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I thoroughly enjoyed March Madness, both the mens and womens versions. For three weeks in the early days of the spring season, I renew my subscription with college basketball and am edutained on all things March Madness. It is a time that engendered work morale spikes, rooted in imperfect bracket predictions and the chance that overworked, underpaid employees will cash out on an office pool lottery built from their very own desk change cups and afternoon Tim Hortons coffee run allotments. Mini hoops get hung on office doors for impromptu paper ball dunk contests and great plays are re-enacted by local news crews unable to air highlights of the very sport they cover because of the hierarchy of money structured agreements between the NCAA and its multiple March Madness broadcast partners. A bevy of hungry, wide-eyed teams. More Networks. Too many credit card commercials. Too Much Dick Vitale. Not Enough Bill Raftery. No Gus Johnson. Countless floor burns. Multiple tears. Clutch shots. One epic dance. One dream realized. Who knew a school from the former and now defunct Yankee Conference would be one of the most dominant basketball programs in college history? Combined, the University of Connecticut mens and womens teams have been in the NCAA Tournament final game 13 times. Theyve never lost. Ever. I watched as Geno Auriemma and his Lady Huskies won their ninth title in 19 years, defeating Notre Dame easily and once again lording over the womens game with whispers and questions rattling The ladies college hoops kings cage about whether or not his talents could be applied similarly in the mens game. I saw Guelph, Ontarios and Notre Dame senior forward Natalie Achonwa, thrice a bridesmaid, never the bride in the NCAA final, have to endure the insult of her team once again losing a chance at glory and an undefeated season to the schoolyard bully in UConn, in part due to suffering a devastating knee injury during the Elite Eight game that ended her season and college career. I was not in shock or awe that Derrick Gordon, starting guard from the University of Massachusetts, a school where I created and once taught the worlds first university accredited course on hip-hop culture, now also has the distinction of having the first Division I male basketball player to come out as openly gay. I viewed a March Madness tournament where Canadian lights shone brightly in fellow freshmen Kansas Andrew Wiggins and Syracuses Tyler Ennis, senior Melvin Ejim of Iowa State, Michigan sophomore Nik Stauskas and more. Their play shined a collective light on the immense talents north of the 49th parallel who contributed in meaningful ways during the Tournament and offered hope and confidence for young Canadian hoop stars to follow. I reveled in UConn mens coach Kevin Ollies victory over John Caliparis Kentucky Wildcats, despite picking the new Fab Five freshmen from Lexington to win it all on my TSN Radio basketball program, #1On1 with Will and Duane. And the revelry was not rooted in a dislike for Coach Cals crew. The joy was in the knowledge that, 30 years after Georgetowns John Thompson became the first black man to win an NCAA title with a team full of inner city black kids, possibly influenced by the lure of profit from a new player in the illicit drug trade called crack and the music of an emerging and grossly misunderstood subculture called hip-hop, Kevin Ollie joined Thompson, newly minted Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Nolan Richardson and Tubby Smith as the only black coaches to ever win the national title. My merriment was quelled, however, by the admission of the tournaments Most Outstanding Player, UConn senior PG Shabazz Napier. As initially reported by CNNs Sara Ganim, Napiers statement was stunning. “I dont feel student-athletes should get hundreds of thousands of dollars, but like I said, there are hungry nights that I go to bed and Im starving," he said. "I just feel like a student-athlete, and sometimes, like I said, theres hungry nights and Im not able to eat and I still got to play up to my capabilities.” I observed a game with multi-billion dollar stakes in which the players have no financial stake due to the draconian statutes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which still has them reaching for “One Shining Moment” as the UConn mens program fails to graduate more than eight per cent of its starving, underfed players. I then pondered former March Madness champ and UCLA forward Ed OBannons lawsuit against the NCAA, the Northwestern University athletes who won their fight to unionize against the NCAA and Jalen Roses youthful revelation years ago on how he and his Fab Five teammates were being flagrantly exploited by the NCAA and its corporate stakeholders while a star at Michigan. It occurred to me that the 2013-2014 mens final was possibly a referendum on the future of college basketball profiteering: Caliparis "one and done" regime versus the NCAAs preferred method of currency exchange with the NBA - keeping the student-athletes on campus playing this game for as long as possible. NBA Commissioner Adam Silvers wish to subsidize collegiate student-athletes in order to keep the collusive financial arrangement with the NCAA as close to status quo, without hemorrhaging too much blood, seems relatively progressive at cursory glance. And the new commishs potential good fortune to place a positive stamp on his early tenure may be rooted in Napiers hunger. ESPNs Darren Rovell recently reported that Adam Silver is willing to trade markers with the NCAA, its student-athletes and the NBAPA with concessions on all sides to make the vehicle move. "Rather than focusing on a salary and thinking of them as employees, I would go to their basic necessities," said Silver. "I think if Shabazz Napier is saying he is going hungry, my God, it seems hard to believe, but there should be ample food for the players." Commissioner Silver wants to raise the NBA entry age limit from 19 to 20 and may be able to do so in exchange for his college player subsidy initiative. Silvers very public overtures about changes that can be made to an archaic, rotted NCAA system run by that cabals boss, Dr. Mark Emmert, who, naturally, is vehemently opposed to any sort of compensation for student-athletes, a term created to protect the schools and NCAA itself against the liability of paying workers compensation for injured “student-athletes,” are encouraging, even in theory. But what about offering a “bare necessities” cost of living stipend, daily meal per diems and limited injury insurance to these young men, who may or may not be ready for the fine hardwood courts of the National Basketball Association, but wish to ply their trade professionally? Is it possible for these young men to also get an education with the same subsidies Commissioner Silver is suggesting for the NCAA by giving these monies to the NBAs already-established minor league, the National Basketball Development League? No matter the motivations of Adam Silver, it would seem that the winds of change are on the horizon for intercollegiate athletics and its long partnership with professional sport to finally call it what it really is now. So yeah… Thats what I learned during March Madness this year. I can only hope you learned some things, too. Buy Nike Off White Online . On Thursday, a judge said Varlamov could be released if he posted $5,000 bond and be allowed to travel with the team but he was ordered to stay away from his girlfriend, among other restrictions. Cheap Nike Off White Shoes . The 27-year-old forward has informed the Leafs that he will be unable to play in Monday nights home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. http://www.nikeoffwhitecheap.com/ . The Senators return from a lengthy layoff caused by Wednesdays attack on Parliament Hill to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Nike Off White Cheap China . -- Without Carey Price, the run for a first Stanley Cup in 21 years got steeper and longer for the Montreal Canadiens. Buy Nike Off White Shoes . PAUL, Minn.TORONTO -- Even after his team had walked off the court with a comfortable victory, Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey made no apologies for his pre-game concerns his team would take this one for granted. "We dont have any right, yet, to overlook anyone," Casey said after the Raptors defeated the lowly Milwaukee Bucks 116-94 at Air Canada Centre on Monday night. "This is a tough league and were still building, were still getting there, so I cant allow our guys to have that in their thought process." Other than a brief stretch of the second quarter when Casey thought his team "got passive offensively and defensively" and let the Bucks cut the Toronto lead to single-digits, it was a convincing performance. Toronto, which took the lead for good on a pair of John Salmons free throws with 3:45 to go in the opening quarter, led by as many as 31 points in chalking up a third straight victory. With the win, the Raptors (19-17) are two games above .500 for the first time in four seasons. The last time was March 9, 2010 when Toronto was 32-30. The Raptors, who now have a 4 1/2 game lead over the Brooklyn Nets atop the NBAs Atlantic Division, featured a balanced attack with five players in double figures, led by Kyle Lowrys 23 points. It was the sixth straight loss for the Bucks (7-30), who are the NBAs worst team. Even though the Raptors have now won 10 of their last 11 games against teams with sub .500 records and play their next four against team who have lost more than theyve won this season, Lowry rejected suggestions Toronto might get complacent. "I dont think the schedule softens up," Lowry said. "Youre playing an NBA team every single night. "I dont care what theyre records saying, that team we played tonightt is a good team.dddddddddddd. Were self motivated and were not worrying about what other teams are doing, were worried about what were doing." Lowry, Torontos point guard, hit 6-of-8 shots from the field, including 4-of-5 three-point attempts, as the Raptors finished their homestand at 3-0 before 15,819 fans. "It was just another night at the office," for Lowry, said Casey, adding hes playing like an NBA all-star. In addition to Lowrys team-high performance, DeMar DeRozan had 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds while Jonas Valanciunas added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ersan Ilyasova had a game-high 29 points for the Bucks, who sit last in the Central Division. Toronto led by 14 after one quarter, eight at the half and 15 points after three quarters. About the only thing that didnt go well for the home side was a trip to the foul line for Jermain Defoe, introduced earlier in the day as a new member of Toronto FC. Sitting alongside American international Michael Bradley, who was also unveiled earlier Monday and given a large ovation while sitting courtside, the Englishman missed all three shots from the charity stripe during a break in second-half action. The Raptors visit the Celtics in Boston on Wednesday night before returning to the Air Canada Centre to host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night and the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon. DeRozan said theres no concern the Raptors will look past any of their opponents. "It doesnt matter who we play, its an NBA team," DeRozan said. "Besides us, theres 29 other teams in this league and we prepare for each one of them the same. We dont want to look back at the end of the season and say we left this game or that game on the floor." ' ' '