5 Alternatives To The B Word

As in BUBBLE! For the rest of this week we will hear the sports world talk about teams that are “on the bubble” or referred to as “bubble teams” for NCAA March Madness. The word is as ubiquitous as the terms “Big Dance”, “Yeah, Baby”, and “Dipsy Doo Dunkeroo” this time of year and some reporters in the sports world decided that they wanted to change that. As I was out running some errands yesterday, I was listening to ESPN Radio and heard Mike Tirico and Michele Tafoya discussing options to that word we will be hearing all week.

Mike and Michele decided that they would not use the word all week that describes teams that may or may not make it past Selection Sunday. These hosts and their fans came up with many interesting alternatives to the transparent, spherical descriptor and will vote on a definite replacement. A few alternatives were:

1. on the rim

2. on the hoop

3. wallflowers (since it is the Big Dance)

4. still looking out from their coffins

5. on the net

According to CBS Sports, there are currently 26 teams on the…well…3D circular object. Stanford, USC, and UCLA should be safe as should Duke, Miami, and Clemson to name a few. Others on the globe include Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, UNLV, and Villanova. However, likely contenders to make the cut are reported to be Ohio State, Kentucky, and Kansas State to name a few. One team that doesn’t have to worry about the globular object anymore is San Diego, who upset Gonzaga for the WCC Championship 69-62.

So do me a favor and tell me your favorite alternative to the B word. Maybe we can think up some new catch phrases for Dick Vitale while we are it!