Football was always my first love when it came to sports, but my passion for it becomes more apparent each and every year.
This season was a perfect example. The Steelers lost a heartbreaker in the first round of the NFL playoffs, but that didn't keep me from having a vested interest in the rest of the postseason action. And I was so determined to watch the Super Bowl, I skipped my bowling match that evening, and instead, rolled off a few hours before the game under the most horrific conditions imaginable.
Even during down years for my Steelers, I still pay close attention to the rest of the NFL action. I'm just a football aficionado, and I always will be.
It's not like that with other sports. Take baseball, for example. Outside of the Pirates, I haven't sat down to watch a baseball game for years, save the occasional postseason game, and I probably won't anytime soon. I WANT to love the sport of baseball like I did when I was a kid, but when your team is on the losing end of the inherent economic disadvantages of Major League Baseball, and it hasn't won in nearly two-decades mainly because of it, it kind of takes the spark out of the sport for you.
I consider myself a huge college basketball fan, but since Pitt had such a poor season, I couldn't get into the action this year. March Madness is normally the time of year when I get that warm and fuzzy feeling in my stomach. As a Pitt fan, I would eagerly anticipate where the team would be seeded in the field of 68 and then spend the rest of the week trying to justify picking them to win it all.
I normally love to watch college basketball, in general, and I usually pay attention to which teams are marching towards the Final Four, even once Pitt is knocked out.
However, this year, when it became quite apparent that the Panthers wouldn't be in the tournament for the first time in a decade, I quickly stopped paying attention to the rest of college basketball.
I have no desire to fill out a bracket. I know that seems almost unAmerican for a sports enthusiast such as myself, but even if I did fill out a bracket, it would be done in ignorance, as I really don't know which teams are the favorites. I know that Syracuse spent the majority of the season near the top of the rankings, but other than that, I'm just assuming that the Kentuckys and Dukes of the world are among the usual favorites to take it all.
It's a shame, too, because I'm off this week, and watching the first weekend of the tournament is usually the most awesome part thanks to the plethora of games.
Speaking of that, I've been so out of the loop with following college basketball this season, I was completely unaware that the Consol Energy Center would be hosting first and second round games this weekend.
If Pitt was in its normal top 10 form this season, I'm sure I would have been wondering if the selection committee would reward the team with a couple of games near campus. Sadly, however, the Panthers didn't play well enough to get anywhere near the field of 68, let alone get to play a game a few miles from the Pete.
Oh well, maybe I'll fill out a bracket, afterall. I normally do pretty poorly when I know what I'm doing.
Who would be able to tell the difference?
Oh, and when is the NFL Draft?
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