This Just In — Buckle Up. Here we go!
Now that the field of 64 is set, we can begin focusing for a little while on our community’s favorite annual distraction—our beloved Tar Heels and how far they can go in the NCAA basketball tournament.
Growing up in Connecticut, among my earliest memories and first events to attend in Storrs (on the UConn campus) was that of my father’s law school graduation. To me, Storrs was a place to go ice skating in the winter and swimming indoors (with a high dive). There was a concert or two that I attended, tagging along with my older sister.
Many years later, I married a UConn graduate and my younger brother married one, too. I say all this to explain my divided loyalty when it comes to the tournament. AA proud alumna, I have plenty of Carolina swag but there are also many, many UConn Championship coffee mugs, T-shirts and hoodies in my house.
My father discovered his devotion to UConn’s athletic program with the dominance of Geno Auriemma’s UConn teams in women’s basketball. Everybody loves a winner. He’s Connecticut’s Anson Dorrance.
So with the pollen and sometimes blustery weather, we welcome the burst of Spring with quickly-busted brackets, bags of chicken wings ready to bake/fry/grill and the heart medicine that is often needed to get through some of the most shocking, thrilling and delightful game-winning buzzer-beaters in all of sports.
I might say that a rematch between Carolina and Duke would be best avoided. We had such a spectacular win in Chapel Hill this year … nothing is going to exceed that. Let’s leave it a split decision …. Right?
No, of course not. If our boys meet up it will be well into the tournament, so that would be fine with me.
There is one thing about the game that I’m not enjoying these days — the gambling. Suddenly, there are legal avenues to bet on virtually anything and the NCAA tournament is no exception.
If I wanted to place a wager on how many times Dick Vitale said the word “baby” during a game, I can probably find a place online to do it. This is not a good thing.
Gambling addiction has destroyed plenty of lives and the pervasive ads that are all over all sorts of sports now are troubling. This activity is corrosive in sports and also in society in general. It’s disappointing to see celebrities I once enjoyed urging me to check out this app or that to get started.
Last year, The Atlantic gave staff writer McKay Coppins $10,000 to gamble with for a story. Coppins did this as “a journalism stunt” or sorts, but he writes in the magazine’s April cover story that “the online betting boom is warping sports, culture and politics” (yes, you can bet on gas prices and war activity). This is having a measurable, negative effect on the psyches of young men, says Coppins.
Though instant gratification and get-rich-quick are the unstated promise of this trend, Coppins reports that fewer than five percent of gamblers come out ahead. Not shocking.
In my little world, I’ll be watching for the Cinderella team that’s not expected to make the round of 16 but somehow turns up there all the same. I hope our team does well. I hope the kids have a blast. I hope we go deeper into the contest than UConn. Really — I don’t need another coffee mug, but I do need the joy of March Madness distraction.
As the great Leslie Nielsen said, “Good Luck. We’re all counting on you.”
(featured image via Todd Melet)
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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