Today is my favorite and least favorite day in sports.
It's the day when I realize I've invested far too much in tournament pools, but I don't care. Because it's the first day of March (can we say it?) Madness. Uh oh, a phalanx of lawyers from CBS just arrived at my door.
The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is the best because you have wall-to-wall basketball games and people are asking "Where's Creighton?" (Omaha, Nebraska my friends)
And, thanks to Google, I no longer have to defend my argument that Gonzaga is in Spokane, Washington, not California, and their team name is the Bulldogs, not "The Zags." You have no idea how many people have been willing to fight me to the death over that one in years past.
In the end, I don't really care about my brackets because I've filled out so many that I'm rooting for every team (except, of course, IU, Duke and Notre Dame).
I usually do well until the Sweet 16, when my crazy picks start falling apart. But, hey, you've got to be different to win these things (of course, I have Kentucky winning it all like almost everyone else).
My craziest pick this year? Duke losing to Lehigh. It will never happen. But I hate Duke that much.
Ok, so let's get away from the brackets and talk about the tournament itself, which is, perhaps, the greatest drama sports has to offer (I would rank the World Cup just a notch higher, but I'm weird).
BEST NAME EVER: Each year, the tournament introduces us to a crop of players from around the world with some interesting names, but, in my book, none have ever come close to 6'6" point guard God Shamgod. And if you think his name is blasphemous, consider this: he led the Providence Friars to an Elite Eight appearance in the mid '90s (doesn't get any holier than that).
WORST TOURNAMENT MOMENT: The Laettner shot. I'm glad that he's now an assistant high school coach in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is apparently $30 million in debt.
RUNNER UP: Purdue as a No. 1 seed losing to Georgia in the second round in 1996.
BEST TOURNAMENT MOMENTS: There have been several of these. Of course, Kentucky's championships in 1996 and 1998. Georgia Tech's Final Four run with "Lethal Weapon 3" in 1990. Purdue's run to the Elite Eight in 1994 and again in (I think) 2000 as a low seed. Duke's loss to Cal in 1993. Going to the first rounds of the tournament in Nashville in 1993 and watching UK play, going to Lexington in 1994 and watching Purdue play. Every IU and Duke loss ever, and every Bobby Knight press conference meltdown after a first or second round loss by the Loosiers.
Enjoy the tourney, everyone. Go Cats, Boiler up, or whatever your battle cry is, enjoy the Madness. (All right, all right, I'll stop saying it. Where do I sign, lawyer guy?)
Bonus: As I recall, Shammgod and Austin Croshere put the hurt on Duke on their way to that Elite Eight! I had picked Provy in my bracket that year to do as well, and was listening to that game during spring break somewhere on the cursed backroads of Ohio...
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