Bracket-ology

Before things get too out of hand (This Florida/BYU game is a little too close for comfort) I figured all 6 of the people reading this would like to know how I'm netting out in my first bracket.

Rather than your typical red X's and yellow high-lighting, I opted for a much warmer combination of Purple for wins and blue for losses.  Makes it much more enjoyable to look at, don't you agree?

Read it & Weep

Yep, you heard it.  For the first time in my LIFE I have entered into the basketball bracket at work.  It's SUPER high tech.  All I remember about brackets is my dad driving around with all of his hard copy print outs of his 10 different brackets with marks in red where he messed up and teams circled that he picked right.

MY bracket is electronic and all I had to do was click on the name of the team I wanted to win (that's right, the team I want to win.  Surely you don't think I pick this based on who will probably win, do you?) and it automatically populates.  So cute.  And fun!

So here's my bracket - read it and weep.

Potential Awkward moments to come:

Sweet 16 - Ohio State vs. UNC - You know I'm a closet Carolina fan and I happen to live with an open Carolina fan.  Sorry Court, I'm buying Gracie an Ohio State bandanna!

Semi-finals - Although I picked Kansas to beat Florida, I might secretly be hoping Florida wins.  I would love nothing more than Ohio State to beat the pants off of them in the National Championship.

National Championship Game - It might become awkward the number of times I refer to this game as "the dance."  See, I've always called the football national championship "the dance" - which it isn't.  Now that I'll actually be watching, I'll be throwing this lingo around like it's going out of style.

Dare I say it?  I'm excited!!!

Turning a new leaf

Nope, you're wrong.  I'm NOT going to comment about Jim Tressell's suspension.  And I'm not going to comment about the possible allegations at Oregon.  I'm sick, sick, sick of all this mess.  It's ridiculous and terrible.

Instead, I'm going to make a very serious confession:

I. watched. a. College. Basketball. Game.

I mean, I REALLY watched it.  As in, went to my fave game-watching location in Richmond with my dad on Sunday (Love me some Home Team Grill) decked out in OSU gear, ate chicken fingers, drank Blue Moon and cheered.  I guess it also didn't hurt that Ohio State beat the pants off of Wisconsin...

There's a lot of fun things to consider when watching college basketball (a sensible championship system, weather-control, only 2 half's) but here are a few areas where I think it's lacking:

Camaraderie - There really isn't a "tailgating" scene in basketball.  It's winter, after all.  So, I think you miss out on all of the fun and smack-talk that happens before and after games.

Week-day games - Football games are on Saturdays (with a Thursday night game thrown in here and there...) Basketball games are mostly during the week.  For example, Ohio State plays today at noon. Um, hello?  I'm going to miss the game due to a little thing I like to call, work.  Fail on Basketball's part.

Number of games - I mean, 3-4 games a week is exhausting for fans!

That being said, I feel I've turned a corner in the fact that I watched an entire game and really enjoyed it.  I MIGHT even pay to be in a bracket this year....Come on, I said MIGHT!

2011 Tour of Stadiums

That's right everyone, things are starting to book up FAST!  

I just got the most AMAZING news that I'll be sporting purple & gold for one week this year at the LSU / Florida game in Death Valley.

I pretty much have the best dad on all of planet Earth.

Geau Tigers!