I can't fully impart how much I love college basketball. I started watching NCAA hoops when I was in college. I was a Jordan-era Bulls fan. When it came to picking a team, I went with his alma mater, UNC. (When you live in Montana, there are no professional sports teams and no big-time college programs. So, you pick what you like!)
Thus began a life-long passion for the Tar Heels. My very first favorite player was Hubert Davis. Man, he had a sweet 3-point shot. When Spencer and I moved from Florida to Georgia for residency, I found an inordinate number of Hubert Davis cards. There were years when my younger brothers signed all of my Christmas/birthday gifts with a 'Love, Hubert'. When I thought for one quick minute about getting a tattoo (at the age of 23, thankfully I am a giant baby and didn't go through with it) I had chosen the Tar Heel logo. I had a Tar Heel room in my house. (I liked to joke that my interior design aesthetic was 'Early American Tar Heel.)
Luckily, I chose well. The Tar Heels have had two hall of fame coaches, countless all stars, and a handful of championships. They are always in the Big Dance at the end of the season, and more often than not they have a chance to win it all. All sports fans should be so fortunate.
A big part of the reason I love March Madness is because it is the greatest sports event of the year. 64 teams vie for the top spot. As opposed to football, everyone has a chance. We all witnessed last year when a 16 beat a 1 seed for the first time. The excitement of that chance is enough to make me giddy every spring. I watch selection Sunday with a borderline disturbing fervor. I write the teams down as they are announced. I begin studying and making my choices. I jump up when they announce the Tar Heels' seed. I cry if they show a live shot of a bubble team that doesn't get picked. I grab my dictionary and my map; I love figuring out where, precisely, Lipscomb is or what exactly is a Chanticleer. I print my brackets, I ready my colored pens (different colors for different rounds, natch), and I settle in for the first weekend.
48 games in 4 days. It is my own personal Nirvana. I love that now they show all of the games on 4 channels; back in the day CBS was the only channel in town, and they would cut out to the closest match, which was beyond frustrating.
Thankfully I have married a man who makes all of my dreams, big and small, come true. He wasn't a huge college hoops fan when we met, but he loves that I love it and we now share March together. Our first spring together he bought me tickets to a game; he now says he knew how to make me happy right from Jump Street.
I have so many memories of Marches Past, here are a few highlights.
The Horror
I pick UNC to win the tournament every year. The coaching staff is so well prepared, the program has been there so often that they know how to roll through the first round. In 1999 the Heels were ranked as a 3 seed. They were set to play Weber State (a 14) in the opening round. Weber State plays in my alma mater's conference, the Big Sky. What a fun connection for me! A player named Harold Arceneaux had the game of his life. The Wildcats won by two, and I have never fully recovered. I also have never said that many eff words.
D.C. is for Me
I have never been a fan of attending sporting events or concerts alone. I spent the first two decades of my NCAA fandom begging folks to go to games with me. It rarely happened. I was fine watching from home, but The Doc has given new life to going to games. We knew he had off the week of the third and fourth rounds this year; we opted to visit Washington D.C. for the East Regionals. The games were held at the Capital One Arena. We enjoyed a Bulgogi Hoagie (so delicious and way too much fun to say) and three solid games.
In the Sweet Sixteen Michigan State topped LSU and Duke beat Virginia Tech. The Elite Eight match up between Duke and MSU was epic. We were sitting among some extra-douchey Dookies, so I was happy that they eventually lost. The bonus here: we got to see Zion Williamson in action; he may be the next big thing in the NBA.
Heart Breaker
If the game is important, I am the absolute worst person to watch sports with. For many moons, my college friends and I would go on Spring Break together. These trips would often coincide with the tournament. One year there was an airport run in the middle of a game; one year we had to find a CBS feed in Cabo; one year my team actually won during my retirement party. The hands-down worst was 2007. That year we were in Las Vegas, watching the Elite Eight game between the Heels and the Georgetown Hoyas. I placed a little bet on the game (because Vegas) and watched my team squirt away a 10-point lead in the second half. I then watched them implode during OT. Those girls put up with a serious amount of pouting that particular year. Luckily, we were in a fun place and I eventually shook off my March Sadness.
Pinnacle
The very best March experience I ever had weirdly had nothing to do with the Tar Heels. As previously stated, I had not a lot of folks to go to ball games with. I was single for most of my adult life, and while I have football/baseball/hockey loving gal friends, no one really loved the college hoops like I did. (It should be noted here that I am crazy fun if the game I am attending/watching does not involve one of 'my' teams.) So, one day at the schoolhouse, I was bemoaning my sports dilemma to my bestie Lori. She, offhandedly, mentioned that her husband Merritt often would go to the games (she would sometimes tag along and read a book) and that he had kept records of teams he had seen over the years. A few phone calls, a personal day, and many reassurances later, I ended up in Tampa on a sunny day in March in 2008 for four first round games with the spouse of one of my best friends.
It would become the most epic day of hoops I would ever experience.
That day, we watched four upsets.
Four.
In one day.
At one venue.
We saw two 12s beat two 5s (Western Kentucky over Drake, complete with a buzzer beater, and Villanova over Clemson by one point). The day also included a one point win with 13-seeded San Diego beating UConn by one point and 13-seeded Siena spanking number 4 Vanderbilt.
It was sports heaven. I don't think I will ever experience anything quite like that again. Merritt and I still bring it up every time we see each other, because it was so ridiculously good.
As the weekend of the Final Four dawns upon us, I am thankful for the few, the mighty strong and few, that survived watching games with me and went to games with me while I waited for my hoops partner to finally arrive.
Do you have a favorite sport? Do you have any rituals or yearly events that you just love?
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