It's that time of year when everyone throws in $5.00 or $10.00 to enter their picks for the NCAA March Madness Brackets. I say it's more like the NCAA March Fix Is In Brackets. After watching Michigan St beat New Mexico St last night I am convinced that the fix is in. By the way I had Michigan St on my bracket. New Mexico St was called for a foul with 18 seconds left. Michigan St's player missed the free throw but officials called New Mexico St for a lane violation. Are you kidding me? Refs never call this in any kind of game unless a guy spills into the lane before the ball is actually shot. The zebra's claim a player actually had his toe on the line. I say "Bullshit"! You could pour over endless hours of tape and find that this is a common occurrence in college and pro basketball. The Michigan St. player got another shot and made it. This put New Mexico St down by 3 with under 18 seconds. The Aggies made two futile 3 point attempts but failed at the end. They should have had a third, but the idiots in black and white strips also blew the time on the clock. This is not the only case of "The Fix" during this years tournament. I have watched several games and have seen blatant hacks not called on one team while their opponent barley touches a player and a foul is called.
So why is the Fix In? Simple, if a few Cinderella's don't make the big ball, the interest of the fans drops off. This tournament is all about the gutless NCAA making a bundle of money. They know that everybody wants to see a team from a small conference advance to the Sweet 16, so they rig a game or two to make it happen. Remember 2008 when Davidson made the Elite Eight? Everybody was talking about "What If"? This years little giants may be Murray St, St. Mary's or Cornell. If the favorites won every game what fun would the tournament be? The NCAA also knows that at least 2 or 3 of the number one seeds must make the Elite 8 or further. If they didn't, then everybody's brackets would be done early and interest would be gone. As for me, I refuse to watch anymore games because I can't stand watching the ref's call a one sided game or call a ticky tack foul when guys are getting hacked all over the court. I will however keep a close eye on my bracket even though I was in trouble after day 1. By the way, how about those 3 people in the ESPN Bracket contest who were perfect after day 1. I say that's a bunch of Bull! It's just like the female office secretary who knows nothing about sports winning the pool by picking teams because she likes their colors. Yep it happens every year. As for me, I made my annual $10.00 donation to this years winner.
