"March Madness" in the Times

[Fred Shapiro]

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005, Laurence Horn wrote:

> But March Madness, as a basketball term, had been used well before
> Musburger said it, by the Illinois High School Association. The group
> began running a boys basketball tournament in 1908, and in 1939, its
> assistant executive secretary, Henry V. Porter, wrote an essay
> suggesting that a "little March madness may complement and contribute
> to sanity and help keep society on an even keel."

Here's the earliest on ProQuest:

1940 _Chicago Daily Tribune_ 30 Mar. 19  (headline) Hoosier March madness
boils to climax today. Nearly 15,000 will see prep basket finals. ...
(text) The 29th annual Indiana High school basketball tournament, a show
which once was defined as Hoosier hysterics or March madness.

Fred Shapiro


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