Can somebody give me a brief history of March Madness

Can somebody give me a brief history of March Madness

The birth ofMarch Madness happened in the state of Illinois. The yearly tournament of the men's high school basketball teams, promoted by the Illinois High School Association, started from a small invitational affair in 1908 to a statewide institution with over 900 schools battling it out by the late 1930s. A field of playoff teams known as the "Sweet Sixteen" regularly packed the University of Illinois' Huff Gymnasium with sellout crowds. In a time before the television, before college games became popular with the average basketball fan, before pro leagues started building their franchises in the country's major cities, there was already a widespread case of basketball fever in the Land of the Free.

The assistant executive secretary of the Illinois High school Association, Henry V. Porter, was so amazed by the phenomenon that he wrote an essay to celebrate it. The essay was titled "March Madness" and it was first published in the Illinois Interscholastic, the IHSA's magazine, in 1939. The essay title caught the interest of newspapermen who used the term in their pages. All throughout the 1940s and well into the 1950s, March Madness became a popular tag to the event.

The IHSA tournaments continued to grow and evolve and at the same time, March Madness grew as well. In 1973, the IHSA officially began using the term in its programs and its merchandise. And in 1977, the organization signed up Chicago sportswriter veteran and Big Ten basketball referee Jim Enright to write the official history of this basketball tournament.

The outcome was "March Madness: The Story of High School Basketball in Illinois." As media technology progressed, the IHSA and KOST Broadcast Sales of Chicago produced "March Madness: The Official Video History of the IHSA Basketball Tournament" in 1989. Both the book and the video were sold nationwide.

During this time, the IHSA was granted trademark status for the term "March Madness" and registered the name "America's Original March Madness." The spirit of March Madness later spread like wildfire from coast to coast, as other entities, including state high school associations and manufacturers, were authorized to use these trademarks.

The current March Madness is different from the first version. Now, an "Elite Eight" advance from the "Sweet Sixteen" to the state finals. But there are four tournamentsa Class A for small schools and Class AA for large schools that are played in Peoria and Normal. An exciting contest showcasing the state's best three-point shooters and dunkers, called "The Happening," is now also part of the tournaments. Starting in 1996, an exhibition hall full of fun games and an atmosphere of good vibes, called the "March Madness Experience," has allowed fans of Illinois High School basketball to participate in the action.

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