hakeem Olajuwon-led Houston team is right up there with Neil Armstrong walking on the moon or even Louis Armstrong playing his meanest concert ever.

Christian Laettner’s shot to beat Kentucky and cement himself as the most annoying legendary college athlete ever was at least as cool as when John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence.

Bottom line: college basketball is awesome, and if you do not think so, then you probably should just learn how to hibernate for about a month and then hibernate for all of March.

The rest of us will just sit back (or stand up and yell at the TV) and enjoy the Madness.

TICHENOR is the sports editor.