A Season of Madness

March spells a return to Lawrenceville and to campus life. Many people might think this time would be extremely dull, but in reality there is a bubbling energy about campus. We leave winter’s cold embrace, returning ready for the last third of the year. The campus buzzes with the new season: a new term, new sports, and new light. It brings the thrill of March Madness to brighten the days of students across campus as fans gather to create their brackets. Students and faculty have their own unique brackets. Phrases such as “who’s your Final Four,” or “are you still in it?” litter the hallways of Lawrenceville during this month of madness. Students begin checking their brackets early in the morning, making sure that they are still “in it” and sneakily watching the games during study hall. March Madness is a thrill for all basketball fans, even if they haven’t watched a single minute of college sports this past year. 

Years ago, Generation X watched March Madness on MTV. For two weeks, the music stopped in favor of college basketball games. The Final Four and Championship games took over CBS. What was it like for them to watch the likes of once unknown players such as Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony become stars at the Big Dance? 

A Staten Island pub called Jody’s Club Forest claims to have first created the bracket sometime in the 1970’s. Now, however, the bracket rage takes over sports networks such as ESPN and CBS Sports. All of these companies focus almost entirely on March Madness, creating bracket challenges and offering mind-boggling jackpots for the first person in history to create the perfect bracket. Millions of people flock to these websites, entering their names for both the fun and the hope of potentially being the first person to create that one-in-quintillion bracket. Headlines of upsets and routs dominate newspapers, newsletters, and internet pages alike. 

College basketball takes the reins and produces a joy that brings together people of all walks of life. The college basketball championship season has become a time that brings together not only Lawrenceville, but the entire United States.