Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 1, 1995                   TAG: 9504030011
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ANDREW ROSENBERG
DATELINE: HANOI                                  LENGTH: Medium

'MARCH MADNESS'? YOU WON'T FIND IT IN HANOI

I know this because it's March and I long for "March Madness."

There are newspapers here, true, but reading 2-day-old game synopses doesn't count.

Rob, my traveling buddy, and I, had but one goal this season: to watch the conference tournaments and see the teams play their way into the field of 64.

We had a target - the Sofitel Hotel in Hanoi. With the cheapest room coming to just under $200, this could have been our promised land. Large-screen TV, satellite dish, cable channels from across the world. But most important, Dick Vitale's unmistakable bald pate in glorious technicolor.

We boldly communicated our wish to the reception desk. As other Westerners circulated in the lobby, we thought to ourselves, "Those guys look like basketball fans!"

If they were, they were left out in the cold, just like us. A satellite dish, yes. Televisions in the rooms. But no ESPN.

A fellow American shook his head, advising us to contact the new U.S. Liaison Office or the boys at the MIA Compound. Of course, what else are government offices for?

Scurrying to the nearest phone, Rob placed the call. The only way to see the games, we were told, was if we knew someone with a scrambler. Or a descrambler. Or whatever the heck it is you need to make the satellite dish in Vietnam receive more than a paltry 12 channels.

Spoiled by American TV? You bet. I think I got more than 12 channels with my 20-year-old portable.

A heavy collective sigh. There would be no conference tournament, no nothing until the Final Four.

So we returned to the one bookstore that has the International USA Today hanging on its racks, stealing glances at the sports pages to keep semi-up-to-date. (For $2 per issue, it would make a significant dent in our vanishing funds to purchase daily.) And we fantasized - as we still do - about seeing the Ball States and Long Beaches become the next Cinderella.

And we considered - as we still do - testing the black market on descramblers.

Andrew Rosenberg teaches at an English language center and works for the Vietnam News.