64 Is Enough

Every year at this time, as bubble teams are left out of the NCAA basketball tournament’s 64 team field, there are calls from angry fans to expand the size of the tournament.  I am not in favor of this idea because I don’t think the question “when is enough enough?” can ever be adequately answered.  At what number does the selection committee stop at in terms of adding teams?  72? 80? 128?  No matter what number the field is potentially raised to, someone will still feel like they got jobbed.  Look, this tournament is a privilege, not a birthright for Division I schools.   Part of what makes the tournament so alluring is that not everyone can go.  You have to earn your way in.  Now, I’m not saying the process is always perfect.  Yes, some good teams do get left out. (Such as Penn State this year)  But that is part of the collateral damage associated with putting together a competitive, exciting field of teams.  I think the selection committee has a tough job, but year after year they seem to get it right.  When was the last time March Madness was a disappointment?  I can’t remember there ever being one.  64 teams (I’m ignoring that ridiculous play-in game where the winner is then sacrificed to the overall #1 seed in the tournament) is a perfect, balanced amount of teams and it makes for smooth scheduling for TV and a known routine for participating teams.  Expanding the tournament to include more teams would just water down the product.  There’s a reason why the NFL and Major League Baseball playoffs are so exciting to watch-  because a minority of teams make it in.  That is not true in both the NBA and NHL where 16 teams make it in each league, which is roughly half.   That’s too many teams and it produces some lackluster playoff series.  The NCAA should remember that as the catcalls of jilted teams and fans increase.  Keep the tournament the way it is and realize that the status quo is perfect.  Expansion won’t make the whiners go away.  It will just push the sour grapes further down the list.  Want to make the tournament?  Play the type of schedule the NCAA deems competitive and simply play better!

Cancer Cured

What can I say?  Today is a great sports day.  A-Roid is out 10 weeks and T.O. the cancer is no longer a Dallas Cowboy.  As a Red Sox and Cowboys fan it doesn’t get much better than this!  The A-Rod injury is what it is and the Yankees will still be expected to win the AL East without him because of their pitching.  But the real story here is the release of T.O.  As a Cowboys fan, you can never be sure what owner Jerry Jones is going to do and after the collapse in Philly last January my fear was he’d keep everything status quo because he simply saw 2008 as a fluke.  My biggest fear was that we’d have another year of the cancer that is T.O. in the locker room.  Now, the problems last year were not all the fault of T.O. but subtracting him from the mess that was the end of last season cannot hurt.  I’m surprised Jerry sucked it up and admitted he lost his devil’s bet in acquiring Owens and cut his losses.  I believe Dallas will be a better team without Owens next year.  I have confidence Roy Williams will step in as the #1 receiver and Tony Romo will improve because he can finally play in peace.  Owens is a proven distraction.  Again, he wasn’t solely responsible for this team’s underachievement last year, but being a cancer is what he does.  It’s his M.O. and he can’t help himself when he feels disrespected.  He did it in Philly and San Francisco and he’ll do it at his next landing spot.  Good riddance!  I never wanted the guy in Dallas in the first place.  Super Bowls were won in Dallas before he came and they’ll be won again now that he’s gone.  Hopefully Jerry will learn from this high profile mistake and procure team oriented guys first in the future.  This release gives me hope that Jerry MAY have turned the corner as a GM.