The Gospel of March Madness-the Epilogue

I love competing. I love to compete at sports, card games, and even popular culture trivia. My life has been full of opportunities to compete. Starting at the age of five, I have played sports every season of the year. Soccer in the spring and fall and basketball in the winter and summer. Competing brings me joy and winning brings me satisfaction.
March Madness culminated Monday night with a lopsided championship win for North Carolina over the underdog Michigan State. I was hoping Michigan State could pull off an epic upset, but North Carolina was just too good. That is the way it goes sometimes, and that is precisely the reason I (and President Obama) picked UNC to win my March Madness bracket. My bracket this year was certainly nothing to brag about--definitely not comparable to my epic run in high school where I picked the national champion correctly three years in a row (Maryland, Syracuse, UCONN). However, it was good enough to win my apartment pool. The spoils? Wendy's on-the-house (courtesy of our apartment's participants) and apartment bragging rights. Some might say, "Yeah, tough pick. Everyone knew UNC was going to win." 2 comments.

1. If everyone knew UNC was going to win, why didn't anyone (besides me, of course) pick them to win? Louisville, UCONN, Pitt...What?
2. How often does the best team win the NCAA Tournament? Of course, the answer to this question in open to debate, therefore I will say this. Oftentimes, in a single-elimination tournament, the best team does not win. The NBA? Normally the best team will win four times out of seven, but college basketball is different. Was Villanova better than Georgetown in 1985 or was NC State better than Houston in 1983? Good, yes. But the best...?

My secret to success? To competitive greatness? (Ok. I know that might be a stretch considering that is the way Phil Jackson described Michael's competitive drive.) I just live the gospel. The Gospel of March Madness.