March Sadness: The Physical and Emotional Injuries of the 2013 NCAA Tournament

In Sunday’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Regional Final between Louisville and Duke, Louisville sophomore Kevin Ware suffered what many are calling the most gruesome injury in the history of televised sports—a double compound fracture that left both his tibia and fibula protruding out of the skin of the leg. In light of Ware’s tragic and vomit inducing injury, Gaucho Marks Sports has compiled the saddest moments of this year’s NCAA tournament.

Kevin Ware’s Broken Leg

The word “broken” can’t even begin to describe Sunday’s assault on Kevin Ware’s bodily make up. It’s hard to say which is sadder: the toll that the injury will inevitably take on Ware’s playing career, or the way we have all been reminded that we are fragile and brittle creatures, shattered at the slightest misstep. Time itself will break each and every one of us.

Miami’s Early Exit

The Hurricanes’ loss to Marquette in the regional semis deeply disappointed fans of fast-paced and enthusiastic college basketball.

Coach Ben Howland’s Wet Sandwich

En route to his UCLA Bruins’ first-round match-up against underdog Minnesota, Coach Howland did a poor job of sealing the bag on a turkey and cheddar cheese sandwich in his lunchbox, resulting in a soggy Ziploc mess not suitable even for the bus driver. The Bruins’ loss to Minnesota would lead to Howland losing his job, which is a shame. He had really been looking forward to that sandwich.

Doug McDermott’s Breakup

The Creighton small forward’s girlfriend Michelle Conley texted him shortly after his team’s Sweet Sixteen loss to Duke, informing him that she “[couldn’t] do the whole distance thing anymore.” The two had only been together for three months or so, but according to a source close to McDermott, “Doug really dug her. He took her out to a steak house once.”

Coach Bob Williams Reading Where The Red Fern Grows

Williams seemed unfazed by the Gauchos’ failure to qualify for a spot in the tournament. However, he did break down unequivocally after finishing Wilson Rawls’ classic children’s novel. “They were only pups,” Williams said through tears, “I thought I had known true sorrow when the mountain lion took Old Dan, but then Little Ann… oh, God… I couldn’t even get out of bed.” Fortunately for Williams, he didn’t have to, what with his team’s season having ended weeks earlier.