This past Sunday was “Selection Sunday” which, for college basketball fans everywhere, means the madness is beginning. Whether you are an avid college basketball fan or you only watch/listen during this NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament time, the craziness that surrounds it is hard to ignore.
To say that people feel strongly about their favorite (or least favorite) college basketball team would be an understatement. This month ESPN has been running their 30 for 30 documentaries on legendary college basketball teams. One documentary was on the Michigan Fab 5 and another is on Duke’s team that had Christian Laettner and Grant Hill. In watching these you see that sales for Michigan merchandise during the Fab 5 went from something like 2 million to 10 million dollars. Someone actually wrote a book called “Duke sucks” because of how much they despise Christian Laettner and Duke basketball. This basketball fever is intense.
No matter if it’s because it’s your alma mater, it’s your family’s team or you just fell in love with the school, people just can’t get enough and the rivalries run deep. I was once told the reason people are so interested in basketball at this time of year is you just never know what’s going to happen. Single elimination. The upsets. The overtimes. The suspense. This is one of the most watched and wagered on annual sporting events in the United States and its continually growing. The crazy things are the odds. Check out this article on the odds of a perfect bracket – mind blowing but doesn’t stop us from filling one out!
If you’re like many of us and can’t watch because you work and your boss wouldn’t be thrilled at the prospect of you using all the company bandwidth on watching college basketball (not to mention the work you’re not doing….), you can still listen on the radio. It appears Westwood One has most of the rights to the actual games. ESPN Radio has a lot of coverage about the tournament but we didn’t find any games. I’m sure the local stations for the various participating (68) teams will have coverage of their games so find a bracket to see if your team is playing (better yet, fill one out in the many, many bracket contests and maybe win something :)) and tune in to listen.
In the spirit of competition, we are hosting our own competition. Tell us your favorite sports radio moment (it doesn’t have to be basketball related) and you’ll be entered to win a CC Pocket Radio. The more detail the better. Limited to one entry per person. The winner will be announced April 7th.
Also if you find any additional resources for listening to the games – let us know.
On the go and listening to the Royals almost win the world series. Cliff hanger.
Yep, that was one great moment!
jim valvano winning the championship in the 80.s and running out on the court at the end
My favorite time listening to the radio was in 1962 when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game against Nicks.
My favorite memory is a very early morning in 1969 spent with my American collegues listening to a Davidson college basketball game. I was a student abroad in Germany. The game was broadcast over the Armed Forces Network, so we could get it on AM (MW in Germany). Because of the time difference, the game didn’t start until after midnight. We went to the dorm’s rooftop terrace, brought lots of beer, and spent the early morning hours listening to the game. Davidson won. I don’t even remember the other team, but I do remember a great party.
My favorite moment was listening to the Florida Marlins winning the 1997 World Series in extra innings
1960 BILL MAZEROSKI HR IN GAME 7 TO BEAT THE NY YANKEES
RIGHT ON !
That was an exciting moment. It was on the radio for me, in the classroom. Our teacher told us that if we got our work done, we cold listen to the game. We did and it was a thriller.
My FAVORITE radio moment was Skip Carey yelling “Braves Win, Braves Win, Braves Win…”