I’m not a particularly big basketball fan, but every year around this time I become more than just a casual spectator. The NCAA basketball tournament, called “March Madness” always gets my attention.
The tournament that is in progress now originated in 1939, making it almost as old as I am. But the term didn’t become synonymous with the tournament until much later.
March Madness was originally a high school basketball tournament in Illinois. The University of Illinois’ Huff Gymnasium drew sellout crowds to the high school tournament which started in 1908 and seemed to get bigger every year.
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) assistant executive secretary, wrote an essay titled “March Madness” in the Illinois Interscholastic in 1939 to commemorate the tournament. Other publications and news media embraced the term and the tournament continued to thrive in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1973, the IHSA officially started using “March Madness” in its programs and on merchandise.
In 1982, Brent Musburger used the term “March Madness” when covering the NCAA Tournament for CBS, and it kind of “stuck.” People started using the term to refer to the NCAA Tournament.
The term “March Madness” was trademarked in 1989 by Charles Besser who worked for Intersport, the company that produced March Madness for TV. For a few years, the NCAA and IHSA both used the phrase “March Madness.” But in 2010 the NCAA paid the IHSA $17.2 million for for exclusive use of the term.
So every year March Madness pretty much always lives up to its name. If you lose one game then you’re out, so every game has high stakes. The tournament truly captures the spirit of competition, excitement and tradition….
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