My First March Madness

No, I am not talking about the one currently taking place. The one I am talking about happened in 1982. Actually, it wasn't even the tournament, just the title game. Georgetown vs. North Carolina. It was the first one for me and likely the first college GAME I ever watched. None of my parents or older brothers watched basketball so at 10 years old, it was completely foreign to me. You see, my parents got divorced that year and it was just me and my mom in a little trailer that night. I don't think we had been in the trailer longer than a week and I was as lost as I can ever remember. My life had always been two parents and three older brothers and never a lonely moment. Never. My dad moved to Boston and my brothers scattered. Our little family would never be the same and my brothers and I have never really reconnected.
So then I find myself sitting alone in our teeny living room while my mom was in her room rolling her hair for work the next day. I turned the TV on and there was the game. I had NO idea who anyone was or even who the teams were. I decided to root for the Georgetown Hoyas likely because their mascot was a dog. Pretty deep huh?
I can actually remember cheering them on and not really knowing what I was cheering for. "They lead in turnovers. Yea! That's good right?" I was crushed by the horrible ending and my sports obsession began. I guess that game was just the distraction that 10-year-old little boy needed to forget his pain at least for a few hours. (I shudder to think what today's youth in that situation lose themselves in when they turn on the TV or Internet).
No, this blog wasn't to tell you where my sporting life started. More to just reflect on the significance this game has for me this time around. How ironic is it that as I watch the game tomorrow, I will be rooting for the Tar Heels? And by my side will likely be my wife and three kids...