Conversely, are you saying that you believe NCAA basketball games have more talent and skill than WNBA games? -- droxford
Um, yes. So, you are telling me that the best WNBA player whether that is Sue Bird or Jackie Stiles has more skills than a Jameer Nelson or the leading scorer for Duke? If you believe that, then good for you - something tells me that you won't have many agreeing with you. I mean it is a stupid argument, droxford. You are comparing apples to oranges here by mixing gender in. If you kept it without mixing gender by saying that the WNBA has more skill and talent than major college women's basketball, I would agree with you, but you didn't do that.
Are you kidding? Hell yes, NCAA basketball games have more talent and skill than WNBA games. Hell, I think that elite high school teams could handle WNBA teams. The last time I watched, watching WNBA basketball was a very painful experience. I hate the notion that WNBA players are more fundamentally sound than NBA players, because it is simply false. So many blown layups...[shudder].
Ok - I'll forfeit this one. Though I honestly look at WNBA games and NCAA and (mostly) see a game full of sloppy play and not much talent, I didn't compare apples to oranges. But I still don't understand people's fascination with college hoops. What about my other points (by the way, I have more, but I didn't want to ramble). -- droxford
Droxford, I got to go with you on this one, I got your back man... True College sports maybe a lot better than proffessional sports, but compared to the real stuff, it is as bad as watching the WNBA. All College sports suck, not worth the time. sorry, I'd rather watch the professionals any day.Won't stop me from joining any pools tho, especially since my guesstimating got me a good 150 dollars, and this without my top team even reaching the finals... Sweet eh.
Thanks for covering me, adeelsiddiqui I can undertsand the fun of going into a betting pool with your buddies - sure that's fun. But, strangely, there are a bazillion college hoop fans out there and very few of 'em are trying to answer my questions. At least Manny logically refuted one of my apples-to-oranges comparison, but I still haven't gotten much of an answer to the big question. -- droxford
Who says you have to keep up with all the teams? I love to watch basketball because it's basketball. Once the tournament starts, you have 64 teams playing out of the 300+ out of the NCAA Division-I basketball programs. I'm not really sure why this is a criticism. Again, who cares? Why do you have to know the players in order to watch the game? One of the reasons I love watching March Madness is because of these no-name teams like Chattanooga, Weber State, etc. who make some noise by beating the higher seeded teams. Again, that's the beauty of the pool. Even if you were able to take the time to study the 64 teams, outside of the #1-3 seeds who are generally safe (and I think a #1 will finally fall soon), there are numerous upsets that, outside of past indicators that don't really have any bearing on what happens in the current year (i.e. a #12 beats a #5 every year), you have a hard time picking who's gonna win. That's the fun of it, trying to pick the upsets and Cinderellas. Again, that's not why most people watch it. Most people watch to see the inevitable Cinderella or the inevitable game that goes down to the wire. Not to mention, to keep up with their pools. Thanks Manny for dimissing this ridiculous assessment. Like the highlights they show of the Rockets' games are meaningful anyway. Plus, it's really only two days of "college games everywhere". After the Thursday and Friday games, there's not nearly as many games. Not to mention, it's only Thursday-Sunday the first two weeks, then just Saturday and Monday the last.
So, you just root for teams because they're Cinderellas? Having no knowledge of the division, players, or coach? Does that mean that you look at a bracket, see who's ranked highest, and then randomly choose some other school that you know nothing about and are a longshot to win? -- droxford
seriously, droxford...you don't have to like it. if you don't, that's fine. i see threads here all the time about european soccer matches that i don't give a damn about. it's ok.
So, you just root for teams because they're Cinderellas? Having no knowledge of the division, players, or coach? Does that mean that you look at a bracket, see who's ranked highest, and then randomly choose some other school that you know nothing about and are a longshot to win? If you enjoy basketball and enjoy rooting for underdogs, why not? After the first round, you'll hear all the stories about the underdog teams that won and it'll make you root for them harder. All in all, it's a great couple of weekends for people who just enjoy watching basketball.
I'm not trying to be insulting. This thread was created by people who are excited about and enjoy college hoops, and it would be foolish and inconsiderate of me to come in here and bash your sport. Sure, I don't like NCAA basketball, and I've given some reasons why. I'm asking my questions to try to understand the fascination others have in it. I see people each year whose eyes get all glowy at the thought of college hoops. I've seen people talk for hours about it, bet lots of money on it, and I have yet to understand why. The only reasonable explanation that was given to me once was... Before ESPN came around, college basketball was primarily popular only to college students and alumni. When ESPN was created, they didn't have the license to broadcast NBA games, so they broadcast and marketed the college games like crazy. This was successful in attracting an audience of people who aren't rooting for a college they attend (or are alumni to). But that's only a half answer. The question of "why is it popular" can be answered as "because it is promoted heavily", but it makes me wonder, "what do people see in it?" I'm trying to understand. Hell, if I understood it, and if there was some appeal I saw in it, I might actually like it. I've tried. But every time I've tried, I found myself saying "umm... who are these guys? What other teams are in their division? are the other teams any good? why shouldn't I root for the other team? why am I rooting for any of 'em? How can others get so excited about a team that they have no assocation or relation to?" Nobody has answered these questions for me yet (aside from Rocketman95 and Major's explanation of Cinderellas). -- droxford
i didn't take your post to be insulting at all...i guess i was just trying to acknowledge that we don't all have to like the same things. it's just a ton of basketball...with lots of very close finishes...i find that exciting. that's about it.
is miss state a number 1 seed dispite their early exit from sec tourney tonight.. or can kentucky get that spot?
a) droxford, how do you explain why one person likes something and someone else doesn't? and even when people in this thread have tried, you seem to refute every point as if there's some right and wrong answer. you do or you don't. b) RM95, it ain't the greatest 2 days in sports you fool...it's the greatest 4 days in sports! oh man i love it. 4 days of basketball from 11 in the morning until 12 at night. 4 staggered finishes every 3 hours the first 2 days, 2 staggered finishes every 3 hours the next two days. no days off. 48 games in 4 days. teams you've never heard of pulling the upset, guys you've never heard of going off, criticizing coaches for not playing certain players you've never heard of at the right times, so many close endings, having a bracket filled out and going crazy watching all the finishes even though you may have not seen either team play all year, getting mad when a team screws your bracket, holding on for dear life to your bracket (last year's amazing AZ/Gonzaga game for instance). oh man, i just switch my brain off and sit back and enjoy. and it never seems to disappoint. the nba playoffs may be my favorite extended sporting event each year, but nothing tops these 4 days. c) and this week is spring break for me so i should be able to watch to my heart's delight. i might be in lake charles on thursday and friday but i'm sure they have tv's in louisiana. d) hopefully the horns make at least the sweet 16.
I guess instead of starting a new thread I'll just post about the selection show in here. Kentucky is the #1 overall seed? the 8th ranked team in the country is now #1? thanks everybody else for playing, we're just gonna jump kentucky up to number 1 now. i don't like UT's draw at all. princeton might be annoying (though admittedly i haven't seen them and maybe they aren't as annoying as in the past) and north carolina can play very well if they want to. not a good #6 for us i don't think. luckily st. joe's deservedly (even if they're not really a top 4 team) got the #1 seed. any other thoughts from the peanut gallery?
Yea, I don't understand why Kentucky is considered to be that great. Are they really the overall #1 team in this tournament? Oh and lmao at the St Joe's coach and that ass Packer!
Man, I went to bed early last night, like I was a little kid on Christmas Eve. "The sooner you go to bed, the sooner Santa will come!!!" I kept waking up, looking over at the clock, then it took forever to go back to sleep. Finally, at 6:30, I woke up and stayed up. Now, it's like waiting for the rest of your lazy ass family to wake up so you can open presents. The greatest day of the year.
