March is the one time of the year that I see no problem with people jumping on the bandwagon.
Usually, it's annoying to see people wearing team apparel and talking a team up just because they're doing well. But it's March and when the roller coaster that is the NCAA men's basketball Tournament is in motion, it's virtually impossible not to jump on a wagon. Heck, I'm riding the wagon and it's going full throttle, Oregon Trail-style.
Unlike the characters of the antiquated computer game, I'm not aiming to get to the West Coast and find land and salvation. Instead, I'm rallying for the Patriots and their voyage to Indianapolis.
Go George Mason!
How can you not cheer for a No. 11 seed in the final four, a team that was chosen by the committee on Selection Sunday, and whose roster holds some of the most resilient competitors in the tournament?
It's the first time in my life there hasn't been a No. 1 seed in the final four and I wasn't even 2 years old when a No. 11 seed last made it this far. This is a great moment in sports history and I don't think I'd enjoy it nearly as much if I didn't feel connected to one team in some way.
You may ask how I am connected to George Mason. Technically, I'm not, other than the fact that I have visited the university's online bookstore a few times looking for a shirt, and I work for a company that has a store in Fairfax, Va.
Something inside me just loves the Patriots and everything they represent.
Jim Larrangaga, the head honcho for the biggest Cinderella story in sports this year, is one cool dude. I saw him on ESPN one day, buying donuts and coffee for the Mason fans who had camped out before a game. He also gives some great quotes to the media, acting as if he knew all along his team was going to be in the Final Four. I'm not too sure that anyone could have seriously guessed that the Patriots would get this far but I'm not going to hate.
If I were a George Mason student right now, I'd be partying every day, wearing my green and yellow gear constantly, and winning my bracket.
I would do whatever it takes to get to Indy for the game, even if it meant walking the 595 miles from the campus of George Mason to Indianapolis.
As if my life weren't already consumed by sports, I would live, eat, and breathe March Madness 24/7. Classes? Who needs them when you can watch your peers school UConn, Michigan State and UNC on the courts.
George Mason is currently ranked second on the Facebook's College Basketball Tournament standings. Maybe the students could offer a course in Bracketology 101 for next year.
Granted, I assume that a good portion of their success comes from students being faithful and sending their team all the way to the end, even if it wasn't completely feasible to begin with.
As a UB student, had the Bulls gotten an at-large bid last year, my bracket definitely would have had them going all the way. But instead, my team has never made it to the tournament and I am forced to actually try and guess games.
Like so many, my bracket derailed ages ago. Hello Duke, BC, UNC, and Gonzaga Final Four Failures.
So that's why I'm living vicariously through Larranaga's squad. It's part of the American spirit to root for the underdog and my school hasn't even been given the chance to be the underdog, so why not use someone else's?
It's either that or the human-interest story, a la LSU. Could you imagine if George Mason and LSU battled in the championship game? I think the world of sports would implode after the inundation of feature stories on the Cinderella team vs. Big Baby and the Katrina victims.
Nobody knows what the final tourney game will hold but that's the best part about the madness. No one knows and it gives us all hope that one day our university will be able to make a George Mason-esque run.
Until then, I'll be the fool walking around campus in a George Mason shirt, supporting a school that I hadn't even heard of before the tournament began. Hopefully, it will be a national champion shirt.
