Frei - March 1939: Before the Madness: The Story of the First NCAA Basketball Tournament Champions

Praise for Terry Freis Previous Books

Olympic Affair

Give a talented journalist an engrossing storylineespecially a sports writer accustomed to the drama of gamesand he will keep you mesmerized by the who, what, where, when and why of the unfolding adventure. And so it is with Terry Freis Olympic Affair . Set against the 1936 Berlin Olympicsremembered primarily for Jesse Owens four gold-medal performance and Adolf Hitlers disdain for himFrei focuses on the decathlon champion, Americas Glenn Morris, and his affair with the renowned German actress and Olympic film director, Leni Reifenstahl. It is, then, a compelling look at an historic sporting event and a love/sex scandal cloaked in intrigue and danger. Freis style is reporter/novelist, cleanly balanced between event and character, offering a panorama of human triumph saddened by failure. Of the books Ive read in the past four or five years, this one is near the top of the list. Terry Kay, author of To Dance with the White Dog and The Book of Marie

Historical fiction is a dangerous game: where does history leave off and fiction begin? How to draw the line between what happened and what might/should have happened? Frei takes these challenges head-on and succeeds brilliantly.... This is history as historians seldom write it and should be required reading for everyone. David Milofsky, professor of English, Colorado State University, novelist and author of Playing From Memory and A Friend of Kissinger

[T]he most intriguing sports book Ive read in the last 12 months.... What makes the book special is that its actually a novel, with Freis exhaustive research filling in the blanks of the love story and what has been largely an untold tale. The book is written with care and sensitivity and works on several levelsnot only as straight entertainment but as a history refresher on what the world was like during that explosive time. And hey, any book featuring sex, sports and Nazis is bound to be pretty good, right? Obviously, this is an adult book but one I recommend highly. Freis Glenn Morris is a fascinatingly tragic hero that you will not soon forget. Dwight Jaynes, Comcast Sports Northwest

Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming

We had a few friends over who thought we had lost our minds as we whooped and hollered through a football game so exciting it was billed as the Game of the Century. For a few hours, we were innocent again, totally caught up in the contest. The game and its cultural contexts have been beautifully chronicled by Terry Frei in his book Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming . Bill Clinton in My Life

[O]ne of the betterand most readablebooks of social history published in recent years. Paul Greenberg, Pulitzer Prizewinning editorial writer, Arkansas Democrat Gazette

A superb blending of sports, history, and politics. Si Dunn, Dallas Morning News

Third Down and a War to Go

Many times you hear athletes called heroes, and their deeds and accomplishments on the field are characterized as courageous. After reading Third Down and a War to Go , I am embarrassed to have ever been thought of as brave or courageous.... Enjoy this adventure in history, life, and courage and take it from a so-called tough guykeep the hanky close by. Dan Fouts, Hall of Fame quarterback and CBS sportscaster

Brings to life, in shades of black and blue and blood red, the idea that certain things are worth fighting for. Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune

Mythology is nice. Truth is better. What a powerful piece of work... a telling detail in the great portrait of America at war, young men and women who saw their duty and did it no matter how much it scared them. Dave Kindred, The Sporting News , and author of Sound and Fury

77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age

Ahh, the memories. And they all happened right here in the forgotten time zone. Those magical moments came back with a rush last week reading 77: Denver, The Broncos, and a Coming of Age . What a fantastic read.... is more than just a Bronco football memoir. It was a time when our Centennial State exploded on the national scene.... [T]hanks to Terry Freis wonderful work, we get to live that magical moment all over again. Dick Maynard, Grand Junction Sentinel

No one knows more about Denver and its sports than Terry Frei does, and here in 77, he describes nothing less than the transformation of a city with a special focus on Denvers most magical team. To know why and how the Mile High City exists as it does today, this is essential history. Sandy Clough, sports talk host, Denvers FM Sports Radio 104.3, The Fan

You didnt have to live through it in Denver to appreciate this account of the flowering of a franchise and its love affair with a town, but this book takes those of us who did straight back to those thrilling days of yesteryear in unforgettable fashion. Michael Knisley, senior deputy editor, ESPN.com

The Witchs Season

Events carry the story forward swiftly, and that alone would make it a good read. But Frei has a larger point to make. Its during times of upheaval, when the very foundations of normalcy are being shaken, that personal courage, honor and the willingness to stand fast on principle matter most. All of the central characters in Freis story will have to decide whether to make that stand, and if so, how to make it. Frei has written three nonfiction books, most notably Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming . This book proves he can write fiction too. Ken Goe, Portland Oregonian

Playing Piano in a Brothel

For every story, theres a story behind the story, and Freis book captures hundreds of them. Frei provides never-before-read tales of legendary athletes, monumental events and games behind the games, as well as his own opinion of newspaper sports journalism as a wholeand its future.... A must-read for every sports fan. Doug Ottewill, Mile High Sports Magazine

March 1939

Also by Terry Frei

Nonfiction

Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming

Third Down and a War to Go

77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age

Playing Piano in a Brothel

Fiction

The Witchs Season

Olympic Affair: A Novel of Hitlers Siren and Americas Hero

March 1939

Before the Madness

The Story of the First NCAA Basketball Tournament Champions

Terry Frei

TAYLOR TRADE PUBLISHING

Lanham Boulder New York Toronto Plymouth, UK

Published by Taylor Trade Publishing

An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.rowman.com

10 Thornbury Road, Plymouth PL6 7PP, United Kingdom

Distributed by National Book Network

Copyright 2014 by Terry Frei

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Frei, Terry, 1955

March 1939 : before the madness : the story of the first NCAA Basketball Tournament champions / Terry Frei.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-58979-924-0 (cloth : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-58979-925-7 (electronic) 1. NCAA Basketball Tournament (1939)History. I. Title.

GV885.49.N37F74 2014

796.323'6309043dc23

2013033163

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To Helen

To Jim Beseda, a real pro, true friend, and great help