Oh My Madness
Greatest Rivalry in Sports
So its March and there’s this little basketball tournament out there that will begin in a matter of hours. As some of you know I’m kind of a fan of this event so I thought I’d take some time this morning to explain the beauty, craziness and sheer excitement that will occur over the next few weeks.
Unless you’ve physically been to a US college “anything” game, you really can’t say you know what true fans are. I apologize to Canadians who think watching the NHL, CFL or that sad collegiate level of sports they have in this country is in any way similar, but you could not be more wrong. Nothing against the competition or the followings each team has in this country, but it’s just not the same.
This year’s NCAA Basketball Tournament is a bit of a strange one for me. I’m used to going into this tournament with a set few favorites (UW, Gonzaga, Arizona, Valpo, IU, UNLV and Fresno State), but this year I can’t really say I’ve got an all-out favorite team to take it all, which in my case is a good thing because I’m usually involved in about 60 brackets. So without further ado, here are my 3 winners and the reasons why I chose them.
Bracket 1 – UNC
Psycho-T is probably my favorite player to come out of North Carolina not named Air. His tenacity, good nature and sheer effort levels are like Rudy trying to make the special teams squad at Notre Dame. UNC is well coached and they’ve got a trio of guards/wings that can burn anyone at any time in Ellington, Green and Lawson. That, and the president picked them to win yesterday so this is my way of supporting American politics.
Bracket 2 – U-Dub
Love the Pac-10. Hands down, this is the most entertaining conference in the country. Okay, so maybe I’m a bit biased, but when a team has to go through the likes of Arizona, UCLA, Stanford, USC, ASU, Oregon and Cal in any given year, you have to respect that. This year’s team is the veteran team we’ve all been waiting for. The core players are a few years older now and super JC-transfer Isaiah Thomas (no not that Isiah) has been spectacular. Dawn some purple this week and see what happens. Go Huskies!
Isaiah Thomas
Bracket 3 – Kansas
You can probably tell that I’ve only chosen one number 1 seed to come away with it all and its teams like KU that prevent me from taking the easy route. The Defending Champs are not only an experienced bunch, but they’ve got a beast down the middle with Cole Aldrich. The super soph (and BFF of Blake Griffin) has emerged as a rebounding whore jumping around and grabbing anything and everything around him of late. His post game is a bit raw, but you can see it starting to develop. Rock Chalk Jay Hawk!
Cole Aldrich
So those are my picks this year. I don’t really want to go into all of the brackets I’ve filled out, but you can get the idea that there really isn’t any method to this madness. Just pick, pray and pile up the disappointment. Before I go I want to make sure I give proper shout out to some teams that didn’t make the tourney this year but I hope to see them do well next season.
Indiana (IU) – Rough year for the Hooisers, don’t worry Kristy, you’ll be back
Davidson - Steph Curry brings some star power to the NIT
Hawaii - Going to miss cheering for the Rainbows
Oregon - No quacking this year….
about 2 years ago
I tried to make a bracket yesterday but I was so torn I just couldn’t go through and complete it – what kind of bracket is it if you can’t at least make one with the Hoosiers going through to the final four!??!
Alas, I will now silently cry at my desk and think back to 2002 and when we made it to the final game… only to loose – and the cops had to come out with their tear gas – this was also the same tournament that I introduced my mother to ‘pass the pitcher’ at one of the local bars while we cheered on the Hoosiers….
about 4 months ago
whoah this blog is excellent i love reading your articles. Keep up the great work! You know, a lot of people are looking around for this info, you can help them greatly.