From Bill Simmons' mailbag this past week, a question and (sort of) answer that draws a correlation between Davidson & Holy Cross. Phil and Chaz, this blog and this NCAA Tournament has come full-circle.Q: So, Davidson is a small liberal arts school with an excellent academic reputation that just made the Elite Eight? Oh and they have free laundry, and their trustees paid for everyone to go to the tournament games? Holy Cross has no excuse now, the precedent has been set. We need to get it together. -- Jon, Worcester, Mass.
- Simmons: Don't get me started. Hey, I'm glad you brought up Davidson. More than a few readers asked why I haven't been writing about college basketball as much this year. Here's the answer: As long as the NBA is running on all cylinders -- and really, it hasn't happened in 15 years -- I don't see why anyone would watch college over pro unless they had a favorite college team (which I don't, thanks to Holy Cross fading into obscurity). Of all the guys we watched in the tournament this year, maybe eight of them could step into an NBA rotation right away, and only two of them (Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley) could start for a decent team. Personally, I'd rather watch basketball played passionately at the highest possible level; the NBA hasn't been this good since the watershed 1992-93 season and the competitiveness of its games has just been absolutely remarkable. I remember the days when maybe 10 regular-season games per year would stand out; now we're getting four or five a week, and that's not even an exaggeration.
With that said ...
Nothing in sports can match what happened Friday and Sunday: An underdog school (Davidson) with a Jimmy Chitwood-type hero (Stephen Curry) toppling one high seed and coming within one possession of making the Final Four, and if that's not enough, Gus Johnson was announcing both games and ready to have an on-air seizure if Davidson had scored on the final play to beat Kansas. Of all the sports (college or pro), March Madness is the only time when you can hop on a bandwagon and not feel guilty about it -- whether it's Belmont trying to topple Duke, Davidson trying to make the Final Four, or whatever -- and it's the only time when an athlete can completely alter his destiny in the span of 10 days. For example, Curry wasn't even considered a first-round pick before the tournament started; now he'd probably crack the top-15 if he came out (which he won't), and if that's not enough, we'll always remember him as the kid with the gorgeous jumper who did the Chitwood impression.
Anyway, I'm not down on college hoops this year -- the Davidson run was incredible theater, and we're headed for one of the greatest Final Fours of my lifetime. Just know that, overall, the NBA product was markedly better as a whole this season unless you had a college team you loved.
1020 & 8101
