March Madness
This is really more observations, this time for April. I bet you are wondering about why the heck I titled the post March Madness then, eh? The biggest reason I just finished watching what had to be one the better NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship games in ages (saying a lot, consider Duke won it all) and it April fifth. So lets start with that observation and roll on…
- March Madness runs crazily right on into April and no one seems to really notice, especially not the announcers and other pushers on the various television venues. And what the heck is up with all the other stations trying to make off like they have some better claim to your viewing for shows about the big dance, when the do not even have the big dance?
- Speaking of March Madness, who has the mad (and insane and inane) idea to expand the NCAA tourney out to ninety-eight teams? I agree with my good friend Larry Vaught on his recent comments about this expansion to a large degree. I really do feel like it is largely a big money deal that is driving it. After all, thirty-two more games on television and that will have tickets sold to them. On the other hand, enough with letting everyone into the tourney. Let the winners get in and those that do not sorry, try harder next year. Yeah, I agree that I would like to have seen Mississippi State and maybe even Virginia Tech in the dance over a couple of teams, but expanding beyond the current would have cheapened it for someone getting there. At this level, we should not have to give everyone the 1st place trophy to make them feel good and by the same token only the best of the best should be invited to play in the post season, not the best and the somewhat almost goods.
- I had a thought a few years ago about how the telegraph operator of hundred fifty years ago was probably akin the computer/network guru of today, or least of ten years ago. It was at both times the glamorous job that could take you places and required a good deal of smarts to boot. I had another such eureka moment this evening. HAM (shortwave amateur) radio has for years been it’s on click of often gurus that has over the years (going back to at least the 1950′s) also been the social media network for alpha-geeks of respective generations up until the 1990′s when we started to turn more to the internet precursors with things such as local computer bulletin board systems (ah those were the days, when only the geeky played on such geeky gadgets). There are so many parallels that could be drawn out between the two, even down to the truly geeky building their own and having the more awesome call signs and/or handles, but I will leave it as just a simple observation at this point.
- It is spring full on now and I am really missing the smell of a freshly turned furrow. I may have to go hang out with some buddy or another just to get that the smell out of my head and into my nose.
- Along with that, given life experiences the last six or seven years, a good set of leather reins connected lightly to two horses weighing in at around a ton and a half would make the mental image in my head nearly complete. Especially if attached behind them is a double tree and a plow. Do not get me wrong, hard work and I would probably be winded after a trip down and back of the shortest field size, but I would again feel that calling that seems to complete me.
- For anyone counting, yes, less than three weeks until the big day. I am excited, but not nervous. Is that normal? Oh, and yeah, I have been meaning to set up a countdown for a week or two and have not managed to get to it. Suppose I should make a bigger push for that tomorrow, as I am about to head this eve.
* – image from a print by John Bye named March Madness
Nice writeup
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