There’s never a bad time for a gratuitous photo.
Tip-off of the first game — Butler/LSU — is in about 40 minutes, and I couldn’t be more excited. Well, yes, I could be more excited, but let’s just all accept the fact that I’m really excited for the start of the tournament. Geesh, get off my back.
Even before I started writing about sports for a living, it was an annual ritual to take the first Thursday of the tournament off to catch all the games. These days, workers get paid to watch streaming coverage in their cubicles, and CBS even has a “boss button” to hit — it pulls up a generic Excel spreadsheet — when the supervisor walks by.
Today, I’ll be watching the first set of games at home with my son Max before I pass him off to the nanny and meet a couple of buddies — LaRusso and JC — at a local sports haunt to catch the second set of games. Max just turned one on Tuesday, thank you very much. Yes, he’s a St. Patrick’s Day baby. And I fully plan to be there when he turns 21 to make sure it’s not the last night of his life. I’ll be the stern-looking 6’8″ guy in the background of all the pics, watching over all the hi jinks. I’ll be known to all his friends as “Max’s a-hole dad.” I’m fully proud in advance of that fact.
Anyway, I’m planning on doing a running diary of Thursday (and maybe Friday), Bill Simmons style. (By the way, Simmons didn’t invent stream-of-consciousness writing — the beat writers of the ’60s did — but he’s probably the first to apply it to sports writing, so that’s why I mentioned him. Ah, forget it.)
See you in a bit. (If you want to take a look at my picks, click here.)
10:03 AM: Two 8/9 games going and my local CBS affiliate is showing the 2/15 matchup between Memphis and Cal State Northridge. DAMN YOU, NORTHRIDGE! (Actually, as long as they keep it close — they’re down five at the moment — I’m happy to watch a potential upset.) My two picks in those 8/9 games — Butler and BYU — are both down eight right now, so maybe it’s good that I’m not watching. FYI, Max just had breakfast and is playing happily in his pack-and-play right now.
10:21 AM: CBS’ staggered start times backfire as all three games go to half at the same time. Maybe they should stagger the times by more than 5-10 minutes…just a thought. Three games at half means more time for Seth Davis to make hand gestures as he speaks. (FYI, Max just pooped. I’m never going to get used to changing diapers.)
