March on

They picked the wrong month to celebrate Thanksgiving. It should be in March.

Of all the months of the year, none of them are better for sports fans than March.

March Madness is here, bay-bee!

The NCCA men’s basketball tournament coined something no other month has been able to accomplish. There are good reasons why May Mania, Awesome August, February Fright, December Delirium, October Owned, July Jitters, January Jam, Jumping June, Nervous November, April Angst, and September Psycho have not caught on with the public like March Madness has.

Dementia makes sense to me. How else could we honestly believe that we know who will win this year when almost everybody every year loses? New brackets come out, contests pop up, and we completely ignore all of our past failures to try again, absurdly thinking we know something others do not, as if seeing a few games on television unlocked its mysteries but only to you and not others.

College basketball whets the hoopster’s appetite and sets the table for the soon-to-come professional playoffs.

The quiet unfolding of baseball this month has been punctuated by the World Baseball Classic. The tranquility of spring training has been blown up with games that all of a sudden have meaning. And where else does Puerto Rico have a chance against the United States of America?

The Marianas Cup (beach volleyball) was the highest level of any sport played on the island all year. Phil Dalhausser is the only world’s top ranked player to show his stuff on Saipan.

The Marianas Cup (soccer) pitted the CNMI men’s and women’s “football” teams against its nemesis Guam. I’ve already forgotten the scores.

The Marianas Kids Cup (beach volleyball) drew a record 97 players aged 10-15. One team, the Lamers, played 17 matches in one day. That’s madness.

Youth baseball is thriving, as popular as ever. Palacios and Tan Ge Fields are bustling with people of all ages. Players are emerging as stars. Twelve-year-old lefty Jeremy Lizama looks like our next star pitcher.

The island-wide men’s basketball league crowns their champions this month. Like the NCAA field of 64, there is no clear favorite for the championship. All seven teams are capable of winning on any given night. But I am not aware of any betting contests. Nobody’s got money here anyway.

Saipan’s roads are training grounds for local triathletes preparing for next month’s Xterra and Tagaman.

The Saipan Swim Club annually holds its championship meet in March.

There is more but I need to finish this column and fill out another bracket on the Internet.

But as good as March is for us fans, I celebrate on the last day when it is finally over. Why? Because it was too exciting for my heart? That I couldn’t stomach the emotional ups and downs? ‘Cuz my brain was fried? No. It’s because that’s my wife birthday.

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