March Madness

It's the time of year again when March apparently becomes Madness? For those of you who do not know what that is...it is the NCAA Division I basketball championship tournaments.

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According to the Bleacher Report "College basketball’s national championship tournament is the most exciting event in collegiate competition. Its fan base and following are unmatched, and the buildup to and through the tournament are unlike anything in athletics. And at this time of year, basketball fans are envisioning the NCAA tournament's past, full of memories of buzzer-beaters, break-aways and the bracket busters."

Why do people go crazy about March Madness?

Well the Bleacher Report says for 68 reasons...

The top 10 reasons being:

1.We Love to See the Cinderella Stories

2.We Have Our Own Bracket Predictions

3.We Get to See Our Team Advance Through the Tournament

4.Single Elimination

5.Regular Season Does Not Matter Much for Top Teams Anyway

6.Most of These Players Will Not Play Past This Level and Are Not Getting Paid

7.There Are Good Matchups in Almost Every Game, Regardless of Team Rankings

8.College Basketball Is More Exciting Than the NBA, Especially in the Postseason

9.Neither Football nor Baseball Is on at This Time in March

10. All the Bubble Teams Have to Fight to Prove That They Belong in Dance

This time of year also is big for gambling. The teams are not yet listed for the big tourney but when they are make sure to fill out your bracket!

Some important dates to keep in mind this month:

Selection Sunday: March 13, 2011

First Four (Formerly Opening Round Game): March 15-16, 2011

Second Round: March 17-18, 2011

Third Round: March 19-20, 2011

Fourth Round: March 24-25, 2011

Fifth Round: March 26-27, 2011

Final Four: April 2 & 4, 2011 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.

"Basketball fans wait every year for the tradition - the excitement - and the upsets that make up the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament" -Katiyana

LET THE MADNESS BEGIN!!

Music Art Festival Show

Mashawna Williams, president of the Black Student Union, and George Green, co treasurer of BSU played a major role in putting on the Music Art Festival this year.  It took place in the back of the commons and was definitely a sight to see.  Entertainment consisted of House Bands such as Charles Patton&Band, MC's Artists, the Journey to Freedom CD, a Benson Step Performance, Dancing Performance, Jasonn Hannibal Performance, as well as Beatrice African Dancing and a UP Choir Performance.  There was beautiful artwork presented towards the back that also applied to the theme of the festival. I felt as though this was a very fun and entertaining show and would encourage people to go in the future.

Soles 4 Souls

So what are those cardboard boxes everybody has been seeing throughout school?  They have these huge signs that say Soles 4 Souls and have tons of old shoes in them. But do people even know what that is? 

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SAAC, also known as a student-athlete advisory committee, according to NCAA is a committee made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations and polices that affect student-athletes' lives on NCAA member institution campuses.  The SAAC at the University of Portland has gotten together with Soles 4 Souls in order to make a difference.

So what is Soles 4 Souls?
According to their website, Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away nearly 12 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every 7 seconds.) The shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States.



Soles 4 Souls



Today, Sunday February 27th our SAAC got together at Merlo Field and watched person after person drag a box of shoes in. This is where the counting began...we all counted, tied laces together, rubber banned shoes together, and took the occasional pizza break. After we were all done we had a rough estimate of just how many pairs of shoes we had.  An incredible number of over 2,000 shoes! This is an amazing number!  I feel as though everybody needs to know much our school helped out.  Each donation given by the students here at UP counts, whether you donated one pair or five pairs, it all matters.  This is something we should all be proud of because we actually made a difference. 

I think that what Soles 4 Souls is doing is a great thing, and I think that it is definitely something more people should try and get involved in !