Dancing With Myself

Any chances that I might have had to win any of my pools magically disappeared about three minutes into the first game of the first day of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.  As soon as Butler fell behind LSU 9-0 around 9:14 this morning, my hope of finally winning dashed.  I should have hit the snooze and gone back to bed.

I never understand the people who fill out several brackets.  How do you know who to root for?  I may enter several pools, but I only fill out one bracket.  So it doesn’t matter when I enter the CNN DC Bureau pool as I do every year with about seventy people, the Portland Life of Riley pool that I am in for the first time along with about 150 others, or the Fine Boys Invitational which once again is me, my friend Matt, and his son.  Every pool I use the same bracket.  It is like my March signature.

Every year I also have the same feeling looking over my picks on Wednesday night before the tourney starts, “I think picked every winner this year!  How can I be wrong?  After all no one knows more about college basketball than me!”

My delusion usually lasts longer than five minutes.

By the time the day was over not only had Butler who I picked to go to the Elite 8 lost, but also so did Mississippi State and VCU each of whom I picked to go to the Sweet 16.

I feel like the guy who finally gets the nerve to ask the girl to dance only to be cut-in on right away without even a chance to dip.  And after I polished my shoes and everything.