Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Without a doubt, Thursday is my favorite day of the year. Don't get me wrong, I love holidays as much as the next guy. Thanksgiving weekend is such a tradition in my family, that even though the same things happen almost every year, it is still fantastic. I love watching my kids at Christmas. Right now I can almost feel the cool night air and the smell of Frito pie as I think about late October high school football games. It is all fun, beautiful, and makes life worth living.

But it can't compete with Thursday.

On Thursday I will head to my annual destination about 11:00am. I will sit down where I can see four gigantic screens. I'll order a hamburger and a Coke. Then I will watch as the best annual drama in existence unfolds. I will spend the next 3 to 4 hours watching four basketball games at once.

Now don't get me wrong, some of the games will be blowouts. Huge state schools with multi-million dollar athletic budgets and future NBA players will run roughshod over smaller colleges you've never heard of. But somehwere along the way...it will happen. A team that has no business even staying close to a basketball powerhouse will do more than stay close. They will make a miracle three at the buzzer and all heaven will break loose. For that's what it is, pure unadulterated bliss. It is "do you believe in miracles?" and David slaying Goliath all in one. And the wonderfful thing about it is that it happens every year, but it is still a suprise every time.

So Thursday at 11:00 I will be at Buffalo Wild Wings, brackets in hand. I will gather with other devotees, complete strangers that within an hour I will be high-fiving. It may not make any sense to you, but hey, that's why they call it march madness.

(By the way here is a link to a great article about watching March Madness, really gives you a feel for what goes on in the minds of true sports fans.)
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020313a