March Madness

Ok. So it's totally a distraction for a busy student who should be researching, reading, and writing--and for that matter, cleaning and preparing a little talk for Relief Society and maybe even doing some laundry. But oh, the fun of March Madness... even for someone who really has not followed college basketball at all this season.

I just love filling out the bracket. Maybe it's the part of me that loves making lists and crossing things off and seeing "progress." It just feels good and accomplished and satisfying. I love that at this time of year I constantly check the scoreboards when I should be reading about the Civil Rights movement or finding archival sources for my paper. I love choosing teams whose names sound like good, solid basketball teams because I really honestly know nothing about their statistics this season. I love choosing an underdog team or two to go pretty far--simply because I believe in the challenge of making it big against all odds, and I delight in the unexpected. Oh, the excitement of it all!

Yesterday I asked the students working in our lab if they had filled out their brackets. Most of them had no idea what I was talking about. And so, for the first time in my pretty un-athletic life, I explained the simple joys of March Madness. I printed brackets for them and tried to describe the fun in blind choosing and watching scores. One undergrad even admitted that she knew sports had something to do with balls... oh there's so much to teach!

It is all paying off. My Russian friend Nastya just came rushing in to my cubicle to tell me that she saw a score flash by on some website and one of her teams is doing well. Wahoo! I think she's converted! I don't know that she's ever even been to a basketball game, but now she's addicted to March Madness. And Maureen and Tad are also playing along, waiting madly to see how their teams do. Mission accomplished!

Next mission: how will my bracket do?!? And after that: it's a good thing March Madness ends before my paper is due...