ASPN Part 3

March Madness

March has 2 holidays: St. Patrick’s Day, and March Madness

By: Jamaal Durity

March Madness is the month where people crowd into sports taverns, gyms, and homes of loved ones to watch college basketball at its finest. March Madness consists of 68 Division 1 basketball teams battling for the end goal: A national championship. You get an automatic bid to the tournament if you win your conference tournament.

From there, anyone else that makes it is dependent on record and strength of schedule, among other things. March Madness consists of many buzzer beaters and mind-blowing upset losses. The only downside is that if your team loses once, they’re done.

The March Madness bracket consists of all 68 teams and their ranking in the tournament. From first seed to last seed, each of the teams involved are present. Bracket predictions, or “Bracketology,” as ESPN calls it, are popular during March Madness. People all over the world try to pick and choose which teams they think will win certain games. The odds of someone getting every pick right is slim to none. Even Barack Obama took place in his own March Madness bracket prediction during his presidency.

Photo Credit: Jamaal Durity

The final four is arguably the arguably most known/watched part of March Madness. Four teams play against each other for a bid to the national championship game. During the final four, anything is bound to happen. Your favorite team may lose to a 5th seed, but they might lose in the national championship game. The final four puts everyone a step closer to the national championship game. In college sports, anything is liable to happen, which is why the “Cinderella Story” is always a factor when it comes to March Madness. The Cinderella Story consists of a underdog team or even a overlooked player. They either do much better than expected, or they win it all. It’s always exciting to watch the underdog rise to the occasion when it really counts and when the competition is at a high level. March Madness generates billions of dollars and gains national attention from almost every news outlet. During March Madness, many celebrities and professional athletes show up at games. For instance, LeBron James showed up to a March Madness event when Steph Curry played at Davidson college. This is the pinnacle of college basketball. Legends are made and stories are written in March. If you love action-packed college basketball games, then March Madness is for you.

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All-Star Charlotte

Gender Neutral Not a Problem…Anymore

By: Justin Starks

Back in 2016, the NBA All-Star weekend was supposed to be in Charlotte, NC. Hundreds of people were excited, especially the sensational Steph Curry, who was born and raised in Charlotte. But things back-lashed when the public found out they had a gender neutral bathrooms law. North Carolina has a controversial law that bans transgender people from using bathrooms to go with their new gender identity. The NBA doesn’t discriminate against their fans. They want everyone and anyone to come to games to watch their favorite team or player. Unfortunately, the city and state lost millions of dollars due to this law. Now three years later, the HB2 law (House Bill 2) banning transgender’s from using gender neutral bathrooms has been diminished. The state and the people have seemed to have come to peace with it. All-Star weekend 2019 is back in Charlotte and the fans, organization, and players couldn’t be happier. Team owner, Michael Jordan, was thrilled to have it there. Jordan, who also is born and raised in North Carolina and also played for the University of North Carolina, was excited. He explained, during a press conference before the weekend had started, that he was excited but had also put in a lot of hard work for it to be there. He explained how it is different being on the other end of the game as a GM instead of player but said it is just as satisfying being able to bring the All-Star weekend back to Charlotte. Hopefully everything goes smoothly for everyone this year. No discrimination against any gender, no injuries among players. Hopefully, all fans arrive and get back home safely. This year will be interesting. There’s a lot of anticipation leading up to this year’s All-Star weekend, so I hope it lives up to the hype.

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Laker’s Last Hope

What team will be next?

By: Trey Heinrich

14 years ago, College sensation Zion Williamson was just 5 years old. Hurricane Katrina had just struck Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Youtube was just created. This was the last time that the NBA playoffs didn’t feature LeBron James. With the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat, LeBron has been a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs and has even made it to 8 straight NBA Finals.Now, LeBron is in uncharted territory in his first season withthe Los Angeles Lakers. As of right now, the Lakers have a record of 29 wins and 31 losses with 22 games remaining. They are 3 games behind the San Antonio Spurs, who currently hold the last playoff spot. Throughout the season, the Lakers have had to deal with a bunch of injuries that have not allowed the team to build any chemistry. LeBron strained his groin on December 26th, when the Lakers were in 4th place in the conference. They were playing well and the team was clicking on all cylinders. Then, in the 18 games that LeBron missed, the Lakers only managed to win 6 games. Then, to make matters worse, starting point guard Lonzo Ball sprained his ankle on January 18th and has been sidelined ever since. Without Ball, the Lakers are just 4-9 in their last 13 games and have lost to some of the bottom tier teams in the league. It hasn’t helped that the Lakers offered a trade package for Anthony Davis, that included Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Ball, and many other players. If the Lakers can’t get everyone healthy and figure out their internal issues, then LeBron is in serious jeopardy of missing his first playoffs in 14 years.