sports

I fell asleep at 8pm on Sunday. Not because I’d been busy doing yard work, or even walking around checking out the Cherry Blossoms. I was worn out from my yearly bout of The Madness.

Whether or not I closely follow college hoops during the regular season is largely dependent upon how good a team Maryland, my alma mater, has and how exciting the ACC is. But come March, I’m ready for hours of game watching, smack talking, and bracketology.

Since I’m not working, this year I didn’t have to develop a mystery illness to duck out of work at Noon on opening day. I have however had to decline invitations to meet friends at locations without enough tvs, and I almost stormed Comcast’s offices when my cable went out just in time for the Sweet Sixteen. I was also supremely anti-social at the PoP happy hour last week, not ever setting foot upstairs, because I’d found an excellent perch at the bar from which to view ‘Nova knock Duke out of the tourney and my hometown favorite Pitt win for the last time this year.

I’ve been checking out the games all over town, and across the river in Old Town. From Solly’s the other night, to the Pour House in my neck of the woods, to Chadwick’s across the river, to Lola’s (in the old Tapatinis spot on Barracks Row – make a point to check it out if you haven’t; it’s an excellent little neighborhood bar) to the Argonaut, to Bugsy’s (also in Old Town), to Tonic for post game highlights – I’ve logged more than a reasonable amount of hours in front of televisions in bars, not to mention consuming innumerable pints of beer, celebratory shots, drowning-of-busted-bracket-sorrows shots, chicken fingers, nachos, pretzels and all manner of bar foods. (Lola’s has the best chicken fingers I’ve ever had – seriously, check it out.)  Continues after the jump. (more…)