March Madness

I haven't watched much basketball for the last few years. I enjoy it, but it takes too much attention. It's easier to grade or surf or do crosswords during football, which is about 90% inaction, and 3/4 of the rest is replays.

However, I do love the first weekend of the Men's Division I basketball tournament. Forty-eight games in four days, all incredibly important. Switching from one close game to another, an upset always brewing, and often happening. It's much more fun than, say, the actual Final Four, which is usually two number one seeds, a number two, and a number 4. Some years, there's a "Cinderella" in the form of a number 6.

Unfortunately, the biggest upset so far this year has been one I wasn't rooting for. I've always been a Big Ten fan. Grandpa Jogger grew up rooting for one Big Ten school, and went to another. I've almost always lived in a Big Ten state, and in fact have two degrees from Big Ten schools myself. So, Iowa got shocked by somebody called "Northwestern State" -- there's a "Northwestern State"? -- and Wisconsin (one of my alma maters) went down. Right now, I'm watching Michigan State (Grandpa Jogger's alma mater) lose to a guy called George Mason. Oh, well, that is, as they say, the way the ball bounces.