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By Paula Green Every March we bid adieu to winter’s icy chill and welcome the dawn of a new season–spring. An exciting event also springs into action. The thump of basketballs, squeak of sneakers, and the roar of the crowd signal that basketball fever is with us. It is a condition known as “March Madness,” and it afflicts millions of people with no known cure. The history of March Madness itself did not begin at a college or a university; rather it started at the high school level in Illinois. Back in 1908, the Illinois High School Association began sponsoring a small invitational tournament for area boys’ basketball teams. By the late 1930s more than 900 schools across the state were participating in the tournament. Even then the “Sweet Sixteen” were selling out crowds at the Huff Gymnasium at the University of Illinois. Henry V. Porter, an executive secretary of the Illinois High School Association (and later a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame), was the first person to coin the term March Madness to commemorate a basketball tournament. A gifted writer, Porter published an essay entitled “March Madness” in 1939 for the Illinois Interscholastic. The term itself, March Madness, is thought to have come from the old English saying “Mad as a March Hare.” However, it wasn’t until the early 1980s that fans of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball began to use the term to describe the playoff series that takes place at the college/university level. Most historians would agree that CBS sportscaster Brent Musburger, who had worked for many years in Chicago prior to joining CBS, popularized the term during the annual tournament broadcasts. So now that we have bounced into the historic side of March Madness, we need to hoop it up as we slam-dunk our way into college basketball questions, because it is time to get a little trivial…. 1. What is another name often given to March Madness? 2. How many teams participate in March Madness? 3. What city has hosted the most Final Four tournaments? 4. Where will the Final Four tournament be held this year? 5. Three time NCAA tournament championship coach Bobby Knight is known as… 6. The University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University belong to what collegiate athletic conference? 7. What Jamaican born basketball player helped his team, the Georgetown Hoyas, win the NCAA Championship in 1984? 8. Sean May and Michael Jordan both played college basketball for what team? 9. A committee announces which teams will participate in the tournament. What is this day referred to as? 10. In 1981, what non-sports event led to the end of playing the 3rd place game in the Final Four? 11. Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. played center for UCLA from 1965 to1969, what did he change his name to once he converted to Islam? 12. What Indiana State University basketball player was nicknamed “The Hick from French Lick? 13. Julius Erving played college basketball at the University of Massachusetts. What nickname did he acquire? 14. What is the art of picking the correct teams that will be in the tournament? 15. Who won the tournament in 2006? |
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Sources: http://www.marchmadness.org/history.htm http://en.wkipedia.org/wiki/March_madness
Answers: Answers: 1. The Big Dance 2. 65 3. Kansas City, Missouri (10 times) 4. Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia 5. The General 6. The Big East 7. Patrick Ewing 8. The North Carolina Tar Heels 9. Selection Sunday 10. Reagan Assassination attempt 11. Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar 12. Larry Bird 13. Dr. J. 14. Bracketology 15. Florida Gators |
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