How March Became Madness: How the NCAA Tournament Became the Greatest Sporting Event in America

by Eddie Einhorn, Ron Rapoport

Told through the voices of players, coaches, and announcers, accounts the first primetime telecast of a college basketball game, Houston versus UCLA in the Astrodome in 1968, and includes a DVD of the historic game.

Genres: Sports, Basketball

288 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2006

Reviews

[Artie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange book. The interviews with well-known figures didn't provide much new information. However, the interviews with behind-the-scenes folks had a treasure trove of info about the early days of televising basketball. I had no idea it mirrored a bit the history of rock and roll: People making history on a shoestring budget and being in the right place at the right time.

[Brenden · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is awesome if you like collage basketball because it tells you how march maddens started. The author does a great job saying who some of the best players to play in the march maddens tournament. I like that he tells you the background of a person before telling you about the person now. This book is awesome if you like or want to get into collage basketball.

[Ice · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you ask the bookmakers in Vegas, they'll agree: March Madness--the NCAA basketball tournament--is the "greatest sporting event in America." But it's not just the betting that has won our hearts, it's the sport itself. Einhorn--currently vice-chairman of the Chicago White Sox--toots his horn a bit here in that he credits his own "revolutionary" idea of broadcasting college basketball games as being the event that changed the NCAA tournament for good.

Perhaps he is right, because players and coaches went from being mere students and college staff to celebrities as the tournament grew in popularity. Drawing on interviews with nearly 50 college basketball greats--both players and coaches--Einhorn and Rapoport (the latter a former Chicago Sun-Times columnist) provide a big-picture history of the tournament that nicely complements John Feinstein's more intimate, from-the-floor account, A March to Madness (1998),

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book from a garage sale for my dad last Father's Day, and he recently finished it and loaned it to me. To the surprise of many, I am a huge college basketball fan. Go Wolverines! I really like this book, but I wasn't familiar with a lot of the coaches and players. I would've liked to have a background in the famous game played at the Astrodome before reading, and I also thought the chapters of the TV stations were boring. Otherwise, nice read!

[Bob Roark · Rating 3 out of 5]

a gift from a friend with a shared love of college basketball. an insightful and fun read. enjoy.

[Troy Jordan]

This book taught me about all of the famous college basketball coaches and teams. Duke has always had a good team.