We all know the feeling — you’re driving, the road starts blurring, and your eyelids feel heavier and heavier. Then suddenly, you don’t remember the last few miles. That is drowsy driving, and it’s more dangerous than you may think. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drowsy driving caused over 90,000 crashes in 2017 alone, potentially leading to as many as 6,000 fatalities. That’s a huge number for something that many people dismiss with a cup of coffee. Why Is it Dangerous? Drowsy driving impairs your reaction time, decision-making, and overall ability to stay alert on the road. In fact, studies show that being awake for 17 hours affects your driving ability as much as having a blood alcohol level of 0.05%, and if you push that to 24 hours, it’s like driving with a 0.10% BAC — well over the legal limit. Even scarier, unlike drunk driving, there isn’t a breathalyzer test for drowsy driving. You might not even realize how impaired you are until it’s too late. DROWSY DRIVING IS AS RISKY AS DRUNK DRIVING The Silent Danger
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Many say Christmas is the most wonderful time of year. However, if you’re a college basketball fan, it’s safe to say that March Madness is your favorite season! Millions of fans come out to support their favorite teams and fill out brackets to guess the national champion. But the history of college basketball’s biggest tournament might surprise you. Humble Beginnings March Madness originated in Illinois as an annual high school tournament sponsored by the Illinois High School Association. It went from a small invitational in 1908 to over 900 schools participating by the late 1930s. It wasn’t until 1939 that high school official Henry V. Porter called the tournament “March Madness.” The Emergence of March Madness for Colleges March Madness wasn’t nationally known or associated with the NCAA until CBS broadcaster Brent Musburger used the term while covering the 1982 spring tournament. Since then, the term has been synonymous with the event, and college basketball has never been the same. The First March Madness Champions Before UConn, Kansas, Baylor, and Virginia became NCAA men’s basketball champions, the University of Oregon paved the way. On March 27, 1939, the University of Oregon defeated Ohio State University, 46–33. Ohio State’s star forward, Jimmy Hull, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player — not bad for a 2007 Ohio Basketball Hall of Famer. Evolution of Tournament Expansions Only eight teams played in the 1939 tournament; by 1951, the number of teams doubled to 16. It wasn’t until 1985 that the 64-team tournament emerged. Further tournament expansion concluded in 2011, with 68 teams participating in college basketball’s big dance. March Madness Today March Madness isn’t exactly what it used to be 40 years ago, from the hoopla and controversy of Selection Sunday How the NCAA Evolved Into a Basketball Powerhouse
(March 16 this year) to the chaos and parity caused by NIL (athletes’ pay for
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“name, image, and likeness”). Nonetheless, the tournament’s foundational values of camaraderie mixed with a bit of friendly competition and, of course, the love of watching basketball remain as prominent as ever.
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