Prior to living here on the beautiful Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State, my family and I lived for 10 years in Lawrence, Kansas, home of Kansas University and the storied "Jayhawks" basketball program.
Living in a college town really helped to give us a greater appreciation for collegiate sports. At the time, Roy Williams was the Head Coach and he ran an excellent program. There was never any scandals or recruiting violations that seem to be somewhat commonplace these days, and almost all of the athletes graduated in the top of their class. We quickly became fully vested Jayhawk fans. Next to a day game at Wrigley, I have never experienced a better sports venue than a game at Allen Fieldhouse, especially a game against Indiana (Bobby Knight era) or vs. Mizzou. During gametime, that place literally "ROCKS!" like there's an 9.5 earthquake!
Anyone who is familiar with March Madness (the NCAA Championship Tournament, commonly referred to as "The Dance") is also familiar with "Brackets" or the more exact discipline/science of "Bracketology." In early March, on Selection Sunday, 65 of the top-seeded teams in the NCAA Division I are chosen to compete in the tournament and paired up with their 1st-round opponents. The names of these teams are then entered onto the outer "brackets" of a spreadsheet that enables you to track the winners of the various rounds of play.
Each year, my family and I have traditionally competed in a pool. We prognosticate the winners of each round in the various regions, before finally arriving at our individual choices for National Champion (my 19-year old daughter, Emily, has won the past several years, much to the frustration of her father!)
When we moved to Washington State, we continued our tradition, but when we mentioned "Brackets" to our neighbors and people here, we got this "Deer-in-the-Headlight" look. Gee, with teams like Gonzaga and the Washington Huskies, you'd think people here would have at least a cursory understanding of "brackets" and "The Dance." Oh well!
So how are things shaping up for The Dance in 2007? The AP & USA Today polls currently have UCLA, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina in the top 3 spots. There's been a number of major upsets thus far in the season, shaking up the rankings considerably. At this time, I would like to point out the fact that Villanova is nowhere to be found in the Top 25. Can you spell N-I-T?
As always, I'll be pulling for the Crimson and Blue. "ROCK CHALK, JAYHAWK, GO KU!"
Rich Jacobson, Your Professional Real Estate Agent and Jayhawk Fan in Kitsap County WA
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