The Other Lover In My Life.....

....is back. She comes to see me once a year for 19 days. She gives me 63 presents, and sometimes even saves the best for last. But, then, alas, she breaks my heart and goes away for another year.

WHEN I FELL IN LOVE.........

15 years ago today, March 16, 1990, a Friday. I had watched the NCAA Tournament throughout my childhood, from David Thompson and the '74 Pack (my first memory) through Indiana's undefeated season, Magic vs. Bird, UNC-Georgetown, my Pack winning again, Villanova's upset, and others.

But on this day, I got to see the NCAA Tournament....LIVE. For the first time ever, the first two rounds were being played at the Richmond Coliseum. Having connections is sometimes a wonderful thing.

The radio station I worked for, at the time, aired VCU basketball. Their weekly talk show was going to be live from the Coliseum that Thursday night, previewing the tournament being in town. While there helping with the broadcast, I'm at the Marriott, and I'm able to get a press pass from one of the assistants to the Athletic Director.

A quick call to the boss, another call to cover my airshift, and I'm on the way to the Coliseum the next day.

I got there near the end of the first game, which was Northern Iowa's upset of the three seed, Missouri, on a 28-foot jumper from Maurice Newby with about 3 seconds to go. I'm underneath the Missouri basket and watch the ball helpless fly towards me in desperation from the other side of the court at the buzzer, to no avail. First game of the day equals first upset of the day.

Then UTEP and Minnesota take center stage (6 vs 11). Pretty good game, and Clem Haskins' Golden Gophers take the victory.

We take a dinner break, run home to the apartment, head right back to I-64, and return for the nightcap.

Syracuse, the #2 seed, played first, against the only team whose identity I can't remember. Needless to say, Syracuse won. After the game, I'm in the press area, filing phone reports back to the station, walking past the likes of Derrick Coleman and thinking, "Crap, they are tall and big!!"

The final game of the night was the marquee event, being that Virginia was playing. Their opponent: Notre Dame. In the end, we saw not one, but two careers end this weekend. The first? Digger Phelps, whose Irish lost Friday night to UVA. However, before the game ended, I get a page from home and had to rush home.

Seems there was a domestic disturbance at the apartment next door and my wife ends up with a bleeding woman banging on our door asking for help. I got home, she had gone to her aunt's apartment around the corner for a combination of safety and relief, and I joined them there, in time to see Bo Kimble shoot a left-handed free throw in memory of Hank Gathers for Loyola-Marymount in the West Region.

Sunday, we go back for round two. First game, a war between Virginia and Syracuse. UVA has a chance to win at the end, but the shot was disrupted by Derrick Coleman. I was right underneath the basket, maybe 10-15 feet away from the play. Some contact, but not enough to blow the whistle.

Thus ended the career of Terry Holland at UVA and Syracuse moved on.

Then, Minnesota took on the darlings, Northern Iowa, and when it became apparent that the cinderella story was ending, I headed for the exit, in time to hear Xavier upset Georgetown in another regional.

And since that weekend, I've never been the same.

Every year, from 1991 to 1996, I would take two of my precious ten vacation days on the Thursday and Friday of the first round of the tournament. I was at home with the kids in '98 and '99. The TV is in the office, waiting to be turned on tomorrow at noon. And, through the years, I taped games, tipoffs, and buzzer beaters incessantly. I have every National Championship game from 1991 to 2001 and 2003 and 2004 on tape (only missed 2002's).

I love the NFL, root for the Orioles, love high school and college football, love hockey (when they're smart enough to play), but there is NOTHING like the other lover in my life......

......MARCH MADNESS.


Having said all that....the predictions are in.


CHICAGO: How can you not pick Illinois? They're loaded with guard play (a key to winning it all), on a emotional ride with the Coach losing his mother, NOT from the sense of him using that, but the players want to rally around him.

No big upsets in this bracket. Sweet 16 picks: Illinois defeats Alabama, and Arizona beats Oklahoma State....

Illnois takes care of the Wildcats and heads to St. Louis.

ALBUQUERQUE: Washington is getting dissed, including by me. I just don't believe in them. Sorry. They get to round three and are dismissed by my pick. They're finally healthy, have a coach that knows the Final Four, and got a rotten seed. They're on a mission, too. They're the Cardinals of Louisville.

UPSET: Don't be surprised if GW knocks off Ga Tech, though I didn't have the guts to pick 'em at ESPN.com....maybe on my second bracket there (heck, they give you 5!!)

Sweet 16 picks: Louisville over Washington, Wake Forest over Gonzaga;
Louisville shuts down Chris Paul and goes to the heartland, first Final Four in 19 years.

SYRACUSE: UNC, UNC, UNC, they have the best talent, UNC, UNC, blah, blah, blah. Then why did Santa Clara beat them? Why did Clemson almost beat them? Why didn't they put away a Jekyll/Hyde outfit like Georgia Tech last Saturday?

The UNC players in not committed enough to play six consecutive games in 19 days at their 100 percent potential. If they weren't motivated for the ACC Tournament (and those of you who don't live in ACC land don't realize how important that tournament title is to ACC teams...), they don't have what it takes later in March, either.
Therefore, we'd like to welcome back......

Connecticut. Yep, UNC gets to the regional final, where they find a familiar foe in the Huskies. They've played each other each of the past two years, and this time, with the Final Four on the line, the boys who've been there show the boys who haven't.

UPSET: Here's your 12/5: New Mexico over Villanova, and I've got Wisconsin over Kansas in Round Two.

Sweet 16 picks: UNC over Florida (barely); Connecticut over Wisconsin. UConn clips UNC and returns Jim Calhoun to the Final Four....

AUSTIN: Where he will meet a good friend. Duke has to get six good shooting games in a row from JJ Redick to have a chance to cut the nets down. That would take the best performance in tourney history by one player. I don't see it. One foul plagued game and they are done.

Who does them in? My Final Four pick: Syracuse. Warrick and McNamara want one more push in March, and their experience knocks off Duke in the Sweet 16.

UPSET: UTEP over Utah in round one, and Oklahoma in round two; they're my cinderella team.

Sweet 16 picks: Kentucky over UTEP and Syracuse over Duke. Syracuse then takes out the less-experienced Wildcats and head to the Arch.

FINAL FOUR:

Illinois, Louisville, Connecticut, and Syracuse.

NOTE: I'm a die-hard ACC fan (except I will not root for Virginia under about any circumstances), and, in this year where some experts put 3 ACC teams at the Final Four, I don't have any. Zip. Zero. Nada.

Illinois puts an end to Louisville's dreams for a 25th anniversary championship for Dr. Dunkenstein, Darrell Griffith, and the 1980 squad that knocked off UCLA the same night "Nightline" premiered on ABC.

Connecticut and Syracuse have split this season, with the Orangemen winning in the Big East Tournament. 03 champ vs 04 champ. Can't get any better. Look for Warrick to take over and head to Monday night.

Weber vs Boeheim.

There's no denying them. It's Illinois' year. I know, no one has gone into the tournament with only one loss and won it all since my Pack did it in 1974, but everything just seems to be lining up for them. If they stay focused, it's theirs to lose.

Final: Illinois 78, Syracuse 71.

And then, they'll play One Shining Moment, and my lover will kiss me goodbye...until she flirts with me again beginning October 15th.