Another tourney starts

Today is the day.

Today, Thursday, March 15th, is my first ever “full day off to watch the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.” I’m pretty excited – not for any specific games, but for the idea that I’m off and I don’t have anything to do. I’m on my own until 7 tonight, and you can bet I’ll be doing one thing during that time.

Watching college basketball.

Some things are different from last year. First of all, I’ll have all of my work’s brackets entered before the games start. That leaves me with nothing but basketball to focus my attention on. The couch is clean, the desk is cleared off, and I’ve got nothing to distract me from my eight hours of sports.

Last year we had cable. This year I’m blessed to watch the tournament on CBS – one of the few channels that come in clearly. Last year I had the flu during the first two days. This year I’m off on both days because I work this weekend. Last year my blog was just starting.

This year, my blog is going to be part of the festivities.

Since this is going to be an all day event, I’ve decided to do a little blogging during the commercials, lulls in game play, and overall boring blowouts. Every two hours, I’ll post. There’s nothing that will excite you more than the Black Marks on Wood Pulp NCAA Tournament running blog.

Some things to keep in mind: first of all – regardless of how much I’d like to, I can’t bring myself to start drinking beer until at least 1:00 PM CST. I’ll be unable to look myself in the mirror if I start any earlier than that because, let’s face it, I’m gonna be drinking by myself unless I can convince someone to come watch the games with me: a task that was unsuccessful this past weekend. Also, I’ve got a little pride at stake – I’d like to win the office pool this year. Of course, there’s no money on the line since (unfortunately) that is illegal. Instead, I’ll be playing for the same thing our bi-monthly poker games offer: the chance to say “Yeah! I’m a Winner!”

For those who are curious, my brackets include only a few upsets, though the ones I’ve picked I’m rather confident will come true. My Final Four consists of Duke meeting UCLA and Connecticut facing Boston College, with Connecticut beating UCLA in the finals. Brash, risky, stupid – all of these words could apply. But at least I’m not the hundredth person at my work picking a Duke vs. Villanova final.

So, with that, let me sit back and start watching the pre-game. It’s nearly 11:00, and I’m ready for some f’n basketball.

See ya in a few hours.