March 22nd, 2012 by CrispRoot

They call it March Madness.  I agree with the name, but only because the NCAA Basketball Tournament tends to drive me nuts.

Why?  Well…

Unlike a lot of people, I’m just not a big basketball fan –  and I’m even less of a college basketball fan.

The tournament pre-empts one of my favorite TV shows, Big Bang Theory, for several weeks.  I think that show is hilarious, and I like my weekly ration of laughs.

The tournament is about all they’ll talk about on ESPN for a solid month – while I, a huge baseball fan, would much rather hear about Spring Training.

OK, enough about why I dislike March Madness.  I have to admit, there are some aspects to it that I like.

“Like what,” you ask?

I like that every year, several g ames are decided by a crazy, last second shot that has no prayer of going in, but does anyway.

I like it when a 15th seed like Lehigh bumps off a 2nd seed like Duke… Correction: I love it when that happens.

I like it when the talking heads on TV get proven wrong again and again and again.  They get so serious and so self important with their “expert” prognostications*, and so upset when those prognostications* go wrong.  *like that word?  It’ll win you some serious points in Scrabble!

Despite my annoyance at the whole thing, year in and year out, in lemming-like fashion, I too join the hordes that fill out a bracket sheet.  I tend to smile a lot when my picks come out right, because unlike those who make a science out of it, I spend about five minutes filling out my bracket – and I always seem to pick one or two huge upsets that come true.

Speaking of, I have to admit that I used to get annoyed when a former boss of mine always won the office pool where I worked.  She had absolutely zero clue about any of it, picking teams because she liked the name or the mascot.  Her sole goal in participating was to build office unity and teamwork.   Alas, that goal always got wiped out when she took our money.

OK, OK, OK… enough of all that.  I know a lot of you are serious college hoops fans and “bracketologists”.  I also know some are merely casual fans, while a few are probably more like me.  I also know some of you are like my former boss (grrr…)   Regardless, it seems most everyone gives in and fills out a bracket… so here’s the challenge: post who you picked to win it all this year… and tell us how you arrived at your prognostication.  Whatever the method, let’s see if any CrispRooter gets it right this year!  (and I’m serious, folks… that word will win you most any Scrabble game you play in!!)

 

Related posts:

1. CrispRooter of the Month – March 2011
2. For Baseball Fans, October Is A Fun, Exhilarating, Bittersweet Time Of Year