It’s Here….the Ides of March!

It’s Here….the Ides of March!

March Madness!

Tourney Time!

Bracketology at it’s best!

 College Basketball Tourney that is…and yes, my continual support of the Kansas Jayhawks!

I am sure for those of you who are not sports fans….have decided I am off my rocker to be to excited and “into” College Basketball Tournaments.

For the next three week-ends (beginning on Thursday)…I will be living eating and breathing Basketball.

I will not miss a game….I will be cheering and jeering and the usual “fan” stuff.

I will be checking my brackets, (I have filled out two) hoping my chosen teams will win…but then I have never been able to pick all the winners.

I have come close…but never, have I picked all the winners. 🙁

First there are 68 teams….16 teams in each of the Midwest, East, South and West Regions.

Below is the Midwest part of the Bracket and Kansas, ranked #2 paired with New Mexico State ranked #15 towards the bottom of the bracket. (Do you catch the irony in that pairing?…..we lived in New Mexico for years)

You might say, why haven’t you been able to pick all the winners…since you intently study and watch the games?

Simple reasoning.

Human predictability!

It is very difficult to determine how college basketball players will play on any given day.

If they have played a rough game the night before…they can either be too tired for the next game or they can play even better because they played the night before and are all “revved” up. 

Sometimes there are exceptional players who play un-exceptional. Perhaps they are not feeling good or they have received sad news or they are just tired.

Perhaps they have lost their confidence because their last 3 attempted baskets have been air-balls.

Perhaps they will play too tough and hard and end up fouling out of the game at a critical moment.

Bottom line, it is a team sport. It takes all five of the players and the bench and the Coach to all be on the same page at the same time.

Human predictability!

It doesn’t always happen.

That is what makes watching the games so exciting!

The term “Cinderella Team” was coined as the least likely team to be invited to the “Dance” of March Madness, AND the team to win games well into the bracket. The Cinderella Team is the X-Factor…the most unpredictable of teams.

Yes, there are many factors that keep the heart pumping and the synergy flowing through all the games of the tournament.

However, there is one thing that could zap the energy and send one into a downward spiral…..losing early in the tournament.

Yep!…that is when one usually packs away the team jerseys, the pom poms, the team banners and the Cheese Puffs! 

Zealous fans will still watch the tournament, (usually)…. but without all the adrenalin and anxiety. 

That is when they wait a couple weeks and then start planning for the next year.

Not that it has ever happened to me.

OK….there was that one time……:)

Have a great Day and if you are into March Madness…may your team advance to the finals….unless they play the Kansas Jayhawks. 🙂

Excuse me please, I have to submit one of my brackets, this could be the year that I get them all right.

“NOT” 🙂