It's tournament time again

I settled in tonight and watched the first games in this year's NCAA Tournament, or the start of March Madness, as it's more popularly referred to. And, as usual, it started off with a bang. Upsets, last-minute miracles, overtime, double overtime -- what a start to what has to be one of the most exciting events in college basketball.

I"ve been watching this yearly ritual since I was in high school in Regina. But back then, Regina didn't have cable TV, or at least no one I knew had it. So each spring, a few of us from the basketball team would drive down to Weyburn, rent a hotel room and spend the weekend watching basketball. Estevan and Weyburn, in southern Saskatchewan, had always been able to get the US TV stations out of North Dakota. And at that time, that was the only way to see any of the games.

Finding the games these days isn't a problem. There's wall-to-wall coverage on CBS and SportsNet in Canada usually carries lots of the Tournament as well. And now, with the Internet, you can follow the games, print off the "brackets" document, and even watch some of the games live on your computer. I haven't tried that yet, but I might.

Anyway, if you notice that my posts are veering into the sporting world in the next couple of weeks, that's the reason. In fact, I happened to go back to the first post I ever made to this blog, way back on April 3, 2004. Wouldn't you know it...here's what I was writing about then.

Hurray for March Madness
The NCAA Final Four is on. This is what basketball is all about. The skill level of the players and the coaches - heck, even the referees - is something to behold. I've played basketball or been involved with it for most of my life, and it's weekends like this that convince me that it's still the best sport out there.