The great things about March Madness is that there is something for everybody. If you are a real basketball nut then the games themselves are all you need but, if you are a casual fan, then it is the peripheral stuff that you dote on. Like hairdos and tattoos. We nuts pay more attention to the squeak throughs.
The shaved-bald head is out along with the Afro. Mohawks are a rarity but then so is the flattop, once a staple of a basketball player. Even the crew cut is a rarity. Enter the bushy, pushed-up style like KU’s Devonte Graham wears. I’m not sure that it has a name but I’ve concluded it IS a style because I see it everywhere in all of these tournament games. I know, I know, it looks like their hair was attacked by a screaming eagle but rest assured, they MADE it look that way!
Just to prove a point that styles change, notice how many coaches sport the shaved head while their players have the look of a shaggy Irish mountain goat. Just know that they’ve probably paid somebody to style it so it looks in disarray! It’s the number-one hair style in the tournament. My personal favorite is the “doo” worn by the University of Houston’s Rob Gray, the outstanding point guard who almost got them into the Sweet Sixteen. His shaved sides were topped with a pile of hair pinned on top of his head that had a little curl much like the curl on the top of a soft-serve ice cream cone! Kudos to his stylist! One thing I’ve noticed; hair style does not equate to good free throw shooting! There’s been many a game lost due to an inability to make free throws . Maybe that hair gets in their eyes!
The sheer expression of “Look at Me” is expressed more by tattoos though, than by hairdos. I’ve seen Eagles, religious symbols, serpents, skulls, crosses, poems, shields, basketballs, flowers and several that seemed to have no rhyme or reason. The best-if that is something that can be described as “best”- was a tattoo belonging to a player from the University of North Carolina Greensboro that started on his forearm, wrapped up around his neck and back and continued to the other forearm. My amazement was followed by, “what the heck would that cost? I bet a lot more than what his scholarship is worth!”
Will all of this cause a new rush to mania, a new stampede by our youngsters of new hairstyles and tattoos. Count on it!! Get ready to see Grampa with a tattoo and a “Devonte hairdo”!
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The University of Virginia now has the ignominy of owning the two most embarrassing losses in NCAA men’s basketball history! Their 20-point loss last week to UMBC in the first round of t he “Big Dance” was the first ever loss by a one seed to a sixteen seed. Dial back though to 1982 when Virginia was the top-ranked team in the land and led by 7-footer Ralph Sampson. They were upset by tiny Chaminade, an NAIA school, 77-72 in the Until last week that was considered the biggest upset in NCAA basketball history. David has struck down Goliath again!
Barton County is causing quite a stir at the National Junior College tournament in Hutchinson with their quick start and by upsetting the number-one seeded Indian Hills team that came into the tournament at 33-0. Their cheer team nearly missed the opening-round win over Tyler, Texas though, as their vehicle somehow got off on a dirt road on the way from Great Bend to Hutchinson and got stuck in the mud. Finally, a friendly farmer with a tractor got them out and they hurried to the Sports Arena, arriving just before halftime. I guess it had been so long since we’d seen rain in this part of the world that somebody forgot that rain added to dirt makes mud! Here’s mud in your eye!
