It is written

that during the surrender by the British at Yorktown during the Revolutionary War a British band played, “The World Turned Upside Down.” Like much of history that claim has now been disputed. But there is no dispute about the UT vs. UM game. The final score was the University of Tennessee 66 and the University of Memphis 62. Stunning. UM was at home, with a perfect record. And while a close game was expected, UT was supposedly 6 or so points the weaker team. If the world was not turned upside down, it was at least tilted far to one side.

I confess to having lost interest in college basketball, tracing that loss back to the institution of the shot clock. Without the clock ball handling and strategy are so much more important. Now the games are pro style with a super pace and great athletes making impossible moves. But like ballet, I admire the dancer. But to mix a metaphor or two, my interest wanes long before the seventh inning stretch and the fat lady sings.

The game last night was one of the best games I have ever seen. But too often the team with a couple of super players wins by 20 points and my interest fades at halftime. Before the clock a good ball handling and foul shooting team had a better chance of winning. While that may not count in the pros, you expect them to do both, at the college level I would like to see what the attendance records have been over the past several years. My gut feeling is that outside the very top tier, attendance is declining simply because the expectation of an upset is no longer there.