Break Up the Bearcats

March Madness is in its early stages. This week the first rounds of some of the conference tournaments have begun. Last night the America East tournament began with the two bottom teams playing to earn the right to play again in the next round.

A few days ago SUNY Binghamton was 0 for the season. Then they beat Vermont, a team that could go to the NCAA. Yesterday they beat UMBC and therefore have amassed two wins in 2011-2012. They are still alive. It would be stunning if the Bearcats somehow win tomorrow against a very good Stony Brook team. It is a very unlikely scenario. But the Bearcats could win again. My guess is that every member of the Bearcats is dreaming of an eventuality, however improbable, that would land them in the Big Dance. America.

On another note, something occurred a few minutes ago that is worth mentioning and is indicative of a repeated theme in this blog: the reason why sports captivates the interests of so many. I went to the post office at about 1 pm on March 2nd, today. There is a very snazzy digital display in this Boston post office that tells a customer the time and date. The time they had right. The date was listed as March 3rd. While awaiting my date with the clerk I figured out why the date was wrong. The snazzy clock did not compute leap year. My very unsnazzy digital watch got leap year spot on a few days ago. So did my computer. But the government display had it wrong. It was, though, a very snazzy time/date sign. So, the date was off...

What people like about sports is that you can count on it. There are twenty minute halves and if someone were to make the half 20 minutes and five seconds, it would be corrected instantly. No such efficiency can be guaranteed elsewhere. When I had my date with the clerk he told me that they will change the date in the post office when they have some time. Maybe. They will change the clock in the America East tournament game when the 2-28 Bearcats play Stony Brook the instant there is a realization of an error.