Meet the American who coined 'March Madness' to capture the passion of the statewide basketball tournament in March 1939: Illinois high school sports administrator Henry 'H.V.' Porter.
tournament — first held, coincidentally, in March 1939, just as Porter was penning his"March Madness" essay for"Illinois High School Athlete" magazine."Porter was a visionary. He was ahead of his time." — Bruce Firchau, The Basketball Museum of Illinois
"In a time before television, before the college game became popular with the average fan, before professional leagues had established a foothold in the nation’s large cities, basketball fever had already reached epidemic proportions in the Land of Lincoln."Henry Van Arsdale Porter was born in Manito, Illinois, on Oct. 2, 1891.
"Porter published the first high school rulebook standardizing the game across the nation," in 1936, the Hall adds, and"served as the first representative for high schools on the National Basketball Rules Committee." His influence spread nationwide. But Porter's heart never left the small-town courts of Illinois or those enthusiasts who loved high school basketball as much as he did.
He held the position until 1958, helping spread the concept of"March Madness" to high school basketball tournaments around the country. Sportscaster Brent Musburger helped popularize the phrase"March Madness" while covering the NCAA basketball tournament in the 1980s. He traces its origins to the Illinois high school basketball tournament, first described as"March Madness" in 1939.The tourney ended that year when an unknown 19-year-old University of North Carolina freshman hit the winning shot in the championship game against Georgetown. MEET THE AMERICAN WHO CREATED NASCAR: BILL FRANCE SR.
"I cannot remember the name of the dealer or the brand of autos he was selling," Musburger said."But it was a big deal in Chicago in the 1960s, especially with big-city high schools making inroads into the tournament" — long ruled by small rural schools.The broadcaster recalled those enthusiastic ads and the madness displayed for Illinois high school basketball when he began using"March Madness" to describe the NCAA tournament.
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