Across the Pond ...

My "Across the Pond" column made its debut on Basketball 24/7 this morning. Please check it out by clicking on the headline above.

Here's the lead:

Across the Pond
A column by Terry Lyons

For an American, creating a list of the greatest sporting events is an interesting exercise.

The Super Bowl grabs the most attention and dominates the television ratings each and every year. The Kentucky Derby is touted as the best two minutes in sports. Some people prefer the annual World Series or the NBA Finals, and NASCAR’s Daytona 500 and the NHL’s Stanley Cup finals fall a little further down the list.

Major League Baseball’s Opening Day brings every sports fan in the USA a sense of renewal and marks the passage of winter to spring. The New York Marathon is a human endurance test that weaves its way through the five boroughs of rowdy city dwellers, each relishing the carnival atmosphere. The Boston Marathon is run on Patriot’s Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and it is so important to Bostonians that they mark the day as a holiday.

Hidden gems include the Masters golf tournament and the Breeders’ Cup horse races, the latter an event that is better defined to Americans as seven “world series games” all in one day. One event, college football’s Rose Bowl, is tabbed, “The Grandaddy of ‘em all.”

There’s one event that captures America for an entire month.

No, I’m not referring to your World Cup footy.

I am writing about the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, an event that is known to most as “March Madness” or simply, “The Big Dance.”

There is no better time of the year.