March Madness

Not Christmas. Not his birthday. Not Thanksgiving. Not Valentine's Day. Jace Stamper doesn't get excited about too many holidays. But what he does get excited about is March Madness. Today starts the 2013 basketball tournament. Jace literally counts down the days until the tournament and gets excited like a little kid at Christmas. He loves selection Sunday and pours over the stats and methodically picks his winners. Y'all I can't make this up. He told me he spent 5 hours over 3 days on his bracket. Please. Who has time like that?

Jace invited me to play with him and some other MC Law students in their own bracket challenge. There are three girls and a few kiddos playing with the guys. I don't want to brag BUT... I am tied for first right now. Want to know where Jace ranks? Tied for 8th!!! You ask how long I spent on my bracket? About 2 solid minutes. I didn't think or over analyze. Just went with pure gut.

If you know Jace and I at all, you know we bleed blue. As a die hard UK fan, Jace reads Kentucky Sports Radio like a daily devotional. When UK loses, Jace gets mad and a little depressed. He stays in this funk for quite some time. He turns into Coach Jace and informs me what went wrong, what the defining play was, who had the most blocks, rebounds, and steals. He can remember games from 10 years ago and make comparisons to other games. When he does this, I zone out and my eyes glaze over. I usually try to play opossum and make him think I am asleep. It usually works.

Collegiate basketball is a big thing in our relationship. Jace will watch just about any team, any day, at any time. He knows some quirky thing about each team and proceeds to tell me these facts. His TV is constantly on ESPN. ESPN is a funny thing to me. They repeat the same stories over and over. The men have on these fancy suits with crazy, double Windsor knots and the ladies are 6 foot tall with deep voices (except Erin Andrews). (Speaking of Erin Andrews, I know for a fact that Jace would leave me for Erin Andrews).

I digress. I was talking with a FCS agent one day and she has a husband like Jace. We discussed our disdain for the countless hours we are subjected to watch ESPN. However, the funny thing was we both mentioned that when we have to be apart from our boys we sorta miss the hum of ESPN in the background. She said when she is apart from her husband she finds herself watching ESPN because it reminds her of him. Now if that isn't love, I don't know what is?!

Jace told me one day in a very sincere tone that I come from "good genes". According to Jace, my Teak has "good genes" because she loves watching all the ballgames and Jace hopes that one day I will be just like her. Now, I will watch the CATS (even though this season was hijacked). I don't mind to have other games on in the background and do a few things around the house. But my basketball stamina starts to fade near or around the 4th game of the day. I am tired of basketball and need a good ol' dose of reality TV. My body craves some Kardashians, Say Yes to the Dress, and House Hunters. Jace prays that I learn to love all teams, increase my basketball stamina, and develop into my "good genes".

So here is to March Madness. May the best team win. May I beat Jace in the bracket. May my love for ESPN grow so I can develop into my "good genes".