It’s now mid March. And I knew this day was coming. Today is
the day that the March Madness brackets came out. The males in our house are penciling
in their choices. Oops. Correction. We don’t use pencil; we use pen so erasing
can’t be done. When you ink in your
choices, you are committed.
I’d tell you that the men are researching, but apparently
they already have the requisite knowledge. And at meals, they discuss end of
season surges, etc. I think men should come with tags, so you know what you’re
getting. I had no idea that when we were dating and Cal told me that he played
soccer and baseball on a college team, it actually meant something significant.
He should have come with a tag that read, “I really like sports. I think it’s
great fun to watch men throw balls around.” In response to Cal’s sports comment,
I said, “Oh, I was asked to join the NCAA, division one champion women’s sailing
team.” He was impressed at the time. Now I know that he probably thought, “Sports
chick. Great.” The reality was different. The sailing team asked me to join because
they were very desperate and I knew how to sail. In all fairness, I would’ve
joined—they had the sleekest yacht around—but my work schedule didn’t allow for
sailing practice. Let alone regattas.
Later on, Cal discovered that I was present in a sailboat
that hit a yacht. But I was NOT sailing at the time. I was yelling, “Come
about, come about!” We still hit. But it was a glancing smack. A little spit
and rubbing took the scrape mark off the yacht.
So that’s my encounter with organized sports (except that
women’s softball team where I got run over at home plate). And now I'm faced with bracketology. My method is glancing at my bracket printout and filling it in, randomly choosing teams whose names seem
nice. But don’t put my method down. Most years I get at least three of the Final
Four. Right now, I’m trying to pick out a Cinderella team. I briefly considered
Harvard, but as Cal says, “They calculated their chances, and they’re not
betting on themselves.” In the meantime, I’m leaning toward Long Beach State. Not
because I think they have a chance, but Cal’s mom got her BA there. So that’s a
good enough reason for me.
