It's March already, and that means it's time for the annual ritual known as "March Madness". This annual NCAA Basketball tournament that comprises 64...oops 66...oops 68 teams is a time where thousands if not millions of people across the country try to make like Nostradamus by picking the most winners in the NCAA brackets and thereby achieve bragging rights and most likely a nice sum of money in the process. It seems as if everything in sports in this country has taken on a larger than life meaning, and there seems no end in sight as all sports keep expanding their offerings trying to cash in with greater exposure, more games, and much more money.
It was just a few years ago, that the NCAA expanded their tournament from 64 to 66 teams with a 'play-in' game before the rest of the tournament got under way. Having had success with this, they figured they would add two more teams and have a game on Tuesday night. It's not hard to imagine them going to 72, 80 or some other number in the near future as they will most likely try to include just about everyone in the spectacle. And it's not just this sport that is pushing for expansion.
One of the sticking points in the NFL negotiations is that management wants to expand to a 18 game regular season schedule. Major league baseball is talking about having an expanded playoff system as well, and the NBA and NHL playoffs last for two months with half of the teams making the playoffs. One would think that eventually the respective sports would reach a point of "overkill" but there seems to be no worry among the sports ownership fratenity as their motto seems to be, "if you play the game, they will come". And they thought that Rome put on a show.
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