NCAA vs NBA basketball

Every year, people are comforted by the reassuring images of blooming flowers, and melting snow and it can only mean one thing: the return of college basketball. Ah yes, the sounds of swooshing nets and cheering fans can excite even the most casual of fans, which is more than can be said about its professional counter parts. Plain and simple, college basketball is more exciting to watch than the NBA.

Sure watching millionaire players dunking over each other may be fun, but ultimately there’s one key quality missing: Passion. Passion is what entices the fan to keep watching, passion is what brings a human quality to these super athletes, passion is what the NBA lacks. With their multimillion-dollar contracts already guaranteed, players don’t seem to care anymore and don’t try as hard as they could. *cough* Vince Carter *cough*. In college, these players are playing simply because they love the game. Who else would choose to endure morning practices and long road trips? This is quite evident during the games where players are running hard and diving into the crowd for balls. When was the last time you saw Shaquille O’Neal diving into the crowd? Then again, what sane person would want 300 plus pounds flying in their face.

Perhaps the most exciting event in sports today is college basketball’s annual championship tournament, also known as March Madness. This tournament pits the nation’s top 64 teams against each other in single elimination rounds. Last team standing becomes the national champions. This is a refreshing change from the boring best 4 out of 7 process that the NBA uses, which can drag on throughout months and ultimately lets the best team come out on top. However, in one single game, anything can happen. Even the worst of teams can get lucky and upset a heavy favourite. This as we all know, results in exciting TV. Another attracting element is the emotion of the players in the collegiate level. It is commonplace in many games to see players embrace each other in sheer happiness, while on the other side, the occasional tear after a heartbreaking loss. Seeing this reminds us that they are just like the rest of us, that 19 year-old on TV could just as likely be my neighbour. Meanwhile, NBA players today are often idolized and expected to be perfect. Nothing can bother or affect them because they are on another level.

The NBA may be more skilled and experienced, you can’t argue with the interactive experience that college basketball provides. Watching college basketball may rekindle what you originally loved about the game, instead of focusing on what is wrong about it (can anyone say the Raptors?).