I love a good story, and as amazing as TV and movies are these days, nothing beats the combination of a good book and your own imagination. I'm lucky that I developed the habit of reading at a young age. Children's books are the best - from those early baby books that had only a few words but lots of tactile elements like a dog that actually felt furry, to chapter book series with no pictures but plenty of cool adventures that inspired real life fun.
Having recently spent time with my little niece, I was reminded of the books that shaped my childhood and, well, me.
This book was the first one I could read in its entirety all by myself. It chronicles the steps this little bear goes through to get ready for a car ride. I loved the pictures and seeing how his steps compared to my own. After doing a quick search just now, I found that it's actually part of a series of books - Bumble B. Bear does more than just ride in a car!
This author may be better known for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (also a great book, and made me wish I could live in a museum), but Up From Jericho Tel was my favorite. It had a bit of magic and fantasy in it and a little more character development and celebration of individuality than other books I read at the time. Of course, that's my analysis now. At the time, I just loved the book. No concrete reason why.
If I read one of these books today, I'd probably still find them interesting, and I'd still want to be a member of the club. I loved all the series and spin-offs - the regular books, the super specials, the mysteries (although they scared me a little), and even the little sister series. I used to secretly stay up at night to finish these books. They're probably why my vision's so poor, but I have no regrets.
The more I type, the more I think of other books that I loved. If I keep going, I don't think I could stop, so I'll leave the list here. The point is, children's books are wonderful and the list of good ones is endless. If there are any children in your life, make sure they get to experience the joy of them.
In two weeks, I will be surrounded by computer and TV screens, kicking off my favorite time of the year - tournament time! I've mentioned my love for basketball and my even more intense love for college basketball before, but now it's time to discuss the crown jewel that is the NCAA D1 Men's Basketball Tournament.
To keep myself from spouting incoherently as I release a fire hose of everything I love about this tournament, I've tried to organize and highlight things in five main, somewhat chronological, categories:
Selection Sunday
The Sunday before the tournament starts, the tournament selection committee selects and reveals the teams they are inviting to the big dance. Remember how I mentioned that in college, every game matters? This moment is the culmination of everything that happened in the previous four months - every win, loss, margin, strength of schedule, etc.
Bubble teams (i.e. those for whom the invite isn't a foregone conclusion) find out if they've done enough to make it. The shoe-ins find out if they've done enough to get a "better" seed. All teams learn where they're playing and who their first opponent and potential future opponents will be. And all of us start debating why the selection committee was right or wrong to overrate or snub or stack a region or lay out an easy path for so-and-so.
The Brackets
After the teams and seeding are revealed, we can start predicting who will win each game and ultimately the entire tournament. Every year I am horrible at filling out my bracket, but I still do it. In the beginning, it's kind of fun to see if I actually select the correct upsets. For games where I don't care who wins, it gives me someone to root for, if only because I randomly wrote the team's name on a line a few days earlier.
I think the best thing about the bracket is it brings people who normally don't follow basketball into this world. It doesn't take any skill or knowledge to fill out a bracket, and even if you have no idea what's happening in the game, you know who wins (the team that scores the most points) and you can trash talk with your friends about how you got it right.
Single-Elimination Format
Arguably the core characteristic of the tournament is its single-elimination format, which means every game will be one team's last for the season. While everything during the regular season mattered going into Selection Sunday, after that, the only thing that matters is what happens during the current 40 minutes the team happens to be playing. This win-or-go-home format is what makes it possible for less talented teams to go further in the tournament than the most talented team. It's why it's so exciting - the stakes are higher and unexpected outcomes more likely. Oh the drama! It's why, even if my team's not playing or if they've been eliminated, I still love watching.
The First Weekend
If I had to choose just one part of the tournament to watch, it would be the first weekend. The tournament is essentially structured into three consecutive weekends. All the games of the first two rounds are played in the first weekend (Thursday through Sunday). Then there's a break until the following Thursday, which begins the next weekend when all the games of the next two rounds, the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, are played. And finally, the Final Four and Championship Game are played the Saturday and Monday of the week after that.
Since there are 64 teams when the tournament starts, that means they have to fit 48 games into the first weekend. That means it's back-to-back games during nearly all my waking hours all weekend, at times with multiple games happening at the same time. That's why I need multiple screens. There's so much happening and the potential for so many exciting and wonderful moments. You could see a nail-biting buzzer-beater in one game, change the channel, and see another one a few seconds later. You see so many teams with different styles of play and match ups that would never be scheduled during the regular season. Multiple upsets can happen in one day. Games go into overtime. It's non-stop emotion. One great moment after another.
One Shining Moment
On the subject of great moments, the tournament is not complete until we hear the final notes of One Shining Moment. After the final buzzer sounds, after the champions receive their trophy, we're treated to a sentimental montage of clips from throughout the tournament set to a cheesy but lovable song.
The NCAA March Madness Facebook page has been posting One Shining Moments from the past 30 years, and I've loved watching them. Some of them I saw the first time they were aired but most are new to me, since they were before I started watching basketball. Even if I have no affiliation with the teams in them, they still give me a great feeling.
Ironically, the only One Shining Moment that didn't make me all sappy was the one created when my team won the championship in 2010. That's because that year they decided to cut in video of the singer singing in a studio in between footage of the tournament. Kind of takes you out of the moment... So for that year, I prefer the video Duke Blue Planet put together, set against the classic and dulcet tones of Luther Vandross. (Warning: Duke haters, which I realize is most of the country, you may not like this version either.)
One Shining Moment is probably the best encapsulation of why this tournament is special to me - you experience the emotion of the players, coaches, and fans. It's a wonderful celebration.
