Follow March Madness With Penn B-Ball's Steve Danley

Juniors and seniors will remember Class of '07 Renaissance Man Steve Danley, who played on the basketball team and poetry slammed with Exelano before heading to England as a Marshall Scholar.  Danley contributes to the New York Times occasionally, and his most recent piece reveals that he finally found a pub across the pond where he can watch NCAA games.  When he can fight off rowdy British rugby fans, that is:

Every night, around dinner time, we would ward off the Brits who piled in to watch local sports. Ian’s rule is simple: majority picks what’s on the TV. So we pull out our cell phones and try to rally enough state-side basketball fans to keep Ian happy.

The recruiting pitch is simple: It’s your patriotic duty to make sure March Madness stays on. On Thursday we beat out the Oxford Union football match. Friday it was English cricket. On Saturday the Six Nations rugby tournament got enough votes to banish basketball. Apparently the English would rather watch Ireland win the Grand Slam for the first time in decades than watch Villanova smack U.C.L.A.