Begin the Dance

The first full day of March Madness had Colin and Dad enjoying some of the action while sipping on Root Beers and eating pizza at the Wig and Pen restaurant in Iowa City. Colin was cheering on "Tubby's Team," Minnesota, only to see them fall to Texas. On Day 1, Colin's bracket took a massive hit. His national champ - Minnesota - went down and his upset of the tournament - Radford over UNC - did not happen. This is the toddler version of "drowning one's sorrows." He fell asleep on the couch watching Illinois lose to Western Kentucky.

The tournament has definitely evolved in my lifetime. There was a day where only cable tv subscribers were able to watch all of the games. Games only involving teams in your local area were shown on over the air stations. I remember sneaking out of high school study hall to listen to Iowa's first round game with Santa Clara in 1987. I was caught and found myself in mild trouble. Nothing I couldn't handle.

The only time we were guaranteed a game on our local CBS station was after the 10pm local news. Typically a game from the western regional. It was here where Ray Meyer bowed out of college basketball by losing in the first round. It was too late to watch the end, but we were able to watch the first half. Another year I remember watching Jon Koncak and SMU battle Washington.