NCAA Basketball

Inside Baseball – March Edition

DouglasTHill1 Comment
What will become of my friend Ben once I introduce him to sports books in Las Vegas?

(Reminder: You’re receiving this edition of Inside Baseball because you’re a subscriber to The Sports Fan Project. It’s just my way providing a behind-the-scenes glimpse as to what’s happening [and being planned] here and at our podcast, Conversations with Sports Fans. If you know of others who might enjoy our content, please invite them to subscribe. The link to do so is found along the righthand column on the website.)

Channeling my inner-founding fathers: I cannot tell a lie, the last five weeks have been an absolute whirlwind.

Venice, Cortina, Milan, Rome, Los Angeles, San Juan (via New York City), Phoenix, and – as of tomorrow – Las Vegas. All since February 6th!

Events Nos. 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50 (maybe!) of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project will have all been attended by late Sunday which means I’m firmly – I believe – on track to get to 80 by my self-imposed deadline of June 30, 2027.

In this edition of Inside Baseball I’m looking for some assistance and provide our valued subscribers an opportunity to compete in The Sports Fan Project’s now annual Bracket Challenge.

Your Assistance Welcome … and Needed!

Sports Book
A look at the Westgate Super Book in Las Vegas from 2018. (Photo by John Locher/Associated Press)

Full disclosure, I am not a gambler.

I’ve always been of the belief I’d just as soon light my currency on fire rather than play games of chance because I’m, well, terrible at games of chance!

That said, on the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events list is spending time in Las Vegas for the opening week of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments.

I’ve done it once before on purpose (2017) and again by accident (2018). It was a crazy environment with a lot of (mainly) middle-aged men wandering form sports book to sports book looking for an extra half-point or the best possible parlay to turn their wager into big winnings.

I was not among the winners.

Still, I’m heading back with a group of five buddies and we’re going to have a blast I’m sure, but I’ve set a limit for myself.

The image of Ben Franklin above is all that I’m permitting myself to play with while I’m in Sin City. It will all be wagered on basketball games (no craps, no slots, no blackjack … only the tourney).

So what say you, TSFP subscribers?

Do you have any sure things? Any hunches? Is there a game I should throw $5 on and see how it plays out? Should I put the entirety of my hundy down on a game early Thursday and either play with house money the rest of the week or wallow in my liberation from wagering?

Please let me know either by commenting below or by emailing me directly at hilldouglast@gmail.com.

Brackets are Back

Who’s going to cut down The Sports Fan Project Bracket Challenge nets this year?

A year ago eight of you played in The Sports Fan Bracket Challenge and I thank you for doing so!

We’re competing soley for bragging rights, but I might have something in the prize bin this year to send along to the ultimate winner. Those bragging rights for the past year have belonged to my wife, Carol, who finished six points clear of longtime supporter Michael O’Connell. Oddly, Carol hardly bragged at all which was welcome for this sixth place finisher.

Anyhow, here is the link to this year’s bracket: https://play.ncaa.com/share/mbcg/group/1717537/token/98c6935dbd579e834053f21b?iid=bcg_share_web_other_group_email

You may need to reactivate your NCAA account and/or start a new one. Please note that we’re doing the men’s bracket not the women’s bracket (though I’m thinking about adding that for next year:-).

A reminder the first games begin later today (6:40 p.m. EDT) so if you’re looking to nab a point for these First Four Games you’ll want to get your bracket submitted yet today. If that’s not so important to you and you’d rather have the Field of 64 set, then you’ll need to have submitted by noon EDT, Thursday.

Upcoming Conversations

As I’m a bit pressed for time, I’ll not go deep into the details of each of these, but here’s what’s in the queue:

  • Joe Grezlik – Freshmen dormitory floor buddy who’s retired from a career working in the Michigan Department of Corrections, is a massive golf fan and an employee at Whitmore Lake Golf Links. He’s pursuing his PGA of America Membership so you know that’ll be a topic of our Conversation.
  • Joe Flynn – A longtime employee in the non-profit sector, Joe capped his executive certificate class at George Washington University with the creation of the Fantasy Football for Good Draft Guide that documented the foundations and charitable work for 180 NFL players in one spot to, as Joe says, “Highlights the humans under the helmet.”
  • Sports Fans at AZ Sports Cards in Phoenix – Thanks to owner John Gola III, I was able to spend a couple hours at his AZ Sports Card store recently and talk to sports fans and hobbyists of all stripes and from around the country who are in town for Cactus League baseball. It’ll test my editing capabilities, but I think this will be a fun listen.
  • University of Washington Men’s Soccer Fans – Part of my ongoing effort to highlight the fans oof the so-called non-revenue college athletic programs, I’m delighted to share this second installment, featuring a quartet of Huskies fans following their national championship.

The Thrill of Victory!

Masters tickets delivery
It’s really happening!

The Agony of Defeat!

Wimbledon AMEX Regrets
Looks like it’s the famed Wimbledon Queue for me.

Fan Teaser: Week 177 Solution

DouglasTHill1 Comment
We regret not getting this one out a year ago:-(

For 25 consecutive years Greg Gumbel was a part of college basketball fans’ annual march to madness.

As CBS Sports’ studio host of the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament each spring, I dare say he was as much a part of the action as the players and coaches themselves. His cool and steady hand navigating the studio team and – during his early years – handling the cutaway coverage of fantastic finishes that inevitably popped up.

Greg Gumbel
Broadcaster Greg Gumbel was as much a part of the CBS coverage of the Men’s NCAA Tournament as the madness itself. He died in December 2024. (Photo by Kyle Terada/Imagn Images)

Gumbel missed the 2024 Tournament when he was away for what was described as “family health issues.”

He died on December 27, 2024 at 78-years-old from pancreatic cancer.

The past two NCAA Tournaments were the first he was not a part of since taking the reins of the studio in 1998, a remarkable 25-year stretch.

In later years, CBS and Turner Sports have teamed to televise the tournament and Ernie Johnson (a cancer survivor himself), Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg, and Kenny Smith paid tribute to Gumbel at the beginning of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

The field of 68 will be revealed later today and, no doubt, some teams will be missing.

There will be something else missing as well:-(

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

Conversations with Sports Fans – The Rivalry (Bonus Episode)

DouglasTHillLeave a comment
Calvin University Logo
Hope College Logo

Sometimes, I’m told, the best things come in small packages. My wife, who’s not quite 5-feet tall reminds me of this frequently:-)

So, when my friend Todd asked if the Calvin University–Hope College men’s basketball game was on my list of events to see during my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project, I told him it was not, but quickly followed up with a question:

Should it be?

Yes, came his answer as a proud Hope alum. He then began to regale me with data about how competitive the rivalry is (Hope currently leads the all-time series 111-105), how the New York Times featured the game over a decade ago while the New York Knicks were struggling, mightily. ESPN’s given it some publicity (see this 2007 story) and even ranked it as the fourth best college basketball rivalry in the country behind only Duke-North Carolina, UConn-Tennessee women, and Kentucky-Louisville.

Known simply as The Rivalry, the game’s been played since the 1920-21 season and, entering the first meeting this season, the teams are separated by one point all time. Yes, just one point separates the cumulative scoring for the two schools through 216 all-time games (Calvin leads it 14,637 to 14,636).

Later tonight I’ll be in the stands at Hope’s DeVos Fieldhouse thanks to a ticket Todd helped secure.

But before attending the game, I decided it’d be a good idea to learn a bit more about The Rivalry. The two schools’ athletic directors – Dr. Jim Timmer Jr. from Calvin and Tim Schoonveld from Hope – were kind enough to join me on this special bonus episode of Conversations with Sports Fans to discuss the schools, their history, and, of course, The Rivalry.

Dr. Jim Timmer Jr. and Tim Schoonveld discuss the Calvin-Hope rivalry.

Conversations with Sports Fans – Ben Braun

DouglasTHillLeave a comment
Former EMU Coach Ben Braun and his family
Former Eastern Michigan University Coach Ben Braun is photographed with his family, wife Jessica, son Joshua, and daughter Eliza, during the dedication of Ben Braun Court in 2023. (Photo by Jonathan Knight/The Eastern Echo)
Conversations with Sports Fans Logo

Nearly 40 years ago, I was was the beat writer for the ascendant Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball for EMU’s student newspaper, The Eastern Echo. The head coach, his first as without the interim title, was Ben Braun.

My second – and final – season on the beat ended in Lincoln, NE, of all places, where the 15th-seeded Hurons met 2nd-seeded and regular-season Big East Champion, Pitt, in the first round of the 1988 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The Panthers won that game, 108-90, but I’m not sure I cared too much. I was covering an NCAA Tournament game! And playing that night on the University of Nebraska’s campus was Kansas and a certain star named Danny Manning. The Jayhawks wound up winning it all in 1988.

I saw Coach Braun around in the coming years before I moved to Alaska and he to the University of California Berkeley, but our interactions were limited to, perhaps, a head nod or a hello.

So it was quite a bit of fun to – thanks to social media – reconnect and invite him onto Conversations with Sports Fans for a long overdue catch up. We talk about all things you’d expect a pair of fellas who haven’t spoken in going on 40 years talk about.

Here’s hoping you enjoy the Conversation as much as I did.

The Ben Braun Conversation.

The Fan Teaser: Week 128 Solution

DouglasTHillLeave a comment
You’d have to be mad to not get this one.

March 26, 1979 … the night March Madness was born.

Top-ranked and undefeated Indiana State University, led by a fella named Larry Bird, met the third-ranked Michigan State Spartans and a dude named Earvin “Magic” Johnson on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City for the 1979 NCAA Championship.

At the time the pair met, the NCAA Tournament was a quaint little affair of just 40 schools. The next year it was bumped to 48 and by 1985 it was at 64. The ratings for this game topped out at 35% of U.S. televisions and led to seismic jumps in rights fees to the current amount of roughly $900 million per year. What’s more, back in the 1970s, not all games were televised nationally. Today, someone with solid remote control skills and plenty of caffeine for the early rounds could see the tips and finishes of every game live.

Much of this is attributed to the two men in this week’s Fan Teaser. As former Marquette University coach and later NBC college basketball analyst Al McGuire said, “The college game was already on the launching pad. Then Bird and Magic came along and pushed the button.”

Kaboom!

Magic Johnson, left, and Larry Bird, during the 1979 Men's NCAA Championship Game
Earvin “Magic” Johnson, left, and Larry Bird during their first of many high-profile matchups at the 1979 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship in Salt Lake City, UT. (Photo by James Drake/Sports Illustrated)

For more reading, check out this Michael Wilbon piece from the Washington Post back in 2009, when the game was but a mere 30-years-old.

A highlight package of Bird vs. Magic during the 1979 NCAA Championship Game.

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.