The Madness of it All

The first March Madness match starts in about 36 hours. It all started with Selection Sunday on the 12th when the 34 teams that were not automatic qualifiers were announced. Wisconsin received a 9 seed playing its first game sin Philadelphia. I looked into getting tickets, but the first batch of tickets go to current UW season ticket subscribers and program donors first. I checked the online brokers and I can't justify spending $150+ for nosebleed seats. So I'll just have to watch it on TV. I'm a little nervous though because I feel like UW has lost lots of its steam since winning over Ohio State. And now I’m torn. In fact, I'm actually undecided in whether UW will win its first game against Arizona. I'm a horrible alumnus. And now in writing that, a sudden shadow of guilt and shame has clouded my being. I must predict the Badgers will win against Arizona! And can you imagine if UW did win, defeated Villanova, and made it to the Sweet Sixteen held in Minneapolis this year? The Metrodome would be on fire with Badger red and the roar of the crowd would be heard from as far as Madison.
I’m certainly no NCAA hoops expert, though I must tell everyone that I won my office pool last year of about 15 people. No money was collected last year so as to encourage more participants, so all I won was some bragging rights, and that doesn’t buy crap.
My brackets are subject to change, but these teams are currently in my Elite Eight and my Final Four (bolded): Duke, Iowa, Gonzaga, Pittsburgh, UConn, Michigan State, Boston College, and Florida.
I'm tempted to pick teams based on the way I'd like the tournament to play out. For example, I'd love for Duke to lose in the third round, but I'm putting Duke in the Final Four anyway. Same with UConn. They won the NCAA tournament two years ago and I'd prefer to put a sleeper Big Ten team in its place like MSU.
Anyway, the story about March Madness is that anything can happen which is what makes it so fun.

Sorry for the Delay

Man, I just keep letting this blog thing slip. Don’t think I’ve died or anything. Just unmotivated to attend to the blog. It’s been a month since my last entry. Trying to think what was noteworthy over the past month.
Saw Belle and Sebastian last week. They didn’t play any of my favorites, but it was still great to see them. I was so drunk when I saw them though because I had a late lunch with a classmate and the chairman of our department. We ate Spanish food and drank too much sangria and port.
My sister-in-law Kristin came to New York for the weekend. She’s starting her own lingerie company and she came for the big New York lingerie trade show. I had a great time dining out and getting to know her better. She and my brother will be moving to San Francisco in May. Could the Kent children move any further from Eau Claire? With their moving, I again become their closest living child among my siblings!
Saw the Oscars. Haven’t seen Crash yet so no opinion on that. However, it would have been nice to see Felicity Huffman win for “Transamerica” because I thought her performance was one-of-a-kind. Some have ripped me apart because I thought Charlize Theron had the best dress. Well she did!
Project Runway came to a close this week too. What I loved about the finale is that there was no clear winner. I liked every collection and every designer. I’m glad Chloe won though I would have been happy for any of the three. If Daniel Vasovic is reading this, do not hesitate to e-mail me because I will go on a date with you. Fun fact: I learned that F.I.T. was initially asked by the Bravo channel to be the New York fashion school where the contestants would work. Instead, the show was shot out of Parsons. F.I.T. declined because there simply is not enough classroom space now, let alone space to shoot a reality show.
I saw Julia Stiles in the Lower East Side last week. I wanted to run up to her and say, "I know your deaf gay cousin!"
Here's a neat forward my mother sent me. Minneapolis didn't make the list, though it should have if Sao Paulo is on the list. Check it out.
Midterms are approaching, so don’t be surprised if it takes me another month to get back to the blog. I take that back. Selection Sunday is approaching and that means March Madness will arrive shortly! No other period in sports excites me more. If you want to participate in a Final Four bracket competition with me, please let me know. It's fun (seriously) and free!

P.S. There's another raccoon in the attic and I'm not joking.