It's that time of the month...err...year again

by user Debo

March is upon us, and with it comes what is probably best few days of the year other than Christmas. Watching intriguing matchups, rooting for underdogs, close finishes, last-second shots, and everything in between glues us to the TV for four whole days. Yes, it's the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Every year, however, it seems like I get more and more angry and frustrated every time I watch the tourney. Of course, this has to do with the trivial brackets we fill out. Sure, there's not much at stake, except for pride, and you may enter a few token $5 pools at work or with your friends. Unfortunately, for the past couple years, my bracket has just sucked. I can't explain it, because I'm a pretty basketball-savvy guy. I pay close attention to college hoops, and I make sure I keep my eye on sleepers from mid-major conferences. But it seems like every time I pick an upset, it never happens, and every time I'm sure of a higher seed winning, they promptly lose.

Duke gets me every year. I'm a Duke junkie, which often gets me a lot of crap. They pull a 1 or 2 seed about every year, and combined with the fact that I'm slightly biased towards the Blue Devils I always pick them to go far in the tourney, but they always disappoint. I think it was four straight years (before this year) that they got knocked out in the Sweet 16? Something like that.

You'd think I wouldn't make the same mistake this year. They've struggled all year, they're young, they don't have a go-to guy, etc. You'd think that would force me to make some rational decisions when I'm filling out my bracket. But of course, emotions got the best of me and I just couldn't bring myself to eliminate Duke before the Elite Eight. And what do they do today? Lose to Virginia Commonwealth.

I picked Davidson over Maryland. They hung with them and even outplayed them in the first 35 minutes, but couldn't pull out the victory. I picked Oral Roberts over Washington State. ORU was leading at the half, but choked down the stretch. I picked George Washington to beat Vanderbilt, who promptly stomped the Colonials by 33. I lost on all four of the toss-up games (7 v 10 or 8 v 9)...Texas Tech, Gonzaga, Marquette, and BYU all lost.

And again, like almost every year, I go to bed on the night of the first tournament almost wishing it was over. I can't stand to watch my bracket fall apart every year, and I even let that get in the way of enjoying great games (the Duke/VCU game, for instance). I'm not sure Friday, which happens to be my birthday, is going to bring me any better fortune, but I've learned now not to count on it.

Seeing my mother consistently beating me in pools over the past few years has almost caused me to give up on brackets (and life). Why do the college basketball gods insist on torturing me? Maybe next year I adopt the "colors and mascots" strategy.