March Madness in the 21st Century

One of the most ludicrous platitudes we've heard over the past sxi years is that everything changed on 9/11. In truth, nothing changed. The country is still greedy, self-centered, myopic, and addicted to the quick fix. Nothing's changed, because we haven't changed.

But occasionally we're reminded that things should have changed more than they did. Usually it's the uptick on the warning color. But today there was a different one, one that more people will probably pay attention to. As I write this the NCAA tournament has begun, with office workers nationwide eyeballing their brackets, but the west coast games have been delayed because bomb-sniffing dogs discovered a suspicious package in a vending cart inside the Cox Arena in San Diego.

Now, it's good to see law inforcement has done their job, and I hope this situation proceeds without incident. Still, a part of me is grateful for the reminder that things are not as they once were. We get bogged down by disctactions, of which the NCAA tournament is one, that allow us to avoid those issues that linger in the dark shadows we don't like to examine.

Well, next to the Super Bowl, March Madness is the most buzzworthy sporting event this country has to offer. Perhaps the eerie image of the empty red seats in Cox Arena, and the throngs of fans standing outside, will help remind us, however briefly, that things did indeed change on 9/11. We're just reluctant to accept it.