How March Became Madness: How the NCAA Tournament Became the Greatest Sporting Event in America [Hardcover]

Eddie Einhorn (Author), and Ron Rapoport (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

The March to Madness is the fascinating account of how the telecast between Houston and UCLA laid the foundation for what became one of the greatest sporting events in America. It's an account told through the voices of a who's who of great players, coaches, and announcers.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

If you ask the bookmakers in Vegas, they'll agree: March Madness--the NCAA basketball tournament--is the "greatest sporting event in America." But it's not just the betting that has won our hearts, it's the sport itself. Einhorn--currently vice-chairman of the Chicago White Sox--toots his horn a bit here in that he credits his own "revolutionary" idea of broadcasting college basketball games as being the event that changed the NCAA tournament for good. Perhaps he is right, because players and coaches went from being mere students and college staff to celebrities as the tournament grew in popularity. Drawing on interviews with nearly 50 college basketball greats--both players and coaches--Einhorn and Rapoport (the latter a former Chicago Sun-Times columnist) provide a big-picture history of the tournament that nicely complements John Feinstein's more intimate, from-the-floor account, A March to Madness (1998), and the lavishly illustrated history March Madness (also from Triumph Books). A DVD accompanies. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Inside Flap

Before college basketball became the multi-billion-dollar enterprise that culminates each year in the frenzied excitement of March Madness, it was a game of small gyms, tiny budgets, pioneering coaches, and university and network officials who were deeply suspicious of the intrusion of television into their fiefdom. All this was about to change as a young TV executive named Eddie Einhorn traveled the nation, selling his revolutionary idea of broadcasting college basketball games.

Einhorn built his TV network team by team, conference by conference, and station by station until eventually he found himself beating the major networks, stealing their audiences, and proving to skeptics that the game was about to explode on the national consciousness. Einhorn achieved his greatest success with the first primetime telecast of a college basketball game, the historic contest between Houston and UCLA in the Astrodome in 1968.

How March Became Madness is the fascinating account of how that telecast and its aftermath laid the foundation for what became one of the greatest sporting events in America. It’s an account told through the voices of a veritable Who’s Who of great coaches, players, and announcers, including John Wooden, Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski, Guy Lewis, Joe B. Hall, Denny Crum, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Billy Packer, and Dick Vitale.

Through their and other voices, Einhorn tells the fascinating and often hilarious story of how March Madness became the incredible phenomenon we know today.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books; Har/DVD edition (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572438096
• ISBN-13: 978-1572438095
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #441,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Basketball > College & University

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Reading, March 6, 2006

By 

S. Chu "Cammy-D" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How March Became Madness: How the NCAA Tournament Became the Greatest Sporting Event in America (Hardcover)

Fans of college basketball will enjoy the information and stories provided in this book. The book is a collection of interviews, set forth in story format, in which the author met and interviewed with a number of significant figures in college basketball, including coaches, media, and players.

There are many great stories here, and the book is divided up into different stories on the different personalities, so it makes for an accessible read. You can pick up the book, read one article, then put it down. I found the stories by the coaches to be among the most entertaining: Coach K, Roy Williams, Rick Pitino, Dean Smith, Guy Lewis and others all provide insightful stories.

Also, the book puts college basketball in its historical context, with a focus on the first televised basketball game, UCLA vs. Houston, played in the Astrodome. Overall a very informative and entertaining book, I would strongly recommend it to any college basketball fan.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling, August 1, 2006

By 

Y. Park "YP Sports Gal" (Boston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How March Became Madness: How the NCAA Tournament Became the Greatest Sporting Event in America (Hardcover)

You can't put this book down. Interview after interview, you are amazed at the stories behind each legend. The best part is that this is basically a compliation of mini-autobiographies, but narrated as a conversation between good friends. The book starts with an interview with Rey Meyer - it reminds you how lucky the author was to have interviewed him before his passing away. You are also amazed at the hard work, passion and perseverance of Eddie Einhorn. If you love basketball (or even just "like" sports), this is the book for you.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much Needed Book - Right in Time for March Madness!, March 8, 2006

By 

StraightRazr.com: A Comprehensive Lifestyle C... (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How March Became Madness: How the NCAA Tournament Became the Greatest Sporting Event in America (Hardcover)

This promises to be THE book on the NCAA college basketball tournament - all the stats, matchups, insights and interviews we've been craving since March Madness became 'The Spring Superbowl.'