Madness before March; Tiger picks up golf again

Written by Brad Estes

Wednesday, 25 February 2009 17:36

It’s not quite March yet, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any “February madness” (for lack of any February alliterate words) in the world of college basketball.

First of all there’s the second leg of the Border War tonight in Fort Collins, where the Cowboys can get a win on the road after two more home wins. The Mountain West is pretty clear-cut. Three teams at the top will probably go to the Big Dance, unless there is a surprise winner in Vegas.

Elsewhere, whether it’s Texas dropping Oklahoma with a swift right hook to Blake Griffin’s noggin, North Carolina falling to the turtles of Maryland in overtime or Pittsburgh losing to Providence just two days after attaining the meaningless No. 1 ranking this week, the NCAA regular season seems to become more and more meaningless.

I say this because in an era of college basketball where no “phenom” stays on campus for more than a year or maybe two to really become a great player, the field seems so mediocre at times that it is impossible to know who will show up come tournament time.

Yes, there are good teams and good conferences, but it is not the same as it used to be.

I guess that I would rather have the regular season be meaningless than the postseason, like in the wonderful fantasy world of the BCS and college football.

There are many differences between football and basketball; the shape of the ball, the playing field and the way they determine a national champion, or don’t.

While football has no undisputed champion, soon the NCAA selection committee will pick 65 teams to determine a national champion for college basketball, and for the most part, they will get it right.

Late February also means Lent, and this year, PGA Tour players were hoping that Tiger Woods would continue to give up golf for a little while longer.

But, on Ash Wednesday, instead of giving something up, Tiger picked up golf again. To the dismay of the “rest of the field,” the new and improved Woods, equipped with both ACL’s this time, has returned to PGA tour play in the WGC Accenture Match-Play Championship.

Watching him win the U.S. Open last year with practically no tendons in his left knee was nothing short of amazing.

One legged Tiger, two legged Tiger, does it really matter? Who knows, maybe with two healthy knees he will just break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 19 major and then start playing left handed just to make Mickleson mad.

No offense to all those other great golfers, but who wants to watch golf without Tiger? For one, Phil Mickleson needs to either wear looser shirts or walk a little faster between holes and break a sweat.

Would you really want to watch the Chicago Bulls without Michael Jordan? Sorry, Scottie Pippen and Tony Kucok, but even you guys and Rodman wearing his wedding dress couldn’t get me to be a Bulls fan without Mike.

Though Tiger may not win this week because in match-play you can play solid golf, shoot 4-or-5 under par and still go home, here’s a tip if you like to gamble, bet on Tiger to win at least two majors this year instead of picking any crazy college basketball games.

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