March Madness

I have to confess that when it comes to watching sports I was raised with the same approach as some have with religious services. I'm there for the Christmases, Hanukkahs, and Kwanzaas of major sports: Super Bowl, World Series, US Open, the World's Strongest Man competition (Fingal's Fingers, anyone?), etc. To my credit, though, I have personally grown to watch and cheer on teams via family (Michigan State), marriage (I can't believe how much Nebraska Husker and Tom Osbourne knowledge I have absorbed these past years), and proximity (how can we not root for the Gamecocks, when we can see the stadium from our house?). And of course, ever since getting involved with MMA, I love watching the bouts on UFC or Strikeforce. Finally, (and some may consider this not a great reason to watch sports) I'm glued to games when I've got money involved, whether it's a bet, football pool, or...March Madness.

I blew my brackets early this year on St. Patrick's Day, i.e., the first round, argh. But we're still sucked into the tourney, however, especially with some stunning upsets. And as usual, I'm rooting for the underdogs. At this point, there's a possibility there will be a 11 seed team in the final game and if not, an 8 seed. Is this a Cinderella story yet?

Also, much respect has to be given to the Women's tourney. Unfortunately, there is hardly ever any madness in the Women's tourney. This year, though, major credit to Gonzaga, the first 11 seed to reach the Elite 8. Sadly, their journey ended with a huge loss to Stanford. And the other surprise was seeing Tennessee get crushed by Notre Dame, especially after seeing the clip of Pat Summitt in the halftime locker room before Tennessee rallied back from losing to beat Ohio State: "It makes me sick to my stomach!" I vote for Jane Lynch if a movie is ever made about Pat Summitt. Looking at the Final Four (all 1 and 2 seeds, as usual) it looks like there may be a rematch of the fateful game where Stanford broke UConn's win streak, which should make it really good.

Looking forward to the Final Four games in both the Men's and Women's tourney this weekend. What can I say, sometimes it's nice to watch a game without fretting about losing money.