March Madness Part 1

Every single year it's the same sequence of events. I get extremely excited for March Madness, to the point that I'm close to rabid by the time the conference tournaments are over. I sit down in front of the television to watch the Selection Sunday specials, and immediately begin filling out my ill-fated brackets and shelling out dough to numerous poll-runners in hopes of hitting it big with my picks.

Then, Thursday afternoon comes, and I'm totally convinced that my bracket is the best of anyone that I'm associated with, and probably in the nation. I tell myself that those five dollars I gave to my roommate to get into his points poll is going to come back to me in the form of one of those gigantic cardboard checks you always see Tiger Woods walking around with. The clock strikes noon, and the first round of games begins.

This is usually where it begins to go downhill. I can never seem to find the right formula for my brackets. I'll pick way too many upsets on a year when there aren't very many in the first round (i.e. last weekend), or vice-versa. Then, on Friday I'll lose more games. Somewhere in the second or third rounds, the team I pick to win it all will lose to a team like George Mason or The University of Buffalo Not New York But New Mexico State Community College.

Every year by the time the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight weekend come around, I'm saying the same thing: "Oh well, I don't care who wins anymore. I'm just looking for some upsets."

In all of the years that I've filled out brackets, I have never won a cent. I've never even gotten my entry money back. It forces me to ask myself why I keep doing it. I could say I'm a devoted college basketball fan, or that I'm just competitive, but I think it might be nurturing a deep-down addiction to gambling.

What if that's the case, and as I grow older, I begin to bet on everything? I'm studying journalism, which means I'll most likely make less than $50,000 a year. I can't exactly afford the high-stakes Blackjack table.

Of course, everything that I wrote is a joke. March Madness is something to look forward to during the dead of an Erie winter. It symbolizes the coming of spring, the days when you can actually take the roundball--gasp--outdoors! March Madness improves morale and gives kids nation-wide a reason to skip school and to get excited about kids that are our age ceasing the national spotlight.

Most importantly, betting on March Madness gives me a reason to get excited about the tournament when my Florida Gators didn't even make the cut.

Unfortunately, I'm excited no more, because I'm as inept at filling out a bracket as I am at doing a math problem.