Let the Madness Begin...

I have always been OBSESSED with March Madness, ever since I was a little kid. Having grown up with a dad who loves the game of basketball as much as he loves his children, I was a frequent camper at the Northwestern Wildcats program (who? yeah, no tourney for them), and played ever since I can remember through high school. Even made it to the State tourney our senior year on a buzzer beater (alas, not mine, that honor would go to our star, Julie Anderson). I was a shooting guard, could knock down the 3, a decent defender, but played with a bunch of talented players so I got to go along for the ride.

Since height wasn't on my side, I had a knack for partying, and, well, I simply wasn't good enough (don't feel bad for me, my college life was pretty darn good, my friends and I area reigning champs of the senior year bar crawl, see below), college hoops at a Big Ten powerhouse was, let's just say, not in the cards... so I live vicariously through all the awesome college kids during basketball season (not NBA, ugh, unless I'm in Salt Lake watching the Utah Jazz wearing my now vintage Carlos Boozer jersey with my brother), most especially the tournament.

Every year I overdose on expert opinions and comparative analyses to try to come up with a winning bracket. I always overthink, and never win. I can't even beat my husband who makes his picks in about 3 minutes flat.

But for the love of March Madness, I repeat my failed strategy year after year.

This year, I've got Ohio State (GASP, I hate the Buckeyes, but love the good people of Columbus) taking it all - playing Pitt in the final game after beating Connecticut and Pitt knocking out Kansas. I typically like to take Pitt far for no apparent reason, but they've failed me year after year, so I'm reworking the game plan. I suppose I could have pulled an Obama and picked all #1s but what fun is that... Moorehead State (who?) just knocked off powerhouse Louisville. That's what I love about March, you never know what you're going to get.

And so another year of failed picks (I've already lost Old Dominion and Louisville), but total excitement watching buzzer beaters, tears of joy and sorrow, and 1 group of about 20 guys, a coach, and dedicated fans taking home the crown from the Big Dance. Badgers don't stand a chance this year, but I did take them two rounds thanks to nostalgia despite their hideous performance in the conference tournament.

Some year I'll fulfill my dream of heading out to Vegas for the first round games - Dan, this would be one of those cool opportunities to surprise me with a last minute trip where you've worked out all the details and I just get to pack in 5 minutes.  But let's face it I'm 30 weeks pregnant and Vegas isn't atop my list right now - maybe next year. So, let the games begin... I may even dust out the old Buckeye necklace given to me by some nice OSU fan back in my Columbus days... ha, never.