A streak in sports by definition is an inherent, often  contrasting quality.  In other words, any streak needs a point of reference, a beginning.  A winning streak starts with a win, while a losing streak starts with a loss.  The most infamous “losing” streak in sports ended last November, when the Chicago Cubs finally reclaimed the World Series Championship again after a 108 year drought.  It may have seemed like a long time, but the fact still remains that they did win it before, which is a lot better than never having won it at all.  Their victory left the Cleveland Indians without a World Series title since 1948, 69 years of frustration, now the longest in Major League Baseball.  Once again, at least they were once a winner, and that streak of misfortune will someday end.

When the Cubs won the 1908 series, it started a streak of two, since they also won in 1909.  Will history repeat itself, or will Cleveland find an end to their ugly streak?  Baseball starts tonight, signifying the end of “March Madness,” which always gets a couple bonus days of April.  I’d like to call it “April Anguish” for all but one remaining college team.

It has been an eventful 35 days of streak-making and breaking.  After all, it takes a streak of least six games to win the N.C.A.A. Championship. The most notable streak in college basketball history ended this weekend with the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs’ stunning overtime victory over the University of  Connecticut. One-Hundred-Eleven consecutive games is a remarkable feat, but ending it was even more newsworthy!  I’m sure the Huskies will rebound once they’ve had a chance to reflect on their remarkable accomplishments.  After all, every streak eventually comes to an end – right Chicago?

A few pieces of “March Madness” are being assembled in these April bonus days.  The Oregon Ducks have not won a National Championship since 1939, making their first Final Four since that eventful year.  If you do the math, that’s 78 years, a streak that will unfortunately continue at least another year after yesterday’s loss.  Yet, once again they have at least won one.  Gonzaga University, on the other hand, entered the Final Four for the first time ever, and they’ve never won a National Championship.   The Zag’s steak of Final Four appearances starts at one, and we’ll see what happens on Monday night.   South Carolina, had both a men’s and women’s team in the Final Four this year.  In years prior, the Gamecock men’s team had never won back-to-back tourney games, let alone make a Final Four.  The women had also never been to a Final Four, so there was little tourney history to draw from both of these teams.  The South Carolina women still have a chance tonight to win their first national title.  Conversely, their Carolina neighbors to the North have been to 20 Final Fours and have won 5 National Championships. The Tar Heels men’s team won it it last in 2009, so it’s been only seven years since they’ve captured the big one.  The fate of that streak too, will be decided on Monday night when they battle Gonzaga for the crown.

Before “March Madness,” there was “Hoosier Hysteria.”  Every state has its high school basketball history, but I would argue that there is none greater than the state of Indiana, especially when the single-class tournament existed.  Or is that just bias? The very best story was captured in the movie, Hoosiers,  based on the Milan Indians basketball team of 1954.  Milan has not won a state championship since that fateful year, a drought of 63 years and perhaps another movie in the making when that lengthy streak eventually ends.  One of the teams that Milan defeated in the 1954 tournament was Indianapolis Crispus Attucks, the first all-African-American high school in Indiana.  The Attucks “Flying Tigers” were led that year by Sophomore Oscar Robertson, the Big O.   As most know, Robertson eventually landed in the NBA Hall of Fame.  Following the Milan Miracle of 1954, Crispus Attucks and Oscar Robertson won the next two Indiana State High School Basketball Championships, losing only one game in 1955 and going undefeated at 31-0 in 1956.  After “Big O” graduated and continued his basketball excellence at the University of Cincinnati, Attucks won the State Championship again in 1959.  Just last week, Crispus Attacks claimed another championship.  It only took 58 years, while Milan is still counting.  Oscar Robertson at age 78 handed out the medals.

In 1971, I went to my first NBA game in Milwaukee and was fortunate to see Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar play for the Bucks.  I find it interesting that the Indiana Pacers will don the Hickory High School uniforms from Hoosiers and play the Milwaukee Bucks on April 6th. To me, it commemorates that 1954 tournament game, 63 years ago, between the Milan Indians and Oscar Robertson’s Crispus Attucks Tigers.  It’s a great way to celebrate “Hoosier Hysteria” and “March Madness in April.”  Let’s now get ready for baseball season that starts tonight and the Masters Golf Tournament and see what other streaks we can start or break?

 

 

 

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