And the Madness begins anew

Take 65 teams with varying degrees of talent, add in a group of bubble teams that nearly made the cut, and top it all off with a bracket system that rewards hot teams and creates an immeasurable amount of excitement and despair.

That’s March Madness. That’s the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. That’s the month long event that has quickly become the most important sports spectacle in the world. I love World Cup soccer, and I love the NBA’s Western Conference Finals. But nothing compares to the one and done, need-a-perfect-game attitude that prevails in college basketball’s biggest event.

It’s a community rallying experience. Everyone fills out a bracket – even if they don’t know anything about the sport. Everyone tunes in for some of the first round games. I had the luxury of being off work for the entire first round last year. It was the greatest sports event I’ve ever watched in my life. It was pure bliss. I drank a few beers. I enjoyed hours upon hours straight of college basketball players fighting for the right to move on. I even live-blogged the entire damned day.

Put your work away. Stop watching television. Don’t read your book. Nothing can be done until your NCAA Tournament Bracket has been filled out. Nothing, I say!

Since I’m not able to watch the first round games this year – at least, not until after work – I’m bringing the tournament into my backyard. Right here. At Black Marks on Wood Pulp. We’re bracketing out the teams and we’re ready to kick some blogger ass.

I’ve set up an ESPN Tournament group, and you’re all invited. Each and every one of you. Join by clicking this link. The password should fill in automatically for you, but if not, you can search by looking for:

Group: Black Marks on Wood Pulp
Pass: blackmarks

Welcome to the Thunderdome, fellow BMOWP readers!