April 2, 2009
"It's awesome baby!" - Dick Vitale, colorful basketball sportscaster and former coach.
The phone rang about midnight, and the young adult offspring on the other end was clearly distraught.
"What's wrong," I asked, afraid of his answer. I should have remembered it was March Madness time and could have saved myself a lot of chagrin.
Instead, my mind raced worriedly with a barrage of questions, none based on fact.
Did he wreck the car? Is he in trouble with the law? Is he sick? Did his pipes break and flood his apartment? Did he flunk an exam? Did something happen to one of his friends?
The offspring mumbled his sad, cheerless reply, "Mom, it's my bracket."
"Your bracket," I repeated sleepily.
"Yeah, I am so upset," he lamented. "This is the worst NCAA March Madness bracket I've ever had. My picks stink, but I can't get enough of the games. I love it. This is the best tournament ever, and I can't stop watching. I'm tired and need sleep, but I can't wind down."
Normally, I might be annoyed with such a late-night phone call, but it is March Madness time after all, and I must admit I have the same ailment.
I began to philosophize about March Madness trying to soothe him.
"Don't feel badly," I commiserated. "I cannot get my fill of basketball either. It is a time of raw emotion, with roller-coaster ups and downs, pure joy, heartbreak, and wild mood swings. It's OK."
.
It is a time of improbable runs, unlikely stars, Cinderella teams, and powerful drama. We can't help ourselves, I continued.
Our waking hours are spent creating pools and worrying over our bracket choices. Office productivity is thought to suffer. Folks wander around in a stupor exhausted from late games in far-away time zones.
Our evenings are spent watching endless basketball, no matter how many overtimes deprive us of sleep.
We watch both the guys and gals tournaments switching between channels.
We thrill at that unknown freshman that hit a spectacular shot and became an instant YouTube sensation.
We become huge fans of previously unfamiliar mid-major schools such as Gonzaga, Valparaiso, George Mason, Siena, and Hofstra.
We tune into the NIT or the College Basketball Experience Classic when there is not enough NCAA to satisfy us.
March Madness has become our panacea, a drug, an elixir, and our magical cure.
I recited how the late great Jim Valvano, coach and architect of NC State's magical NCAA Championship in 1983, understood March Madness craziness. Valvano once said that basketball is like life, "You should have your emotions moved to tears, could be by happiness or joy."
But definitely moved.
My son, who was still on the phone and was by now tired of listening to me wax poetic about March Madness, brought me forcefully back to the original subject.
"Hey, Mom, shake it off," he said. "So, basically you are saying that your bracket stinks, too?"