MERE MOMENTS TO MADNESS

It's finally that time, less than an hour away from the beginning of TOTAL MADNESS!!! It's like the first day of Christmas for college basketball fans. Or maybe it's Thanksgiving, and the final four is Christmas Eve. Either way, that Wildcat logo scares me, and hopefully it instills the same fear in the rest of the field. Deadspin gave a little shout-out to Villanova on their Mall Of America region breakdown: "We love Villanova and think the college basketball world is a better place when the Wildcats are good." Couldn't have said it better myself.

By the way, why do people that work at bars have absolutely no clue about sporting events? Sure, they don't mind people coming in to watch them, and they frequently run "promo" specials during them, but they don't know when anything is on, what channels are what, or if they even have access to it. It's irritating (and don't get me started with the whole "HD" fiasco). I called the Lexington Pub & Grill yesterday afternoon to find out if they have "Mega March Madness", the DirecTV package that gives you access to every game during the first couple of rounds. Here's our basic conversation:

ME: "Hi! For the NCAA tournament this weekend, do you have the Mega March Madness?"
WOMAN AT LEX: "Yeah, we have satellite, cable, and so we usually get everything."
ME: "But that's a package that DirecTV has, did you guys sign up for that?"
WOMAN AT LEX: "Oh, really? I don't know, and I'm the only one here."
(even though there's someone in the background that she's talking to after every question I ask)
ME: "Can I talk to someone who knows?"
WOMAN AT LEX: "Call the night bartender at 7, maybe they know."

AAAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!! Why why why why can't anyone GET IT RIGHT?!?!? Rob said that maybe we're the only ones who care, but I think that's a lame excuse, because if you own a bar, and most of your patrons watch sports, YOU SHOULD CARE.

Oh, my picks are going to suck again this year, making it about 20 years in a row without winning it all. Has everyone signed up for CBS/NCAA MMOD? I did, but who knows if I can even get in. Oh well.

LET THE MADNESS BEGIN!