Official Blog For Author Thomas McClurg

As an avid college hoops fan, i can honestly say i have never seen a first round as exciting. Granted i’m not the oldest person in the world so my bank of memories is smaller than some, still i feel confident when i say the first round was one for the ages.

You could make one of those moving, emotional, commercial montages about the NCAA and use nothing but clips from this years first round. My personal favorite? MSU’s buzzer beater over Maryland of course. That game typifies for me the thrill of victory versus the agony of defeat. One minute it was clear we were going to win it, the next it was clear we were going to lose it, then we won it. I think that game took several years off my life in terms of stress.

The Kansas game ranks as a close second. Love rooting for underdogs, and that was a serious underdog moment. Funny thing is, you know how you watch the tournament, and they do those school spotlights that give you a quick summary of the schools location and enrollment and all that? Mostly because no one knows where schools like Saint Mary’s and Oakland are. Well when they did the one for Northern Iowa, i had this epiphany. The spotlight said Northern Iowa is located in Cedar falls, Iowa. Turns out i actually know where that is. Went to a writers conference in Cedar Falls, let me tell ya, not a lot there. Certainly nothing that screamed out “We have a basketball team that is going to beat the number 1 seed overall and make it to the sweet sixteen!”

It was an odd connection to make, to clearly remember the campus and some of the buildings for the Northern Iowa panthers or whatever, but it made routing for them that much better. Of course they are going to lose to my depleted Spartans this weekend, (Knock on wood) but that Kansas game was something else.

The Saint mary’s game was great to, both of them were actually. Fun team to watch. They play well together, share the ball, pass for easy shots. I’m looking forward to their next one.

As for brackets? I almost called the first round perfectly, upsets and all, and i was feeling pretty good about myself. Thought, “One crazy round, now everything will straighten out.” Yeah well the second round left a big hole in my bracket, probably not as big as some, but still pretty big.

Who do i have winning it all? MSU of course. I’d have them winning it all even if they were a 16 seed just because i can’t turn my back on them. Wishful thinking perhaps, but I will never predict for them to lose, and so far they haven’t let me down. Here’s hoping they keep it up against those guys from the bustling metropolis of Cedar Falls Iowa.

GO MSU!!!!