CLEVELAND
It's still winter. The southern end of Lake Erie is frozen over, and there are patches of snow on the ground around town. The weather forecast for the next few days calls for highs in the upper 30s.
But despite the cold weather here, NCAA Tournament fever is about to reach its boiling point.
Today, the Big Dance begins in earnest. The stage is set. NCAA signs and decals are plastered all over the Wolstein Center here at Cleveland State University and seven other host sites around the country -- although I'm sure the weather is a little nicer in Tucson.
On the streets, there are scalpers looking to make a quick buck on tourney tickets -- if you're looking to see No. 2 Wake Forest take on Chattanooga tonight at 7, you're going to have to dig pretty deep into that pocketbook.
Inside what used to be called the CSU Convocation Center signs are already set out denoting the various fan sections for each school. Alabama is here alongside West Virginia. Boston College fans will sit opposite the hundreds of others like myself who have made the trek to see Penn play this afternoon.
Yesterday this place was buzzing with media and fans alike looking to get a first-hand look at the competition. After all, I can't imagine there are many people from Milwaukee that get a chance to take in Ivy League basketball games from time to time.
But at 3 p.m. today a national audience on CBS will get to see the Ivy League champs as they try to pull off an upset. Are the Quakers overmatched? Sure -- but so was West Virginia when they embarrassed BC last week at the Big East Tournament in New York. And when it comes to college basketball in March, anything can happen.
That's what makes this tournament exciting. Sixty-five teams, millions of fans and three weeks of March Madness leading to one national champion.
A week ago you probably would have said Oakland was nothing more than a city in California. Try telling that to the Golden Grizzlies who hail from Michigan and will face off against top-seeded North Carolina tomorrow.
Outside of the northeast, most people are oblivious to Penn -- that is until they pencil the Quakers into their NCAA Tournament Brackets.
For the teams involved, the Tournament provides exposure and excitement that no advertising can buy. But more than that, it is an event which brings together sports fans from across the country in a way that nothing else can.
In pro sports, there are only a few dozen cities which have teams to call their own. By contrast, there are 330 NCAA Division I basketball programs in America.
The Patriots-Eagles Super Bowl did not draw much rooting interest outside of the northeast. But when Washington, Niagara, Stanford and Kentucky are all playing on the same day, there are fans from coast-to-coast tuned in.
It doesn't matter if you're from a small town like the Purple Eagles from Niagara Falls, N.Y., or a big city like the Huskies from Seattle. Who cares if you're from a state as red as Kansas, or as blue as Massachusetts?
College basketball brings out the best in America -- the competitive spirit, the hard work, the camaraderie and the sportsmanship. The NCAA Tournament is the apex of that positive energy.
There are certainly plenty of problems and challenges in our society that are a lot more important than a simple game with a ball and a hoop. But the world is not going to come to an end if everyone takes a break from MSNBC in favor of a little basketball. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell certainly has a lot on his plate in Harrisburg, but there is a good chance he will be in the stands here at the Wolstein Center to cheer on his alma mater.
Whether you're someone who spends hours sweating over your bracket picks or someone who does not know the difference between a shot-clock violation and a hand check, you should take time to experience March Madness.
Even if you do not have a care in the world for sports, today you should be a Penn fan. Watch the game this afternoon; millions of other people will.
And if we Penn fans get really lucky, you can start planning your trip to Chicago for the Sweet 16. I hear there is more to do there than in Cleveland.
Jeff Shafer is a junior marketing and management concentrator from Columbia Falls, Mont., and Editorial Page Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. Par for the Course appears on alternate Thursdays.
