180. NCAA Basketball Tournament

We’ve been living through a year of lockdowns, quarantines, and not gathering together in groups so we’ve had plenty of time to either get depressed about or reflect upon the things we enjoy and are going without. Gradually some of these things are being brought back, hopefully in safe ways. I haven’t played basketball in years but it’s one of those sports I enjoy watching because I have played it and I understand it. March Madness has been one of those things, upon reflection, that I have missed.

The NCAA basketball tournament has been brought back this year with several restrictions. I missed having that bracket showing who plays who. While I may have had the chance to watch regular season Gonzaga Bulldogs last year, I didn’t get to see them vie for a national championship last year. This year all of the teams that made it into the tournament plus the four that had a chance to play off for tournament seats have converged in Indianapolis, Indiana for a single location tournament. Spectators are only minimally allowed in to watch and full masking and social distancing rules are in place.

Those young men and women gave up tournament play, partly because they had no choice, but largely to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and overwhelming hospitals and increasing the death rate. It’s hard to imagine that we could lose even more to this terrible disease but that would likely have been the case had the tournament carried on last year. This year it’s back in an altered form and there has not been a crazy outbreak, so they must be doing something right. I’m thankful that I have some basketball to watch on TV this year. I’m thankful that the young men and women of our university system are getting to play in a safe tournament. And, of course, I’m overjoyed that the Gonzaga Bulldogs men’s team again made it to the sweet sixteen in the tournament. I’m rooting for them to go on all the way and win the national championship as an undefeated team—the only undefeated team this year. I’m grateful for basketball and sports. Go Zags!