Manor Madness Moving Into March

Finally the month of March is here.

Saint Patty’s Day is steadily approaching, Major League baseball is warming up down in Florida, and spring is right around the corner.

But the buzz around Penn Manor during March doesn’t involve wearing shamrocks, following sluggers crack homers, or waiting for that thermometer to reach the fifty-degree mark.

Instead, March Madness fever spreads over the school faster than an ugly rumor.

Selection Sunday is coming up on March 14 where the NCAA college basketball tournament participants will be announced. Students of Penn Manor are preparing their online leagues, scouting different conferences, and even looking for potential “sleeper teams” that could surprise the nation during this frenzied tournament.

Sixty-five Division One college basketball teams will enter the tournament which begins this year on Tuesday, March 16. That number will diminish down to two teams on April 3 when the championship game will be played in Indianapolis.

Syracuse, Kentucky and Kansas will be the top dogs entering the tourney, but senior Wes Rowe says that it is the upsets that make this tournament so fun to watch.

“My team won’t make the tournament, but the excitement and great match ups will still make March Madness the best time of the year,” said senior Billy Scheid.

“March Madness gives well-deserving teams an opportunity to compete at the highest level and believe that their hard work [during the regular season] can be rewarded on the basketball court, and possibly make some history,” said Penn Manor history teacher John Erisman, who is also a huge fan of the tournament.

Among others, Villanova, Duke and Syracuse seem to be the favorite around Penn Manor as the playoff approaches.

But when this anticipated time of the year comes, tension as each student hopes for the best chosen bracket, and roots for their team to go all the way will bring a certain liveliness to Penn Manor that can only be described as March Madness.

By Cody Erb