St. Patrick's Day weekend. You probably have a pretty good idea of how I spent it. It began with a startling Terps win over Duke on Friday night. Saturday began early with a trek into D.C. We had some lunch and then hit a nice Irish bar in Dupont Circle. It was fun. Ran into some old friends, chatted it up, stayed for nearly nine hours. That's always good for your bottom line.
The bar day was relaxing, enjoyable, hazy, and oddly illuminating. A source close to the situation was able to explain to me that I zig when I should zag when I take a lady out. I only wish I had been more sober to really soak it all up. Opportunities like that don't come about every day. Still, in my inebriated state it was refreshing to hear things like that.
After a giant slice of pizza, I eventually return to my car only to find that it won't start. Nothing. This is after I had it in the shop for the better part of a week only to have them tell me that they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Didn't I just buy this thing? What the hell? I just needed a jump the next day. Who knows why, but at least it wasn't a catastrophe. It turns out it was a blessing in disguise. Because despite my close proximity to home from the Metro station, I was in no position to drive. That's somebody somewhere doing me a solid. My drive home would have been something similar to this.
Sunday was Selection Sunday for the NCAA tournament. Gotta love Selection Sunday. How perfect. What a wonderful occasion for me to infuse blog topics into a sports metaphor.
Imagine there were a dating bracket. There were 64 women that had to battle it out for the National Championship, aka my love and affection. There would be a lot of drama and some major upsets. Meanwhile, I'm the ultimate goal just waiting until the end to crown a winner. That seems like a great way to determine a partner. The HOTT Tournament.
Oh, wait, I guess there's The Bachelor. It's basically the exact same thing with less women. More on that stupid show at a later time.
Let's do an about-face. Say I was one of many entrants on a 64-"team" bracket. I wonder what seed I'd be. How would the committee evaluate me? Factors to consider:
-Veteran team but not a lot of tournament experience
-Really good at guarding
-More effective from long-range than near the basket
-Big team; outstanding at blocking
-Turnover prone: doesn't handle the ball well
-Average schedule; lost to some really good teams - no big wins
-Poor in the final two minutes of the game
-Can't string together multiple wins in a row
-Always a bubble team - in the conversation every year
These are some things the committee would have to look hard at to see if I was one of the best 37 teams in the country to receive an at-large bid (I certainly haven't won my conference tournament lately). I wouldn't be a 1-seed. I may not even crack the top 16 teams. I think I'd probably fit somewhere on the 8-9 line or perhaps the 12-seed in a 5-12 matchup. No one is really giving me a chance to win it all. I'm usually good for at least one upset per tournament though. Then everyone will be talking about me. I'll be riding high. The stage is not too big.
It's about toughness and excellent ball handling come March. You gotta take your shots when you get them. Be smart. See the court. Pass when it's appropriate. Don't try to do too much. This is what the whole regular season has been about. You may not be the most talented roster, but even the low seeds can have one shining moment.
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