I continue to be bewildered by the numbers of people who either don’t like basketball at all or have no knowledge of basketball at any level. I also continue to be shocked at how much I love basketball. I can be tired as hell when a game starts and somehow manage to muster the energy to watch the entire game. Gladly. And be excited.

I do this every March, for the whole month. I love March Madness and anymore, find myself doing it alone. It’s almost become like Tennis for me; I love it, no one else does, I can’t find anyone to play it or watch it with me, so, like I was as a kid, I enjoy it on my own. The yelling and screaming is obscene. And I don’t care…

So the first thing I do is make my picks. I always do two brackets; One is scientific (whatev) and the other is emotional. I usually do better with the emotional one and this year is no exception. The scientific one is a combination of ranking nationally and season record. It always backfires. And every year I say I won’t do that again next year and I do the same damn thing next year. So here’s how 2013 started for me…

March 21, 2013: My bracket is complete and the first round begins. How excited am?
March 25, 2013: My bracket is completely busted. But, I’m still excited…

Per usual – The teams I expect to win, don’t. Let me tick down the list…

#1 Gonzaga has failed me several years in a row. They walk into these tournaments with minimal season losses and then lose right away. What?!

#7 Notre Dame is a ditto. My friend John bleeds navy and gold, so, I pick them as a favor to him. I’m gonna start looking for a better way to do favors for him.

#3 Michigan State has been a bunch of sad sacks for the past few years. For many years in the last two decades, they’ve been a powerhouse. Now they’re just a house; A dilapidated house in the middle of Detroit.

And #2 Ohio State has always been a disappointment. But, again with the rankings, the expectation is that a #2 should be able to beat a #9. OSU barely squeaked by #6 Arizona and was truly outdone by #9 Wichita State.

Wichita State was the cinderella story for this March Madness. All the way to the Final Four and held Louisville back clear to the bitter end.

Of note as well, #14 Harvard gets the spoiler award. They got past the first round and most people didn’t pick them. I picked them in my emotional bracket. Did you people learn nothing from the Jeremy Lin-sanity?
#3 Florida didn’t do so well. I always bet on Billy Donovan because I was on a flight with him the year they won the championship. Nice man. And his name is Billy…

Also a little disappointed that #5 VCU didn’t go further. Shaka Smart is one of my top 5 coaches as well. I’ll always bet on a good coach to create a strong team…

Can’t believe #4 Michigan made it to the championship, but, glad they didn’t win.

So, by the time we got to the Final Four, I had only one team left – #1 Louisville. How great is that? They’re the only one’s I needed. East, West and South were a disaster for me, but, I stuck with Coach Pitino ‘cause he’s a winner. Just like Coach K – #2 Duke made it as far as Louisville and there is where a choice had to be made.

Duke has had some difficulties of late and Louisville was in the championship last year and didn’t lose too much of their roster as seniors. Clearly the right choice.

Can’t wait until next year. See you then…