March Madness

Why do people go crazy this time of year? My theory is we’re so tired of winter that we have to focus on something else. Like basketball. If you’ve read my blog, you know the only sport I really care about is baseball. But I guess I can get a little excited over basketball. My state has three entries this year in the NCAA Tournament: University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Western Michigan University.

Whenever any Michigan team plays, Hubs and I root for them. The problem comes with they play each other, like the game yesterday when U of M played MSU. My family are dyed-in-the-wool supporters of U of M. One of my sisters and one of my brothers graduated from there. 

Here’s the problem. We lived in Spartan Country for fourteen years. Now it was impossible to ignore MSU when reporters on TV excitedly covered the games and the newspaper reported Spartan victories in large headlines on the front page while U of M only got minor mention on the second page of the Sports section. Tom Izzo is such a local hero, he warrants a highway billboard thanking him for a great season. 

Then there's Western Michigan University. We used to live near Kalamazoo. Our son graduated from Western and our daughter teaches there. Can you see our problem?

Now that three Michigan teams will play in the NCAA Tournament starting next week, we’ll cheer for each team. I just hope our loyalties won’t be divided if they have to play each other.

Who will you root for?