Why I love college basketball…

A few days ago, somebody asked me, “Why do you love college basketball so much?”

My first thought was “Where in the world do I begin?”

I love college basketball. I always have and always will. College basketball has a wonderful history of tradition, folklore, impossible dreams, unbelievable comebacks and buzzer-beaters. College basketball is filled with unforgettable personalities, historic basketball venues and wonderful stories.

What do I love about college basketball? Here are just a few reasons…

I love Jim Valvano and the NC State miracle of 1983. I love the Fab 5 of Michigan. I love John Wooden, Rick Majerus, Dean Smith and Al McGuire.

I love Pauley Pavilion, the Pit and the Dean Dome. I love Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble. I love Loyola Marymount trying to score 150 points a night. I love Arkansas’ 40 minutes of Hell.

I love Villanova playing the perfect game to beat Georgetown in the 1985 NCAA finals. I love March Madness and One Shining Moment (the original version).

I love Indiana’s red and white striped warm-up suits. I love Lou Carnesecca’s sweaters and John Thompson’s white towels.

I love Tyus Edney and Bryce Drew. I love Pete Carrill and Princeton’s motion offense.

I love Clark Kellogg and Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery (“Onions!!!“)

I love Michael Jordan’s coming-out party against Georgetown in 1982. I still feel sorry for Freddie Brown.

I love #15 seed Richmond beating #2 seed Syracuse in 1991. I love #15 seed Santa Clara beating #2 seed Arizona in 1993.

I love diaper dandies, cupcakes, aircraft carriers and prime-time-players.

I love the box-and-1, the triangle-and-2, full-court presses and the 4-corners stall.

Now, I don’t love every part of college basketball.

I hate (maybe hate is too strong a word…nah it’s just right) the Cameron Crazies, Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner. I particularly dislike Laettner for hitting the game winning shot against Kentucky in the 1992 East Region final – 104-103 in overtime – the best game I’ve ever seen.

I hate Len Bias for making a selfish, stupid mistake and robbing us of the opportunity to watch him dominate the NBA for 10-15 years.

I hate Jerry Tarkanian and how he constantly munched on his white towel.

Luckily, the things I love far outweigh the things I hate.

To me, college basketball is all about atmosphere and emotion. It’s history and tradition. It’s pure and exciting and fun.

It is awesome with a capital “A” (thanks Dickie V, who I also love).

And those are a few of the reasons why I love college basketball.