March Madness

Basketball, brackets, beer and boys, oh my! Such is my life during the NCAA tournament. Not that I really mind. Basketball happens to be one of the few sports I actually understand the rules of and don't have to interrupt whomever I'm watching a game with, with any of the following phrases that frequently come up (usually during hockey, soccer and football games):

What was that call?

Well, what does [insert inexplicable rule] mean?

Ouch! That looked painful. Why wasn't that a call?

But that looked just like the other call?

You can tell I'm a joy to be around.

Basketball is a different story though, because basketball and I go way back. Like to sixth grade way back. That was when I joined my first basketball team. Of course there weren't any tryouts and they let everyone play, but I was hooked after that. I tried out for the 7th grade team and played on the school team every year since, all the way up through varsity. Now, I don't want to lead you on to think I was particularly talented, because while I was coordinated and had the fundamental skills, I am vertically challenged by basketball standards. I'm 5'3" on a good day. But what I lacked in height, I made up for in determination and hustle. I was even named Miss Hustle at a basketball camp one summer. My love affair with basketball continued from high school into college when I coached a  middle school age girls' rec team. My favorite and fail proof play was an in bounds play called "diamond." You can imagine why the girls ran it so well. 

So, even if March Madness means my weekend may be consumed and my plans timed according to the tourney schedule, I'm okay with it. Especially if it means I have bragging rights with my bracket picks... no such luck this year though - I think I'm at the bottom of every pool I'm in... whoops. Thank goodness there's always next year!