March Madness

My interest in the annual NCAA men's basketball tournament started in 1978 with final from the Checkerdome in St. Louis when Jack Givens scored 41 points as Kentucky beat Duke to win the championship. I became a fan for life. The annual 3 week ritual affectionately known as March Madness has been turned into a holiday for me. Every year I take the Thurs and Fri off to watch 12-15 hours of basketball.

My bucket list goal is to go to a first and second round site and indulge in the atmosphere of the moment. I will reach this goal within the next 3 years. For the last 17 years I have been filling out my brackets and hoping like everyone else that by Thursday night they haven't been totally busted. About 10 years ago I finished in the top 1,000 on ESPN bracket challenge. The challenge where millions of entries are submitted each year.

Let's back up a bit, my love of basketball started in 1978 with that championship game and I was cut from the high school basketball team. The coach asked me to be his student manager. I was the manager for 2 years and subsequently the university basketball teams manager for 5 years.

In those days I took losses personally. I would slam doors, bang basketballs against walls, throw water bottles. I let my emotions get the better of me. Even watching the games on TV I would yell at the screen, swear at the refs. You did not want to be around me when I was watching a game back then. Now I enjoy the game root for the underdog and applaud good plays on both teams

A lifetime of lasting memories and lifetime friendships was the best part about being involved with those teams. Thirty-two years ago, our team made the national final four. We were treated like rock stars, I as the team manager was even signing autographs for the kids after practice. We lost the semi final game, however, won the 3rd place game. We completed the greatest year to year turn around in Canadian history.

The reason why I love the game is the fraternity, brotherhood that you gain from your teammates, opponents. Even years later you run into a former teammate, opponent, ref or coach and you pick up the stories, the friendship the games the rivalry like it was yesterday. Not only this, you can talk to anyone in the world about March madness. It binds us all together. Everyone will have a different view, a different favorite team, a different way to fill out a bracket. That is the essence of March madness. This years tournament will be no different. My favorite team is Kentucky however, this year my allegiance is summed up in 2 words Go Zags.