Brackets

It's Monday, have you figured out your brackets, yet?

Maybe more than the 'NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament' itself, the next three weekends are all about the bracket sheet and whether the school you never heard of from the SWAC can take down another team from the MAC or WAC or maybe the PAC... 12.

Just watching the NCAAs has been a big thing for me for many years - dating back to 1987 when we had

cable television for the first time and the first two rounds were broadcast on ESPN.  I took Thursday and Friday off of work and watched the games non-stop - from noon until midnight each day.

I lived and worked in Pierre, South Dakota and for the two following years part of my NCAA tourney watching involved a lot of Zest-o.  That was the name of a great little ice cream shop where I could get a 32 ounce malt.  Mmmmm, at that time I could consume that amount of malt without any real weight gain.

Liking milk shakes like I do, it's too bad those days are over, but my love for the tournament continues, and I am taking off the afternoons this Thursday and Friday again to watch as much of each game as I can, and chart the progress on my bracket.

Yes, that's right - as much as I've loved it, I've never spent much time trying to guess whether Boise State will beat LaSalle, and if they do (my sister's family lived in Boise, so I have to root for them), can they beat Kansas State?  Of course, I'm for the Badgers... so my hope is a Wisconsin - Kansas State match-up since I think Wisconsin will be better suited to handle a team from a major conference.  Marquette is another Wisconsin team I like (they won the NCAA in 1977 when I was in 8th grade) and like watching play, they would only play the Badgers in the Final Four (so, not likely).

But, this year I will take a turn at filling out a bracket or two.  It's a nearly impossible feat - there's a reason Yahoo offers $5 million to the person with a 'perfect' bracket - to get each game right.  The more likely possibility is getting the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight correct as the cream rises to the top.

But this year should be a lot of fun to watch as upsets are expected - I love the upsets - although would rather not see them happen to 'my' team.

The First Round games start Tuesday and Wednesday with two games each - then thirty-games each on Thursday and Friday.

Bring it On!   (And feel free to deliver a milkshake.)