Chris Boyce - Varsity Sports Beat

As the wonderful recent weather of Boone has reminded us, the bitter chill of March in the High Country is in full swing.

But while snow accumulates and the people of Boone run for warmth and shelter, comfort can be found.

March Madness has arrived.

A better sporting phenomenon simply doesn't exist in this wonderful, basketball-crazy country of ours.

What makes the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament so exciting is the urgency of playing in what could be a team's final game of the year and the potential of upsets.

No tournament I can think of gives the small schools an even shot of knocking off college basketball's elite like this tournament does.

For example, only two teams in the NCAA college football ranks compete for a chance to be champions. The Bowl Championship Series puts emphasis on one game and places all the rest of the bowl games in the realm of complete insignificance to who will eventually be crowned National Champions.

Professional sports are just as guilty. Major League Baseball's World Series is held between the two teams that spent the most money in the off-season.

March Madness is far more interesting for the sports enthusiast. The simple concept of 64 teams fighting it out in single-elimination creates a far more exciting atmosphere because each game means something.

The lowly Gonzagas, Penn States and Ole Misses who were virtual nobodies in the regular season have suddenly become forces to be reckoned with among the number-one seeds.

No team is safe from elimination.

The great feature of the NCAA Tournament is that the event lets small schools compete on a national stage and show just what they can accomplish.

In addition, the tournament gives fans perhaps the best example of team sports because the most successful teams typically are the most team-oriented.

Also, teams with experience typically fare better than teams with a few underclassmen who have their eyes on the riches the NBA is waiting to shower them with.

Teams like Temple University and Gonzaga University advance farther in the tournament year after year than teams led by one player.

Teams lay it all on the line in the tournament more so than the regular season because they know the end is near.

All of these factors contribute to another unique characteristic of the NCAA Tournament -- who will be last standing when it is all said and done?

Yes, everyone loves the brackets. The agonizing task of picking who will win each game makes the whole thing even more fun and is a great testament to the tournament's unpredictability.

Who would have ever predicted in 2000 that two eighth-seeded teams (University of Wisconsin Badgers and the struggling University of North Carolina Tar Heels) would have made it to last year's Final Four?

Typically, money is exchanged, which is an incentive for sure, but filling out the brackets just for fun is equally rewarding.

I feel pride in picking which teams get knocked off by the higher seeds even if it benefits me in no way.

The brackets work only for the NCAA Tournament, which adds to the tournament's uniqueness. No one cares about predicting who will win professional playoffs because it is far less challenging.

Upsets do occur in professional sports, but they are rare and far less entertaining to predict.

So flood the gates of Geno's Sports Lounge or Mike and Willy's Sports Cafe, or just enjoy the games from home.

March Madness is the perfect solution to combat the frustrations of another Boone snowstorm.

AHO Rugby: A Cinderella Story

James Nix - Intramural Sports

Midnight came much too early for the Appalachian State University AHO Rugby Club's Cinderella story this year.

The glass slipper turned back into a muddy cleat two weekends ago when the AHO squad had to forfeit its first-round playoff game to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville due to a nasty weather forecast and irreversible Spring Break plans.

The fairy godmother's magic ran out the week before when the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill came to Boone and defeated ASU 32-3 for the first place spot in Division I of the North Carolina Rugby Union (NCRU).

This unfortunate turn of events, however, was preceded by a truly remarkable real-life fairy tale.

When the AHO club met for its first practice in August, no one imagined that the team (who finished third place in Division II of the NCRU last year) would be one of the top teams in Division I of the NCRU now.

"I would definitely call it a Cinderella story," said AHO head coach Dave Rogers. "We went from the middle of Division II to at or near the top of Division I. That's a pretty big step."

How did a third-place team in Division II get promoted to Division I? The proverbial fairy godmother saw potential in the Mountaineers.

Duke University had a rough time last year in Division I and wanted to drop down. This left an opening for a Division II team to step up. So why the third-place team?

Simple. Western Carolina University (WCU), last year's first place team, did not want to move. Neither did last year's second-place team.

There was another obstacle ASU had to overcome to be promoted, however: the evil stepmother (a.k.a. the NCRU coordinator) thought ASU should stay in Division II.

Rogers then got political and brought up the NCRU constitution which gave ASU the right to move up because the two teams above them declined.

Thus, the AHO rugby club was able to go to Prince Charming's Ball, which started with the first-ever Rucktoberfest, hosted by ASU.

Twelve men's and five women's collegiate teams showed up along with four exhibition teams, including the Charlotte Rugby Club. ASU held its own and won second place behind Radford University of Virginia.

Next came the NCRU State Tournament in late October, where Appalachian defeated the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) to win the consolation championship.

The AHO ruggers caught the eye of the prince in January when it shutout UNCC 15-0 in its first game of the NCRU Division I season.

What followed was more like an unstoppable train that crushed everything in its way than the legendary dance from the fairy tale.

ASU's second victim was North Carolina State University, who fell to AHO's wrath 21-15. A 43-21 victory over East Carolina University followed. "We've come a long way," said Rogers. "The guys have come together and fashioned an outstanding club sports organization, and that's all part and partial to our performance on the field."

The AHO squad then destroyed the 2000 NCRU champions, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, with a 21-0 shutout.

That is when the clock struck twelve, and Appalachian felt the fury of the Tar Heels.

ASU, however, did leave a remarkable impression with its opponents.

In an e-mail sent to Rogers from UNC club captain Ryan Preston Dahl, which Rogers proudly shared, Dahl wrote, "I think having ASU in Division I was one of the best things that happened in the NCRU."

"We have a lot to be proud of," said Rogers, "from the captains and officers to the newest and least experienced C-side players.

"I am extremely proud to be associated with the club during this remarkable growth period."

Although the NCRU season is over, the AHO rugby club still has more on its plate this year. Plans are being made for two more games this year, one against WCU and the other possibly against the University of South Carolina.

Also, ASU plans to compete in the Cherry Blossom Tournament held in Washington, D.C., in April. The tournament will include rugby teams from all over the world. Aside from competition, the AHO club has started an alumni network and is currently working on a Web page (www.ahorugby.com) that will list a schedule with results, pictures and everything there is to know about Appalachian's AHO Rugby Club.

Andy Morris - Sports Beat

After capturing the regular season title and the conference tournament championship, and having five wrestlers named All-Conference and five named Southern Conference Champions, the Appalachian State University wrestling team has plenty of hardware to show for the 2000-2001 season.

However, the Mountaineers could not bring home any more championship trophies this past weekend at the NCAA Championships in Iowa City, Iowa.

The Mountaineers sent five wrestlers to the Championships: P.J. Boccia at 157 lbs., 165-pounder Mark Fee at 165 lbs., Jeremy Hart at 141 lbs., Travis Drake at 133 lbs. and Rich Caisse at 125 lbs. Despite successful seasons, all five wrestlers fell in the first match.

Boccia, in his second trip to the NCAA Championship, lost an 8-6 decision to Clovis Crane of Purdue University.

Fee lost a 19-12 decision to Matt Lackey of Illinois State University, and three-time Southern Conference champion Hart fell to Zach Roberson of Iowa State University.

Southern Conference Wrestler of the Year Drake was pinned by David Douglas from Arizona State University, while Caisse lost a 10-3 decision to Matt Brown of Oklahoma State University.

On day two in the wrestle-back brackets of the double-elimination tournament, only two Mountaineers managed wins. Caisse defeated Millersville University's Omar Porratta 4-4 in double overtime before being eliminated by an 8-1 decision loss to the University of Pittsburgh's Shawn Amistade.

Hart beat Jason Mester of Central Michigan University 5-2 but was knocked out of the tournament by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Corey Williams in a 2-1 loss.

Drake was eliminated by Boise State University's Charlie Griggs 5-3, and Boccia lost a 21-8 decision to Ohio State University's Jason Janson. Fee lost 21-13 to Ryan Bonfiglio of Princeton University.

"We wrestled okay, and it wasn't our best tournament," said Appalachian head wrestling coach Paul Mance. "We were in some really close matches with some All-American wrestlers, but a couple of our wrestlers didn't wrestle to their fullest potential."

Despite the disappointing results at the NCAA Championships, the season was successful for the Mountaineers.

Appalachian went undefeated in conference matches and had an 8-5 overall record.

In the 25 years that Mance has coached the Mountaineers, he has posted 21 winning seasons. He was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year.

The team title was Appalachian's seventh ever and sixth in the past seven years.

Mance said the most important facet of the team's success was hard work.

"They worked hard and believed in themselves," he said. "The coaches pushed the guys to a point where they believed that no one worked harder than they did and when you believe that, you're not going to let anyone beat you."

After this season's results, Mance expects an even better season next year.

"We have almost everybody back, and the younger kids will have had a year of experience," he said.

Despite this upbeat outlook for next year, the Mountaineers will be without senior wrestler Hart.

"You can't replace a kid like Jeremy," said Mance. "He would do anything in the world to be an All-American and anything you asked of him. In the 25 years I've been coaching here, he's only the second kid I've seen that works on that level."