Random Thoughts...March Madness

It's March Madness and the hoopla snares all of us. A couple of comments related to this phenomenon. Remember the adage "you only have one chance to make a first impression?" Somebody needs to make sure "The Well" (as in Wells Fargo) in Des Moines understands this. They hosted first round action in the NCAA Women' Basketball Tournament this past weekend. Upon entering the facility fans could only purchase a program by standing in horrendously long lines at the merchandising/marketing booths, which were woefully undermanned. What a poor first impression! I tried to give the facility the benefit of the doubt - maybe the NCAA mandated this type of arrangement - the location, not the lack of adequate help. But on Monday, programs were available from "vendors" standing just inside the door. I guess "better late than never" is the saying that fits this situation.
My second "beef" with this event - why start games at 9:30 p.m.? This is the Central Time Zone, if you need to fill late night TV, use games from the Mountain or Western Time Zones. People attending this game and living close to the location couldn't get home before midnight!
My last comment on March Madness is more general in nature. How often have we heard commentators and coaches bray "officials need to let the players decide the game" about action in the final, and often decisive moments of a contest? I just don't get this statement. Does that mean that if a player or his team get an unfair advantage by violating the rules of the game they should get a "free pass" because the clock is ticking to 0:00? Why penalize those players who play within the rules? While I can be highly critical of referees at times, I want to commend the officials this weekend for making two correct and because of the above "trend", courageous calls. One was a foul call on Ga Tech on an attempted steal in the final seconds of the Iowa State vs. Ga Tech W BB game and the other was a shooting foul on Florida State with less than 1 second remaining in their game against Oklahoma State in NCAA W BB action.
The "Madness" continues in another 24 hours. Enjoy the escape from your real life and may your teams advance in your brackets.

Qman