TRIVIAL PURSUITS: From where did the term “March Madness” come?

A man named Henry V. Porter was the first person to ever refer to the event as March Madness. He was an executive secretary at the Illinois High School Association who wrote an article for the Illinois Interscholastic, the magazine of the Illinois High School Association, entitled “March Madness.” This was written and published in 1939. The term caught on in Illinois and Indiana, but only referring to high school tournaments.

Then, in 1980, Brent Musburger, a CBS sportscaster who had worked in Chicago, Illinois, for many years prior to joining CBS used the term to describe the playoff series that takes place at the college/university level, the NCAA.