Published April 09. 2021 7:17AM Bill Stanley, Special to The Times While baseball and football remain my favorite sports, there is no better sporting event overall than the college basketball playoffs known as March Madness. Yes, the Super Bowl has become big enough for some to suggest that Americans have the next day off as a national holiday, but after several hours, the game is over, and it rarely lives up to its hype. Baseball’s World Series — like its regular-season and playoff games — has become a tiresome battle of wills between managers. Starting pitchers often don’t last into the fifth inning, no matter how well they pitch, and batters who hit hard smashes to either side of the infield are often retired harmlessly by the increasing use of defensive shifts. At this rate, that sport considered America’s national pastime will continue to lose fan support.