The 1997 NCAA Basketball championship has been determined. Our congratulations to the University of Arizona!!

Just what makes this tournament so exciting??

I think it has to do with the elimination factor. Every newspaper in the country runs grids showing how 64 teams whittle down to one. Then, of course, we have those names: Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, and the Final Four.

With so many participants involved, there are bound to be upsets. And, besides, we WANT to be thrilled. If a powerhouse team comes in and rolls over everybody, we are impressed. If a Cinderella team such as Arizona wins it all, we're impressed as well.

Let's face it. We like competition. In any competition, there are winners, and, unfortunately, losers. This is real human drama. Life itself is a competition. True, it's not deadly anymore--we don't have to fend off wild animals. But there must be something in our human nature that has not yet become "civilized." We savor the thrill of victory, and dread the agony of defeat.

Perhaps one reason that soccer hasn't succeeded in this country is that much of youth soccer is non-competitive. You know, everybody plays, and it doesn't matter who wins. There are problems with this philosophy. This system tends to select for the gentle souls, who get a very rude awakening when they enter high school soccer. Moreover, the kids who are more competitive tend to opt out of the watered-down youth programs early on.

But the worst problem of all is that these programs tend to deny the obvious. Human (huperson?) beings are competitive. Thus, instead of being a medium to work out frustrations, these athletic programs bottle up emotions and cause more.

Some commentators measure how civilized we are by how well we can suppress our basest desires. Fair enough. But what about the old "fight or flight" response? That ancient hormonal situation still exists inside all of us.

The challenge as we approach the 21st century is how to work it out, hurting no one, including ourselves.