It's that time of year

Can you feel it?  The anticipation?  The energy?  The excitement?  All ready to burst into exhilaration at the drop of an orange ball through a white net.  That's right.  The Madness is here.  March Madness.  And when you live in the birthplace of college basketball, it's just a little madder.  (The inventor of the game coached here and is buried here.  And those other grand old tradition schools play in buildings named after guys who learned at the feet of the guy our building is named after (on the street named after the inventor), so yeah, we are the birthplace of college basketball.)

When the Madness sets in, attempting to work is futile.  Thinking about the law is just a temporary distraction from what really matters.  Instead, time is spent on message boards.  But not just Rockchalk or Phog.net.  No, one must also read the Kentucky boards and the Duke boards and the Syracuse boards.  The truly Mad feel compelled to know just what other fans think of their teams' chances.

And then there are the Youtube videos.  Already, my fellow Hawk fans have begun sharing their favorite highlight videos on Facebook and in e-mails.  This one is a particular favorite.  In the days before the 2008 tournament, it was this one.  (Subsequently updated to look like this.)

At home, when I'm not watching pre-tournament coverage on the ESPN family of networks, I'm watching my DVDs of the 1988 Championship won by Danny and the Miracles.  (Ask me about the time I had dinner with Danny Manning!)  Or I'm reliving the way then-freshman Cole Aldrich dominated player of the year Tyler Hansbrough in the 2008 semi-finals.  And I go to bed each night watching the 2008 National Championship.

If I were actually to pick paint colors for my entryway right now, they would clearly be crimson and blue.  And every friend who came over to see it in the next 3 weeks would think it was a brilliant choice.  (Ooh, and I should put hardwood floors in there and paint a giant Jayhawk on it!)

Oh, yes.  The Madness has got me, down to the very core of my being.  I cannot fight the Madness.  Can you? 

Rock Chalk!