What's that sound??

I love March Madness. I do. I love college basketball. It's my second favorite sport. Hockey is first. I love filling out my bracket and watching the games and filling in the winners and seeing teams make it to the next round. I love upsets!! It's awesome to watch some seemingly unknown school beat a powerhouse. This year as I was filling out my brackets I kept saying to Steve, there's something not right about this. I know I'm going to be getting things WRONG! I'm not saying that I get them all right...but I can usually hold my own.

This year --- not so much. Here's my Final Four --- Kansas, Kansas State, Villanova and Kentucky. That sound? Yeah, the toilet flushing. That being said I'm LOVING this tournament - lots of really close games, overtime and upsets. It's classic for what the tournament is, can bring and create. Teamwork, excellence and excitement! I love it. Who did you pick for your Final Four?? (Oh, and I picked Kentucky to win... oh well... who's your winner too?)

So...yeah...could it be true???

So...last year, shortly after I arrived in Salem, the church staff participated in a friendly round of March Madness Bracket-Mania. I like doing brackets and trying to figure it all out. I confess - I don't watch a ton of basketball, but CLEARLY like college ball over pro ball any day. (Don't get me started...) I typically start paying attention close to the regional tournaments...yeah, right before the brackets come out. But I really do like March Madness a lot. We've watched much less since the kids have come along, but I do LOVE watching college ball (I mentioned that already). OK - Long story short - last year it came down to the final game. The top two spots had chosen different teams to win. Yep, I was one of the final two, and my team, Florida, pulled it out and won...and I won March Madness Bracket-Mania 2007. Fast forward a year. Again, we enter into the land of Bracket-Mania. Another frenzy to complete the bracket - oh who will win?? I just don't know...so flip through, make my choices and wait. Going into Final Four Weekend I was #5 out of 15. Not a terrible spot, but not great. The ONLY chance I had was for...UNC and UCLA to lose...and for KANSAS to win! WOO!HOO!! I couldn't believe it! What was the likelihood...I mean, yeah, I chose it to happen...but...at sweet 16, I just didn't know...I was hoping really hard... Man, it was a good final game. I honestly thought Memphis was gonna do it...but, leave it to an amazing steal, and a momentum change (and the foul out of a key Memphis player just before overtime), and missed free throws, and a key 3, and the pieces fell into place for a repeat. Thanks Kansas!! I'm feeling the pressure of a 3-peat now...hmmmmmmmmmm.....