The NCAA Tournament kicks off this afternoon. It’s the one time of year when most of the U.S. population suffers from O.C.D. It’s the truth. We become obsessed with what has become the most exciting three weeks of any sport. Our printed out, crumpled brackets are no more unfamiliar to our pockets than our wallets or keys come April 5. There are those, me included, who use two different highlighters to keep track of their correct selections and blunders. Others choose to go with the old fashioned pen or pencil cross out. Either way, the best brackets look the cleanest.
There are two types of people who are going to be following from the first tip-off between Florida and Brigham Young:
1) “The Employee” – This is someone with a job who is going to be sitting in front of their computer or on their phone constantly refreshing to get the latest score updates. As soon as they see Old Dominion with a three-point lead over Notre Dame, they’ll be scanning the room to make sure it’s safe to look at their bracket. “Did I pick O.D.,” they’ll ask themselves.
2) “The Bartender” – No, these folks won’t be standing behind a bar serving up drinks all day long – actually, some may. Instead, they will be mainstays in front of it, downing drink after drink while devouring hot wings and jalapeno poppers. These individuals will live or die by each game, because others around them will be cheering either with them or against. No high fives for picking a number-one seed to go through in the first round though.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not too great at picking these games. Most of it is luck anyways, so maybe that just means I’ve had a bit of misfortune. That doesn’t stop me from trying my hand with the rest of the country.
You see, I’ll be both “The Employee” and “The Bartender” over the next few days, and I can’t wait.
View Scott Stanchak’s 2010 NCAA Tournament Bracket
Note: As someone pointed out, my bracket has Kentucky written in as the overall winner, but Kansas scoring 74 points to Kentucky’s 71 in the final. I should have written Kansas in as the winner.
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