March Badness
Blogging from the lounge at Dulles Airport this evening...
Never mind that it's already early April--in the college basketball world, it's still March Madness. Things are so much busier with Mädchen, not to mention with life in general, that I've watched a lot less of the tournament this year than in the past. Not that I'm complaining, of course--it beats the ZERO amount of the tournament that I got to watch when we were in Switzerland, so everything is relative. Tonight is the final game and I realized that I'm going to miss it, so I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts while waiting to board my flight to London.
Anyway, most years I have the same hopes for the tourney, and this year is no different. In no particular order:
(1) I want Duke to do well (I know everyone hates them, but after spending a couple of years there I'm loyal);
(2) I want North Carolina to do poorly (sort of the converse of (1) above);
(3) I want UCLA to do well (same reason as (1) above);
(4) It's nice to see small schools do well, especially where I have some sort of connection; and
(5) Despite always doing terribly, I'd like to do well in my bracket pools.
So how'd this year go?
(1) Duke underachieved again, bowing out to lower-seeded West Virginia in the second round;
(2) UNC made it to the Final Four (argh!), but at least they lost to Kansas and didn't make it to the championship game (phew!);
(3) UCLA made it to the Final Four (phew!), but lost once they got there to Memphis (argh!);
(4) How about the University of San Diego (not my alma mater, but a hometown school nonetheless, and an underdog to boot) pulling off a big upset of UConn? Davidson was a nice story, too; and
(5) I entered two pools this year. In the bigger one, I picked Kansas to win it all. I'm still alive in that sense, although I still don't think I have enough points built up to finish in the money (not that bracket pools are a form of gambling). In the smaller pool, I picked UCLA to win, but despite them being out I'm still somehow in the lead. If Kansas wins tonight, someone else will pass me, but if Memphis wins, I take the grand prize, which has never happened before and almost assuredly will never happen again. So I guess I have to pull for Memphis, even if the winnings will be small (not that bracket pools are a form of gambling). Of course, my saying that just guaranteed victory for Kansas.
Never mind that it's already early April--in the college basketball world, it's still March Madness. Things are so much busier with Mädchen, not to mention with life in general, that I've watched a lot less of the tournament this year than in the past. Not that I'm complaining, of course--it beats the ZERO amount of the tournament that I got to watch when we were in Switzerland, so everything is relative. Tonight is the final game and I realized that I'm going to miss it, so I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts while waiting to board my flight to London.
Anyway, most years I have the same hopes for the tourney, and this year is no different. In no particular order:
(1) I want Duke to do well (I know everyone hates them, but after spending a couple of years there I'm loyal);
(2) I want North Carolina to do poorly (sort of the converse of (1) above);
(3) I want UCLA to do well (same reason as (1) above);
(4) It's nice to see small schools do well, especially where I have some sort of connection; and
(5) Despite always doing terribly, I'd like to do well in my bracket pools.
So how'd this year go?
(1) Duke underachieved again, bowing out to lower-seeded West Virginia in the second round;
(2) UNC made it to the Final Four (argh!), but at least they lost to Kansas and didn't make it to the championship game (phew!);
(3) UCLA made it to the Final Four (phew!), but lost once they got there to Memphis (argh!);
(4) How about the University of San Diego (not my alma mater, but a hometown school nonetheless, and an underdog to boot) pulling off a big upset of UConn? Davidson was a nice story, too; and
(5) I entered two pools this year. In the bigger one, I picked Kansas to win it all. I'm still alive in that sense, although I still don't think I have enough points built up to finish in the money (not that bracket pools are a form of gambling). In the smaller pool, I picked UCLA to win, but despite them being out I'm still somehow in the lead. If Kansas wins tonight, someone else will pass me, but if Memphis wins, I take the grand prize, which has never happened before and almost assuredly will never happen again. So I guess I have to pull for Memphis, even if the winnings will be small (not that bracket pools are a form of gambling). Of course, my saying that just guaranteed victory for Kansas.
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