The NCAA yesterday announced plans “for a season-long celebration of the 75th year of what has come to be known as ‘March Madness,’ starting with a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York and culminating with the Final Four in Atlanta,” according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. The NCAA said that it will “roll out programming and events throughout the season to celebrate the teams, people and moments of the men’s basketball tournament.” The celebration “starts next week in New York, where former tournament stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Christian Laettner will ride on the March Madness float in the Macy’s parade and will be honored the next day during the championship game of the NIT Season Tipoff event in Madison Square Garden.” Other 75th-year celebration plans announced by the NCAA include an “interactive year-by-year timeline of tournament history, posted at ncaa.com/marchmadness” and a fan vote, starting in January, to “select the favorite teams, players and moments of March Madness.” In addition, there will be programming and commercials “across various platforms of the CBS and Turner networks,” as well as on-campus activations “to showcase various schools’ places in tournament history” (AJC.com, 11/13).
