Maddening March, part 1

March has arrived, which is great because not only is spring on it's way and the MLB season will begin, but college basketball is in Madness mode.

There was a time when I lived for the college basketball season -- the whole season, not just March. If a game was being televised, I'd be watching it. My love for college basketball is probably one of many reasons I ended up as a sports journalist. But since I got to Utah, my interest started to trail off a little. I think the combination of being far away from the teams I followed the most, the fact the Utahns have been nuttier about their football teams the last decade (and nuttier about the Jazz rather than college hoops), and that I was working full-time nights and not watching as much.

All that said, I still love March. The first two days of the NCAA Tournament are two of my favorite non-holidays of the year. Inevitably, my alma mater always seems to lose that first weekend of the tourney, but that's better than when I was in college and we didn't make the tournament. I don't care: March brings out the college basketball freak in me -- the freak I've somewhat outgrown over the years.

Just don't look to me for bracket advice.

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