It is still March so I am going to write yet again about March Madness. Every year, some buddies and I pick a different city and go watch the first and second round NCAA Tournament games live. We pick the city before the brackets come out so we never know what teams we’ll see until a week before we go. We watch six games live, the rest of the games in sports bars or the hotel, and by and large rage before, during, and after games. We each fill out a bracket and the winner of each day gets first choice of beds. Since we only had a king bed and a pullout sofa for three people, the picks this year were especially crucial (but I still chose to root for upsets). This year we went to Birmingham and good times ensued. We had limited sleeping options in the hotel, but we did have a full length conference table with 8 conference table swivel chairs. We called that part of the room Madness Central. I kept a running diary in my head throughout the weekend. Here is a recap of Friday’s events:
8:00 CST – Woke up.
8:05 – Remembered Embassy Suites has continental breakfast and omelets made to order. Went downstairs and instantly regretted choosing the scrambled eggs instead of waiting in line for an omelet. Not impressed with the free breakfast.
9:00 – The American University basketball team – coached by former UVa coach Jeff Jones – is staying at our hotel. I wait in the lobby and pretend to be an American U fan so I can clap for JJ and the squad.
11:15 – Arrived at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. First game is Tennessee vs. American.
11:16 - I am already sick of fans wearing Tennessee orange. Go American.
1:30 – American keeps is close until the final minutes, but Tennessee has too many weapons in the end.
1:35 – Fortunately, March Madness arenas usually have TVs near the concession stands that show the games from other cities. We watch Davidson beat Gonzaga, which was especially rewarding since one of my friends lobbied to change his pick from Davidson to Gonzaga at 10 AM Friday even though most pools lock in at noon on Thursday. I am closer to winning my choice of beds.
1:45 – Drake and Western Kentucky are headed to overtime. I have Drake going to the Sweet 16 in my bracket, so like a hypocrite I am cheering against the underdog – in this case, Western Kentucky. Western Kentucky hits a three at the buzzer to win by 2. The crowd watching TV in Birmingham goes nuts – except for me. About 5 minutes after the game, I remember what I wrote in the last blog and realize that I should have been rooting for WKU. In hindsight, I regret not enjoying that buzzer beater.
2:00 – Next game in Birmingham is Butler vs. South Alabama. Surprisingly, there are not very many South Alabama fans even though we are playing in their home state. I notice that we had American University in game 1 and USA (University of South Alabama) in game 2. Probably not coincidently, both teams’ colors were red, white, and blue. Both teams also lost. The Butler – USA game is boring so we leave soon after halftime.
4:30 – UConn and San Diego are headed to overtime as we watch in the hotel. We decide Friday’s games are already better than Thursday’s game (except the Duke-Belmont game), and we still have all the night games left to be played.
4:40 – My friend Matt is sitting at Madness Central and asks his 9-year old cousin Andrew (who lives in B-Ham) to fill out a bracket. Keep in mind that most of the 1st round games have already been played. Andrew likes “Georgia” Mason, “Georgia”town, Georgia, Duke, and Vandy to go deep in the tournament. Oops. When asked about the UConn – San Diego game, Andrew checked the TV and realized SD was up 2 halfway through OT. He picked San Diego.
5:00 – Embassy Suites redeems itself for the mediocre breakfast with a free happy hour.
7:00 – Return to the arena. Next game is St. Joseph’s vs. Oklahoma. We arrive at halftime and Oklahoma already has the game well in hand. The most intriguing part of this game was learning that St. Joe’s mascot (The Hawk) gets a full scholarship to school, but he literally has to flap his wings the entire game (even during timeouts). I spend much more time watching The Hawk than watching this game. He never stopped once. Unbelievable.
9:30 – Louisville is dominating Boise St. in the last game. A 5-year old redhead Louisville fan in front of us appears to be taunting us every time Louisville scores since we are rooting for Boise St. The guy with the mustache sitting next to me reeks of vodka and nachos. He is asking my about some museum in Huntsville. I don’t live in Alabama, buddy. Time to go.
11:00 – My Catholic friends are observing the no meat during Lent on Friday rule. I am not familiar with this rule. They decide that 11:00 PM Birmingham time is 12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. So we go to Ruth’s Chris.
11:30 – We see American coach Jeff Jones having a beer with NBA analyst David Aldridge – seems like a bizarre coupling. We later find out that Aldridge is an American University grad. I finish with the least amount of correct picks for the day, and I am relegated to sharing a king bed with another dude again. Luckily, we have a pillow barrier set up.
We booze in moderation on Friday to prepare for a morning basketball session at the YMCA, a trip to the dog track, and a night of raging in B-Ham on Saturday. Butler-Tennessee on Sunday was the best Madness game I have seen live, which made up for the blowouts on Friday. All in all, it was another great Madness trip.
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