March Madness!!

Strange things happen at this time of year. Productivity in the US of A drops to an all time low. Sick leave and Dr.'s appointments abound. For 2 weeks, it's as if the shroud of Turin was draped over Mt. Rushmore, and vast segments of the population abandoned what-ever and went to worship. Ok. maybe I embellished a bit. But, don't look now at your colleague in the next cube. That's not really a spreadsheet he or she is gazing at. It's a bracket. A 64 team bracket of delirium that spans those amber waves of grain. Even the leader of the free world is touched by the Madness. El Presidente from a room deep in the White House is unveiling his bracket later on today. Last year he liked Georgetown. It is mind numbing and ridiculously hard to pick the Final 4, the Final 2, and the Champion. A long, long time ago in another galaxy, I won my work pool when North Carolina cut down the nets. I haven't been close since. Of local interest, Cal will play in the tournament. But their path is not easy. I picked them to make it out of the 1st round against Louisville. The trouble with the Cal Bears is, you never know if Good Bears or Bad Bears will show up on the court. If Cal wins, they must beat Duke to advance. Once upon a time (1993) when Jason Kidd was running the point, Cal shocked Duke to advance to the sweet 16. Could this be dejavu? Not so fast. For the record, this year it's Duke, the team everyone loves to hate to win it all. In my other bracket, of course I've entered more than one pool, it's those rock chalk jayhawks from Kansas. March Madness promises the goodies and always delivers; it's Mr. Toad's wild ride in frenetic free-fall, and yes, in college basketball because expectations fly as high as someone skying over you, unlike other sports, crying is allowed. Lots of it. Because some one has to lose.