The month of March has become infamous since Covid-19 and the start of quarantine back in March 2020. This has had an immense impact on the world of sports. College sports especially took a hit, with many college campuses shut down completely due to covid. March Madness is a college basketball tournament held by the NCAA and has never missed a beat in all of its years since its conception in 1939. Last year, however, it was canceled completely for the first time in NCAA basketball history. This made many sports fans upset and angered, but the reasonable fans understood it was for the coaches’ and players’ safety. Yet, another decision had to be made this year for the 2021 season.

Throughout all of civilized human history, sports have had an undeniable impact on humans as a species. A recreation, a practice, a tradition, a means of bringing people together, or a way of inspiring them to compete and become better versions of themselves. It gives people a drive and motivation that carries them further than just their sporting environment. It is also an escape from reality for many as well. Khila Stone (12) is not necessarily a sports fan but is interested in human history: “Without sports, it’s hard to say humans would be anywhere near where we are now.”

Yet, about a year and a half ago, sports were stripped from society, discontinued on a worldwide scale for the first time, as Covid-19 made its first appearance. There was mostly confusion at first, as the world watched China manage the disease until it eventually spread to other countries. Due to a lack of action from their respective governments, people’s confusion became the cause of global hysteria, and within a few weeks, the entire world shut down. There wasn’t the proper medical infrastructure to support an outbreak; hospitals were becoming overrun, understaffed, and not sufficiently equipped. It was utter chaos straight from a scene of your favorite movie. At that time, sports had no place being a priority anywhere, so March Madness’s cancellation, and eventually the rest of sports, was understandable. This weird point in human history took its toll on sports lovers, though, and took much getting used to, as sports have literally always been there for as long as humans have been civilized. However, thankfully now there is more security on handling sports as a whole, using masks, limited seating at games or matches, and other regulations. This has allowed sports to return, not the same way they used to be with roaring arenas or stadiums full of ecstatic fanatics, but they’re back nonetheless, and many can be relieved by that.

It’s time for March Madness again, and it’s been controversial. A hot topic, to say the least, but as people have seen, it did not get canceled. Which has most fans excited, but also some fans are concerned. Liberty Johnson (12) is an Oregon fan; he exclaims that “March Madness is a huge part of the year for basketball fans. I’m very relieved that it’s back so I can make my brackets again.”

Even though college basketball is back, however, it is still being affected by COVID. Some teams have had recent outbreaks or protocol violations and will not be allowed to participate in the tournament. This is why some fans–mostly fans of COVID stricken teams–would rather the tournament not be running, as circumstances can be seen as unfair. So on the opposite spectrum, Christian Lammie (12), VCU fan, would rather the tournament not be running: “VCU had a COIVD outbreak, which stopped them from being allowed to participate, what if one of the teams within the tournament also has a COVID outbreak? What would they do then?” This is a valid argument that many people share. These people believe March Madness should not be continuing as long as covid is still not under control. To a certain point, though, money must be made. So it will be interesting to see how things play out this year because if events go wrong and an outbreak occurs, let’s say they’d be giving a whole new meaning to March Madness.