If You Want To Enjoy March Madness, Forget Your Backet

Over the last few weeks it seems like I’ve participated in a few dozen identical conversations about the NCAA Tournament that start off with a comment like this: “Can you believe that [insert team] team lost? My bracket is so screwed. This tournament is just crazy.”

I always reply, “It’s like this every year.”

And my conversation partner insists, “No way, this year is the craziest it has ever been, there have been so many upsets.”

Go ahead and try to justify your failure of a bracket, but I don’t see the point. To me, that’s the beauty of March Madness. I root for chaos. Maybe that’s partly because I was all but eliminated in my bracket pool by midway through the Sweet 16, but regardless, the David vs. Goliath stories are what make the NCAA Tournament great.

To truly enjoy the tournament, I try to follow simple advice: forget my bracket. One of my cats has as good a chance of picking a winning bracket as I do, so I don’t fret when my well thought out pick sheet is a river of red hours into the Madness. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

Sure, it’s fun to fill those suckers out, and every year I convince myself I’ve got a winner, but the truth is that if one day I do win, it will be more a result of luck than skill.

The best way for me to enjoy March Madness is to put my bracket out of sight and out of mind and enjoy the ridiculousness that is this tournament for as long as it lasts because we’re rapidly approaching the dull as dirt summer months when the only relevant sporting event is more likely to put me to sleep than Nyquil.

The Final Four is coming up this weekend and soon we’ll have our new National Champion. At least officially, because as far as I’m concerned, the best team in the country was already crowned when Kemba Walker’s UConn Huskies won the Big East Championship a few weeks back.

They’re still alive, so my money’s on them. But what do I know; I’m going to consult Fluffy.

The End Of The Syracuse Season Represents Disappointment And Hope

Every year when a season comes to a close, college sports fans like myself are reminded of the two staples of fandom: disappointment and hope.

As a loyal Syracuse alum, I was saddened to see my team exit the NCAA Tournament earlier than I expected for the second year in a row. Last season, Syracuse’s Final Four hopes were dashed when center Arinze Onuaku was unable to return from a knee injury suffered in the Big East Tournament and this year the Orange-men were undone by Brandon Triche’s injury and a handful of boneheaded turnovers. Just like that, Syracuse was sent packing by Marquette, and a painfully long eight month offseason has begun.

As a college sports fan, an abrupt postseason loss can be difficult to stomach. Not only are there no more games to watch, but our favorite players — often seniors — move on, never to wear their college colors again. For Syracuse, Sunday’s loss meant the end of a tremendous four-year career for Rick Jackson, a rare college bruiser that got better every year and carved out an NBA future for himself. Senior players like Jackson and Onuaku and Andy Rautins last year are particularly endearing to fans, because they don’t arrive at school as ballyhooed recruits with certain professional futures, and our expectations for them are usually much lower. But as those three proved, hard work and time can turn mediocre college players into invaluable pieces as their college careers wear on. Jackson, with whom we’ve shared blood, sweat, and tears over the last four years, embodies the college experience in a way that a five-star recruit can never do. And at least for Rautins and likely Jackson, those years of work led them to their dream professions, and we’ll watch them with pride as they once again fight their way up from the bottom of the food chain in the NBA.

And while it’s often sad to see our favorite college athletes walk off the court for the final time, the end of a college season also signifies a new beginning.

This year, the Orange clearly didn’t have the necessary polish to be a championship caliber squad. But there are plenty of reasons for optimism looking ahead. Next season, the Orange will add a big five-star recruit with an incredible name, Rakeem Christmas, in addition to two coveted four-star guards in Trevor Cooney and Michael-Carter Williams. If Christmas lives up to his billing and Cooney and Williams produce at anywhere near the same level as Syracuse’s four freshmen this year, the Orange will have a very, very deep and talented squad. Not only is Syracuse adding three solid players, but the team will return all its players except for Jackson. In his senior year, maybe Scoop Jardine will finally get his head screwed on right, maybe Kris Joseph will be better equipped to be “the man,” and maybe junior-to-be Brandon Triche will continue his rapid ascension. Maybe giant Fab Melo will build on his encouraging end of season run, and maybe CJ Fair, Dion Waiters, and Baye Moussa Keita will return as even better players capable of handling roles far beyond their years. Maybe James Southerland will emerge as a knockdown three-point threat off the bench, and maybe the forgotten seven-footer, DaShonte Riley, will join Melo, Keita, and Christmas to give the Orange a remarkably deep and towering front line.

Maybe none of that will happen, but with eight months to go, the possibility and hope will quickly build in my mind. The painful memories of a disappointing conclusion to the 2010-11 season will fade and before we know it, the 2011-12 college basketball season will be upon us and a new chance for glory will arrive.

Just don’t forget about the senior warrior that is about to leave.