The brilliantly marketed “March Madness,” the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, is upon us-but, thankfully, not everyone is afflicted, March American Demographics assures us.
The monthly on consumer trends does underscore in “Hoop Hysteria” that basketball mania is global, especially given the movie-star aura of Michael Jordan. And from 1987 to 1991, the number of Americans who regularly play the sport rose to 39 million from 36 million, with those who play frequently (52 times or more a year) zooming to 9 million from 7 million (curiously, female participation fell).
Yet, the very page that contains “Hoop Hysteria” includes an item on the most popular lifestyle activities in the Indianapolis area. One assumes it might be watching the beloved Indiana Hoosiers?
Nope. The leaders are-in order-Bible reading, bowling and grandchildren.
Quickly: As for pro basketball, March 15 Sports Illustrated has Rick Telander’s waggish profile of an “oddly consumed and swollen little man,” Jerry Krause, secrecy-obsessed general manager of the champion Bulls. . . . April Vanity Fair includes both a nice Maureen Orth inspection of a wacky father-son feud in the Du Pont family, inspired by the son’s allegiance to Lyndon LaRouche, and a characteristic Kevin Sessums pufferoo, this on actress Sharon Stone (including Sessums lying down as she tries to work out the kinks on his poor, ailing back). But the issue’s best is Christopher Dickey’s profile of “France’s Guerrilla Doctor,” Bernard Kouchner, charismatic founder of two groups of globetrotting physicians, Medicins San Frontieres and Medicins du Monde. He has had the guts to do humanitarian deeds governments would not, but his groups’ actions raise questions as to whether seeming moral imperatives can become moral imperialism as the doctors decree what they think is right and wrong in conflict situations, telling government agencies to take a hike. . . .In April 1 Rolling Stone, P.J. O’Rourke’s report on Somalia finds his normally roundly entertaining cynicism curiously muted by the overwhelming horror, prompting a fatalistic conclusion that we should give the Somalis better arms, seal the borders and let them have at one another. He also displays atypical solicitousness as he recounts then-President George Bush’s brief, heartfelt appearance at an orphanage. Elsewhere, William Greider offers the suspicion that President Clinton’s proposed economic program can work, but not much before his first term ends, and wonders if Clinton has the nerve to let those looking for work wait that long. . . . March-April Men’s Health rounds up experts in pursuits including golf, poker, arm wrestling, talking one’s way out of speeding tickets, tick-tack-toe and bass fishing, and offers tips on how to succeed. As for speeding tickets, the trick is said to be to keep talking; the longer an officer gabs, the more likely you’ll get just a warning. . . . March 15 Barron’s heralds the investment expertise of money manager Mark Strome, whose scorched-earth approach has brought huge success as he goes right into fields where major investment institutions have panicked and split. His picks of stocks to sell include Philip Morris Cos., RJR Nabisco and American Brands; those he likes as buys include Burlington Resources, Enron and Devon Energy. To gain entry into his Strome Partners as a client, you’ll soon have to ante up $1 million. . . . April Smart Money, a new personal-finance publication from Dow Jones and Hearst Corp., includes the bittersweet tale of a New York area couple’s search to adopt a child that was marked by about $25,000 worth of trauma as they were hoodwinked by hucksters and bribe-seekers before achieving a happy resolution. . . . April Life is worth the first look at some of the stunning Impressionist and Post-Impressionist private collection of Albert Barnes, a Philadelphia area doctor who made a mint in pharmaceuticals and then became “the miser of masterpieces” before he died in 1951. The total collection, including works by Renoir, Matisse, Monet, Picasso and Lautrec, is estimated to be worth $6 billion. . . . Finally, March 23 Weekly World News, the supermarket tabloid that is profiled in March 19 Entertainment Weekly (“INCREDIBLE! Elvis Lives in Tabloid Bliss”), informs us that Amelia Earhart, now 96, has finally been rescued and is undergoing medical attention. Showing its usual profound respect for personal privacy, it does not inform us where she’s getting such attention.
