If You're Wondering Where I'm At...
I would be in front of the t.v., watching some more basketball!

It's the most wonderful time of the...sporting...year.

Yes indeedy, I love College Basketball Tournament Time and so far I am enjoying this year immensely.

Except, of course, for a few minor problems...

One--My Crimson Tide is not in the tournament this year.We had a rough year, with our coach being let go and our leading player quitting the team, and although we ended up on a high note, our record wasn't good enough (i.e., It stunk!) to get us in.

Two--So far, my brackets are not looking good! I've already missed three games in the first round (I am a big Texas fan, but I actually chose against them in the opening round of the brackets. I really felt like Minnesota was playing better. That will teach me, though, to pick against my heart! And I also mistakenly picked Clemson over Michigan and Mississippi State over Washington. What was I thinking?) I do feel redeemed, though, that my upset special (#12 Western Kentucky over #5 Illinois) did happen. We'll see what happens as the tournament continues today and over the weekend.

I love the tournament for so many reasons.

The main one is that I just love sports in general (you all knew that!), and the tournament is a wonderful two weeks filled with everything that sports has to offer. The close victories, the underdogs winning out, the human drama of having to play and keep playing and play some more in a short span of time. Characters emerge, and stories are told, and tournament-defining plays are made (plays that may go on and make it on a "Top 10 Best Plays in History" sort of list).

The other reason I love it, though, is that it takes me back to my childhood. My Dad is a big tournament fan as well, and he introduced me to it when I was just a small child. I've done brackets with my Dad since I was maybe 12-years-old; we'd write our brackets out, watch the games together, and just have wonderful Father-Daughter time.

Today, there is a similar experience in our own family. Gary and I both do our brackets (Funny Fact...Gary had never watched the tournament until we got married. In a strange twist on typical male-female habits, I introduced him to the joys of it and now he wonders about the years and years he missed out on it!), the girls (except Sydney) do their brackets, and we watch as much basketball as we can (well...I watch as much as I can, and often the girls just shake their heads at me!).

Which comes to a few questions for you...

* Do you think I'm totally crazy, or do you do the tournament too?

and, most importantly...

* Since Alabama is not in the tournament, what teams can I cheer for?

I'm cheering for Texas, of course, but my favorite team in the tournament this year is Purdue. My blogging friend, Phats, is a former Purdue cheerleader and is as big a sports fan (almost!) as me, and he has got me cheering for his beloved Boilermakers.

In fact, yesterday I wore my Purdue shirt (won last year for being the Champ on his blog's bracket challenge) while I filled out my brackets for this season. Purdue won, by the way, and I think they are well on their way to having a good run.

(Phats, I promise that's my Purdue shirt on behind my brackets. But, just in case, I had Delaney take a picture where you can actually see it. LOL)

But, I need another few teams to cheer on.

If you're team's still in it, let me know, and I will support them all the way!

And now...
the weekend is almost here. The weather is absolutely gorgeous, I've got some fun stuff planned (and it's not just basketball!), and life is good.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend as well...enjoy it, whether it involves basketball or not.