ATLANTA — The press conference announcing the final stretch of an event called March Madness was much more low key than its name would suggest.

High-ranking members of the NCAA, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, U.S. Ambassador for the United Nations Andrew Young and others who helped bring the Final Four to Atlanta spoke to a crowd of about 50 people, most of who were with the media, at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Georgia World Congress Center. Syracuse plays Michigan on Saturday at 8:49 p.m. in the Georgia Dome for a chance to advance to the national championship.

“We’re going to have some of the best college basketball in the United States of America over the next few days,” Reed said. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

People who spoke at the press conference discussed what the event means to the city in the short and long term, as well as charitable efforts related to the Final Four.

After thanking the NCAA and partners such as the Georgia Institute of Technology and Coca-Cola Co., Reed talked about the economic effects of the Final Four for the city. Georgia Tech President Bud Peterson and John Rutledge, vice president of market unit sales operations for Coca-Cola, addressed the crowd before Reed.

Reed said more than 100,000 people are expected to travel to Atlanta for the Final Four games, which is expected to generate $70 million in economic activity for places such as hotels and restaurants.

“This tournament brings energy and excitement,” he said. “And you can feel it when you go outside.”

Earlier in the press conference, Dan Gavitt, vice president of men’s basketball championships for the NCAA, talked about the significance of holding the 75th NCAA Tournament in Atlanta. This year also marks the first time the Division-II and Division-III championship games are being played in the same city.

Gavitt said 7,500 pairs of shoes and 2,500 food boxes will be distributed to people in need throughout Atlanta with the help of local groups. The NCAA will work with another group to refurbish a local community center, he said.

“We, along with the local organizing committee at the NCAA, are excited to leave a lasting legacy here in Atlanta through a number of initiatives,” he said.

Young, the U.S. ambassador for the U.N. and a civil rights activist, was the last person to speak at the conference. He spoke freely, not reading from a prepared speech.

Young spoke about the role of sports in society, which he said extends “far beyond that which anything anybody could imagine.” He cited the ability for a table tennis match to change foreign policy, and then joked that if the North Koreans played basketball, problems could be solved very quickly.

Another example of the effect of sports in society he provided was with the civil rights movement, saying Martin Luther King Jr. “grew up” in the Butler Street YMCA.

“Even in our movement, and particularly as we went around the country trying to organize young people for nonviolent activities, we found that the only way you could catch up with them was quite often on a basketball court,” Young said. “And they wouldn’t listen to you until you got in the game with them.”

He ended the conference by going back to the positive effects the tournament will have on the city.

Said Young: “Here for the next few days, the world will be focused on Atlanta, as much as it has, I think, since the Olympics in 1996.”

Published on April 5, 2013 at 1:46 am

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum