True Madness

By: Sara Himebauch ’18

March. The month sports fans all around the country look forward to after the National Championship football game and after the Super Bowl. It is one of the most exhilarating and devastating tournaments in collegiate sports, depending on what team you are cheering for. Brackets are filled out as soon as the teams are picked and bets are placed. The competition has begun.

And this has truly been March Madness. “Cinderella Stories” (yes, that’s right, stories, as in more than one) have come to the forefront of the tournament, and my bracket is most definitely busted. And it did not take too long for that to happen. The most notable “Cinderella Team” is UMBC, a small university located in Baltimore, Maryland, that shocked the world and left no perfect brackets. This was the first time in history, a #16 seed team defeated a #1 seed (and the #1 seed overall) in the first round of tournament competition. Another shocking team is Loyola-Chicago, who battled their way to the Sweet Sixteen first by beating #6 Miami 64-62, and then beat #3 Tennessee 63-62, both on last-second shots by key players of their team. Avid sports fan, and diehard Chicagoan, Anna Baumeister ‘18, said, “It is so amazing to see a school from Chicago going this far. But hey, that’s just showbiz baby.” Some favorites are still in the running for the title too like Duke and Villanova, but they’re seemingly less fun to cheer for as the underdog.

But now, if your bracket is busted (like mine) or if your favorite team is out (also like me), fear not. Just do what everyone else is doing who’s teams have been eliminated: jump on a bandwagon. My bandwagon, for sure: Loyola Chicago, who took on #7 Nevada and won, 69-68, to move on to the Elite Eight. Their motto that night was to prove Sister Jean, their team’s 98 year old chaplain who had them losing in the Sweet Sixteen, wrong. If you’re bracket is busted and you don’t bandwagon, hopefully you will not lose and have to dye your hair or get a bad spray tan, as some groups of friends have made that the wager.

The rest of the tournament is sure to prove even more mad, as the competition gets tougher and the stakes get higher. But only one will be crowned the victor in the end. Go Ramblers.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.