BRONX, NY – Today is March 15th, a magical time of year for Irish alcoholics (redundant?), people who like throwing away their money on NCAA Basketball pools, and psychopaths who enjoy blizzards after the temperatures have already climbed over 70 degrees. Let your freak flags fly, people! Watch that awful/awesome “Leprechaun” movie that Jennifer Aniston doesn’t want anyone to ever see again, pick South Dakota State to go to the Final Four, and make snow angels in brown slush behind a New York City bus. Let’s do this!
Bracketology. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is upon us. There will be plenty of people with dozens of takes and predictions but, know this, the best thing about March Madness is the first weekend, and then it’s kinda over. The first two nights, in particular, are the best. Upsets aplenty, games in the afternoon when you can duck out of work at lunch and grab a quick drink and catch the action, and late night match-ups that are far more compelling than anything coming out of the NBA’s Los Angeles teams. But once it’s down to 16, it’s pretty much all chalk and one or two dark horses hanging on. Enjoy the first week, and then bail until the final.
Sports Paddys. This Friday is St. Patrick’s Day, and it brings to mind (at least this mind) what notable Pats have graced the world of sports. Some quick ones come to mind. Not Patrick Roy, because fück that guy. Instead, how about Pat Riley? Nah, too slick. How about Craig Patrick? He was an assistant coach on the Miracle on Ice U.S. team, but not much after that. OK, I got some great sports Pats… and not the New England Pats, because they get enough slurping. For starters, how about Patrick Ewing? He may just end up being the last great New York Knicks player, until James Dolan croaks and someone, anyone, takes control of the team. Pat Ryan was a longtime NY Jets backup QB and one of the few Jets that I could actually stomach. I’ll leave it at that. Pat Summit, great basketball coach. Butch Patrick (aka Eddie Munster) could bunt better than 99.9% of today’s major league baseball players. Our former MTM contributor, Cookie, once had a thing for tennis player Patrick Rafter. Finally, not a lot of people know this but, this site was going to be called Meet The Pats, until Pat LaFontaine asked for too much money and Pat Morita passed away.
Lousy Smarch Weather. This late winter blast is enough to make Will Rogers punch a nun, and it doesn’t help that it’s coming in the Glenn Close “Fatal Attraction” month on our calendar. Most of us can roll with the punches, but once Spring Training starts, and Tim Tebow gets a hit, God should really call off the rest of winter. It’s bad enough that we have to go through the motions until April. Speaking of which, I am bringing this post to a merciful close.
Come back tomorrow for Buddy Diaz, a young go-getter who has yet to be beat down by the weekly grind of writing for this site and suffering its Rain Man-like management. And you can find us on Twitter at @Angry_Ward & @MeetTheMatts, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
P.s… PLEASE heed the warnings in this MTM Breaking Sports Weather Report Emergency:
