March Madness

The craziest time of the sports year has once again come upon us. You may be thinking: The Super Bowl already passed, The Olympics finished a couple weeks ago, and Hockey and basketball have been going for a while now…..what could it be? It’s March Madness! For those of you who don’t know, it’s a college basketball tournament that runs from the beginning of March to the beginning of April in which 68 teams compete to be the champion. The 68 teams are chosen based on certain criteria like the caliber of the teams they beat, their strength of schedule, how well they did in their conference during the regular season, and if they won their conference tournament. The teams that win their conference get an automatic bid to the tournament and the other teams who believe they have a chance to go to the tournament wait to see if their names are called on Selection Sunday. Selection Sunday is the day where the teams that will play in the tournament are announced on a prime time TV special. The teams are placed in a bracket with 4 regions and are ranked 1-16 with 1 being the highest rank and 16 being the lowest. The teams play single elimination games and the team that wins 6-7 games is the champion.

It is considered to be the most unpredictable time in the college basketball season because an underdog can rise up throughout the tournament and knock off teams favored to win the game or even the whole tournament. Fans never quite know what to expect. With the exception of football playoffs and the Super Bowl it’s my favorite sports season. I love the weeks leading up to the main tournament where teams play in conference tournaments for a change to go to the main tournament because there’s so much excitement. Teams play their hearts out and those who win have a chance, some for the first time, to play in the main tournament. There are always surprises, shocks, and some heartbreak, but the tournament is always unforgettable. I can’t wait to what March Madness has in store this year!

Vocabulary

1.      Caliber (noun) – ability; strength; talent.

2.      Strength of Schedule (noun) – how difficult the teams are that one team has to play during basketball season.

3.      Conference (noun) – smaller league in a bigger league (generally in sports).

4.      Automatic Bid (noun) – guaranteed spot in the tournament.

5.      Prime Time (adjective) – time when popular television shows are broadcast.

6.      Bracket (noun) – way teams are organized in the tournament; punctuation mark ([ ]).

7.      Underdog (noun) – team or person not favored to win.

8.      Rise up (verb) – to meet a challenge; to win.

9.      Knock off (verb) – to defeat.

10.  Has (Have in store) (verb) – what will happen.

Vocabulary Exercise

1.      All my favorite television shows are on during the hours of ________ ________ TV.

2.      The ___________ _____________ the best team in the tournament!

3.      Kansas played some high __________ teams this year, they must have the greatest __________ ___ __________.

4.      Since the Dayton University basketball team won their _____________ tournament, it gets an ____________ _______.

5.      I wonder what the day _________ _____ _________ for me?

6.      Warren Buffet promised he would give a billion dollars to anyone with a perfect _________!

7.      The team _______ ____ against adversity and won the game.

Grammar Point

The phrase “March Madness” is an alliteration, the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of each word. Alliteration is used to make words or phrases stand out.

Grammar Exercise

Think of a few (2-3) alliterations you’ve heard on TV or read in a work literature. Create a few (2-3) of your own alliterations.