March Madness

Most wives lose their husbands during this time of the year.  We are officially Tminus 1 day to the Big Dance, brackets are in place for most folks, and the wait begins.

In our house, I'm the obsessed one (remember the obsession vs addiction post?).  I'll roll the TV into my office to watch games at work and have a laptop in class for updates.  In the evenings, our TV will suspend its regular showing of cartoons for the tournament.  And I'm trying really hard to forgive my mother for scheduling our flights to Florida during PRIME GAME TIME on March 28 and April 3.  Sigh.  My brother has promised to have game updates when he meets us at the airport.  Good Patrick.

Everyone has a different process.  I thought I'd share mine today.

1. Open the brackets on Monday morning (I never watch the seeding show on TV).
2. Read the matchups and enter the gut feelings for each game.  No emotional picks allowed.  If I don't have a gut feeling, I leave it blank. 
3. Then I let those sit for a day and slowly begin the research. 
4. I spend HOURS on the internet researching.  I look at what the experts say.  I listen to talk radio all day. 
5. I text anyone who is willing to chat brackets with me to get their opinions. 
6. I call my dad. 
7. My students and I share brackets (no gambling, of course) and I ask them their reasoning behind the picks.  And I might make fun of those who don't have a clue.  Since I'm working on my sarcasm, I don't laugh too much.
8.  I go back to reaffirm my gut feelings and fill in the blanks. 
9. I never pick PAC10 teams because they break my heart.  This year, I may have to change that rule.  Which is killing me because I HATE the UW.
10. And then I just wait it out.

Since 2004, I've never placed lower than 5th using this system (last year I didn't follow the process and placed thirteenth.  Ouch)

Of course, now that I've put this out there, I'll probably end up dead last.  haha

Let the Madness begin!