The madness has begun.
We're only halfway into day one of the NCAA Tournament, and already there are more close games, overtimes and buzzer-beaters than in all of last year's tournament (just heard that stat on ESPN, but I knew for myself that the games have been crazy).
It's been a week since our season ended, and the initial shock and pain has begun to wear off. It was difficult to watch the conference championships last week, seeing teams celebrate their invitation to the Tournament. That's where we wanted to be. But the dust has settled.
And these games are too good to miss.
Watching the tournament I find myself - like many people - rooting for the underdogs and anxious for an upset. The thing that makes it different for me is that I, as I'm sure my teammates and other players like us, see myself in that situation. Had we gotten in, we would be a 13, 14, 15 seed fighting to pull off an upset of our own. So as the low(er) seeds go, as do I.
So as Danero Thomas of 13-seeded Murray State knocked down a game-winning jumper at the buzzer, I smiled to myself as his teammates mobbed him at midcourt. I know the feeling of hitting a game-winning shot, but I can only imagine making the one that defeated a 4th-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament as millions of viewers hold their collective breath, fingers crossed for an upset.
The weekend gets sweeter as I came across a pair of tickets for the night session of first-round games held here in Buffalo. So tomorrow night, I'll be enjoying Gonzaga/Florida State and then Syracuse/Vermont...in living color.
I can only hope for a couple games just like the ones I've seen so far today. But no matter how the games go, I'm at the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately I'm not playing, but I'll be there and I'm sure at some point during the games I'll see myself out on the court as I live - if only for a moment - vicariously through the guys playing in front of me.
