Thursday, March 17, 2005

March Madness Sets In

Hey Soul Mates,
how are you? Happy St. Patrick's Day.

I've been busy here on the internet. I've been putting together the promotional materials for our upcoming show at the Gig on April 7. Updating our myspace group. Doing some publishing work with BMI online. It's been productive.

I'm still waiting for a break through on some of my new songs. The music is completed. Melodies are in place. Just checking all the frequencies for themes, thoughts and words. Those will come soon enough. Usually in a flood.

OK, so why the March Madness? It's March Madness Bay-Beeeee as Dickie V. would say. Who's Dickie V? Why Dick Vitale, the college basketball guru. The first day of the Men's NCAA basketball tourney began today. I managed to watch a tip off before running to work; a half of a game at lunch; and the various feeds after work. My brackets haven't been busted yet. All of my Sweet 16 teams are still in the running. We'll see how long that lasts. I actually finished "in the money" 5 years ago in a large pool. That would be fun to repeat. The teams I'm actually cheering for are Georgia Tech, my brother's alma mater and Wisconsin, my cousin Ben's old school. Having spent a weekend in Madison, I know those people love the Badgers. Their mascot, Bucky, is one of the best in sports. Don't know what his % is from the 3.

My old school is in the second-tier NIT. They tore up their opposition yesterday. And in the next round they are actually playing a meaningful game on campus. Something they never did when I attended. I was talking to my homeboy Chris during the games tonight and he's a Bball freek. I am too, usually, but this year, I haven't had as much time to devote to following hoops. Maybe next year: when my team's in the Big Dance.

I have followed the NCAA's (as they are lovingly called) since that fateful year Magic Johnson and the Spartans stuck it to Larry Bird's Sycamores. Each March since, I have enjoyed filling out the brackets and tracking the progress of schools that most people never hear about: Davidson; Bucknell; Manhattan; Pacific; Evansville. Or local schools with little chance of advancing: Cleveland State (which actually beat Indiana in '85); Jacksonville University. There would be colleges I'd latch onto midseason sure they'd be the chic pick: Mississippi State; Arizona; Pepperdine! I'm not sure why. Each year I followed selection Sunday and would try to keep pace by writing down the 32 first round match-ups. That's unnecessary now, 'cause the information is instantaneously released on the web. Science!

What makes the NCAA's so exciting in the early rounds, what no amount of technology can spoil, is seeing these unknowns all with a fresh chance to have an impact, to extend their season, to make history. It's like the beginning of the baseball season (more on that soon): hope springing eternal. Upsets are fun. As long as they don't ruin your brackets. Watching a favorite run the table is pretty awesome. Provided you picked 'em. Usually, events fall somewhere in between. Like tonight, when bottom ranked Fairleigh-Dickinson held #1 in the country Illinois to a tie game at the half. How exciting for the folks from FDU. For 20 minutes, they ran with the big boys. Or #10 seed Creighton giving the rock to their main man, Nate Funk, with the game on the line and he misses a trey at the buzzer. Ouch.

Every year a Cinderella, every year a Goliath, every year a Hero, every year a Goat. But what a rush!

Love, Power, Peace

(That's my cue to get back to work!)

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