<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252">
<style type="text/css" style="display:none;"> P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;} </style>
</head>
<body dir="ltr">
<div class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div id="appendonsend" class="elementToProof"></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; text-align: center; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Sport and Society for Arete</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; text-align: center; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
April 8, 2025</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; text-align: center; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
March Madness, the NCAA marketing term, often is anything but. This year in both the women’s and men’s rendition, March Madness spilled over, as it often does into April. The final weekend, featuring the men’s and women’s semi-finals and finals, offered more
madness than could have been hoped for.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
On the women’s side, the surprising story was the amazing performance of the University of Connecticut. The final four teams were all number one seeds, except Connecticut which was deemed by “the Committee” as a number two seed. How big an error this turned
out to be was stunning.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Connecticut played what appeared to be the two best of the number one seeds, UCLA and South Carolina. That might have been the case, but the number two seed turned out to be in a different stratosphere from either UCLA or South Carolina. The Huskies dismantled
both. In a defensive clinic that unleashed an offensive explosion, U Conn proved to be much better than anyone, not from Connecticut, anticipated.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Against UCLA, Paige Bueckers, after a slow start, had sixteen points, while Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong combined for 41 points in dismantling the defense of UCLA. In the end, it was a shocking 34-point victory.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Surely, the final would be more competitive. It was not. Azzi Fudd had another big night; U Conn’s defensive locked down South Carolina’s offense; and the result was a 23-point win, although the game was not really that close.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
It was U Conn’s 12th National Championship and its 24th Final Four appearance It was as impressive as it was shocking, and it demonstrated once again that defense is the key to championships while offense is the crowd pleaser.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
On the men’s side the Final Four also turned on defense. In the semi-final game between Duke and Houston, it was the swarming Houston defense that reversed the outcome in the final minute of the game.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
In the other semi-final, Florida used its defense to send Auburn home, coming from nine points back in the second half and then repeated the fete coming from 12 points back of Houston in the second half. In their final six possessions, Houston was unable to
score, first missing on shots on the first two possessions and then turning the ball over in the final four trips up the floor. Defense ruled.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
To me the only downside in the men’s final was the erratic officiating. Four fouls called in the first half and what seemed like a thousand fouls in the second half that seemed to come in bunches.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
The odd thing was that all those fouls in the second half did not control the game. By the second half the tone was set, and players were unrestrained physically. The number of players thrown or pushed to the floor, hit in the head, or had their arms hacked
seemed without limit and often without a foul called. There was one near perfect block worthy of a tight end in the NFL. I would venture to guess that everyone who appeared in this game was hit hard without a foul being called. It was reminiscent of a hockey
or rugby match.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Meanwhile the other great drama and achievement this weekend came in hockey when Alex Ovechkin tied and then passed Wayne Gretzky as the all-time goal scoring leader in the National Hockey League with 895 goals. Ovechkin is much more than a scoring phenomenon.
His size and skating speed make him a powerful force on the ice, and his aggressive style place him among the very best to have played in the NHL.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Ovechkin is also a national hero. His every move is followed by Russian hockey fans, and thousands across Russia watched on television as he scored his record setting goal. Several years ago, I was in Russia during the World Hockey Championship and watched
a game in a Russian sports bar. I experienced, first hand, the adoration that Russians gave to Ovechkin.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Politically he has tried to avoid any controversy over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the mutual admiration that Ovechkin shares with Vladimir Putin are well-known. Putin issued a press release congratulating Ovechkin, calling the achievement a “genuine
cause for celebration for fans in Russia and beyond.” The Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev offered congratulations saying that Ovechkin “remains a member of the Putin team and at the same time one of the main faces of world hockey…”</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
I am again struck by the fact that individual Russian athletes get a pass to play professionally in the United States, while Russian teams do not. The rationale often given is that the teams represent Russia, while individuals do not. Putin’s and Degtyarev’s
comments on Ovechkin bring that rationale clearly into question. I am not calling for individual Russian athletes to be banned, but rather I am calling for an end to this distinction that removes Russian teams composed of Russian athletes from competing internationally.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
March Madness, as I mentioned above, comes in many forms.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don’t have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Copyright 2025 by Richard C. Crepeau</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; line-height: 1.284; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
</div>
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
</body>
</html>