First Weekend Thoughts

Without warning, the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament are finished. It baffles me how it can end so ubruptly, and I'm not even affiliated with any of the teams! With that being said, however, I'm glad - in a way - that it's over; maybe I'll finally get some much-needed rest (although that might be unlikely, mainly since I'm writing this at 2:20 in the morning).

This year's opening weekend sure seemed to lack the cinderella stories that we're all so used to seeing. Yes, there were upsets. 13 Cleveland State became the '09 tourney Darlings by rocking 4 Wake Forest, 84-69, only to have their party crashed by 12 Arizona, 71-57. Yes, there is another 12 seed back in the Sweet 16, but can you really call the Arizona Wildcats an underdog? No dice. Yes, there were some memorable games: 9 Siena edging out 8 Ohio State, 74-72 in a 2OT thriller in which the Saints took their second lead of the game (first since leading 3-2) in the first OT. 12 Wisconsin hitting trey after trey to force OT against 5 Florida State, where they outlasted the Seminoles 61-59. Ironically enough, these two games, far and away the two best games of the tourney, happened at the exact same time. So much for spreading out the Madness.

It was all business for the second round, with the top 3 seeds in the entire tourney going 24-0 in the first two rounds, the first time all 3 seeds from each sub-bracket advanced since the tourney was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. However, since the upsets were non-existent in the second round, it brought my bracket back into discussion. Maybe not on ESPN, or even Facebook, for that matter, but at least I'm in the running for the family pool. The current standings after two rounds are as follows:

1) Dad - 500pts

2) Cheyne - 440pts

2) Bryan - 440pts

4) Mom - 400pts

It's going to take a minor miracle, in the form of a Lawson-Hansbrough Tar Heel, for me to actually rally and beat my dear old dad, but as long as Ty Lawson can keep that toe of his from swelling to a balloon, then I still have a chance.