Am I Mad? All the Best People Are.

I wouldn’t call myself the biggest basketball fan in the world. Not even close. While I do prefer college football to any other sport to watch, there’s this thing about March that puts me in a better mood. The NCAA Tournament is so different from any other championship-ish effort put on by other sports. You simply have the best 64 teams in college basketball, single elimination, playing for 2 weeks to win the national championship. If you play well during the season, you get seeded higher in the tournament, which doesn’t always mean a whole lot, but it helps. I remember calling my Mom in the airport during our layover coming home from Ireland. The bracket selection show had just started and she didn’t even say “Hey” or “Are you back safe?” The first thing she said was “Duke got a #1 seed in the tournament!” That’s how much my family loves Duke basketball, and since they are always in the running for the national title, March Madness will always get me pumped. This year I decided to do an office bracket competition. They all got a little upset because they thought I was only doing it so I could win the prize. But the coolest thing about the tournament is that any and every team has the chance to win it. Teams who have made it to the past several Final Fours aren’t even in it this year. Teams like Butler can play teams like Duke and UCONN for the national championship. So really all bets are off when March gets here, and that’s really exciting to watch. Luckily Winthrop has a new coach coming in next year, so hopefully we’ll get some more shots at the tournament and I can get back to camping out in front of my TV on Thursday in my Winthrop gear. As for this year, I’ve got Kentucky winning it all, as much as that pains me to say out loud. Here’s to the rest of the month!