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March Madness Sure Produces A Lot Of Tears

Bernie Lincicome Chicago Tribun

It comes as no surprise that March Madness will make grown men cry. There was UCLA coach Steve Lavin blubbering about “a death in the family,” meaning the guy he replaced, Jim Harrick, who, while certainly rigid, does remain remarkably lifelike, if unemployed.

This was part of a long, sad lament that Minnesota and not UCLA would be going to Indianapolis, a destination that usually causes tears only in those who try to get a decent cappuccino.

The Road to Indianapolis, the last time I was on it, could use a little more gravel.

For the 64 teams that began the march through March, four remain, which means that misery has already come to a full five-dozen coaches, their players and followers, and that three more will finish feeling like failures.

“I feel so, sniff, sniff, bad for this team,” Lavin said. “I so wanted them to share and enjoy the experience of a Final Four.”

This is every coach’s wish, every coach’s speech, though usually without the moisture.

The NCAA Tournament is, at bottom, not about winning at all, but about losing, and it can make the most seasoned coach desperate.

Rather than weep, Bob Knight fired his would-be seniors. Same sentiment, different solution.

Pete Gillen, the Providence coach, identified the process of a long Big East season and a desperate conference tournament in preparation for the NCAAs as “burn, maim and hate.”

Madness, indeed.

Happiness delayed is happiness lost, and it is the enemy, to be fought along the way.

“We have work to do,” said Minnesota’s Clem Haskins.

Unlike football, where these things are settled in a civilized way, by depending on the opinion of strangers, basketball grinds away without room for argument. There can be only one winner. And losing can seem to last longer than winning.

“No matter how many Final Fours we get to,” Arizona coach Lute Olson has whined, “three losses in the first round will always be the focal point.”

And not even upsetting No. 1 Kansas or Sunday’s overtime survival against Providence is likely to change Olson’s mind.

March Madness remains for most merely March Misery.

Louisville lost to North Carolina chiefly because Louisville’s best player, DeJuan Wheat, had to play with bursitis, leg cramps and on a bum ankle.

“Talk about courage,” said his coach, Denny Crum.

Well, yes, there is that, too.

But happiness comes only at the end and only to one, which makes me believe if Minnesota does not win it, Haskins may never cheer up.

“Even with a 31-3 record, we have not put together our best game yet,” Haskins said. “That’s why I think we have a chance to win the national championship, because all nine of our guys have not put together their best minutes.”

Haskins has never seen a nit he couldn’t pick.

Not that Haskins is unique. Kentucky, the defending champion, was so little thought of by its coach, Rick Pitino, that he would have been happy at one point to finish with more wins than losses.

And North Carolina started the season so poorly, the only way coach Dean Smith was being compared to Adolph Rupp was in the past tense.

By pedigree, this year’s final should be Kentucky-North Carolina, by raw longing, Minnesota-Arizona. It will more likely be some combination of the two.

Laughing, finally, will be Minnesota. You betcha.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Bernie Lincicome Chicago Tribune