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A. Many people had never even heard of the university before the tournament. B. It begins on March 15 and lasts through the beginning of April. C. People are willing to spend more money on watching it. D. College students will ignore piles of homework. E. But that doesn't mean money isn't involved. F. The players will go all out for the games. G. Husbands against wives. |
For the rest of March, a disease will sweep across the US. It will keep kids home from school. Employees will suddenly lose their ability to concentrate.
The disease, known as "March Madness", refers to the yearly 65-team US men's college basketball tournament (锦标赛). Teams compete against each other in a single-elimination (单局淘汰) tournament that eventually crowns a national champion.
Nearly 20 million Americans will find themselves prisoners of basketball festival madness. The fun comes partly from guessing the winners for every game. Friends compete against friends. Colleagues against bosses.
Big-name schools are usually favored to advance into the tournament. But each year there are dark horses from little-known universities.
This adds to the madness. Watching a team from a school with 3, 000 students beat a team from a school with 30, 000, for many Americans, is an exciting experience. Two years ago, the little-known George Mason University was one of the final four teams.
College basketball players are not paid, so the game is more about making a name for their university and themselves. About 4 billion will be spent gambling (赌) on the event. According to Media Life magazine, the event will bring in 500 million in advertising income this year, topping the postseason income of every US professional league, including that of the NBA.
