My NCAA tourney adventure with friends ended this morning as they left for the airport. On a weekend when I thought the most exciting thing I’d do was take a walk with the grandsons (still did that), I unexpectedly attended two incredibly exciting games in which the Aztecs improbably advanced to the Final Four. This was the next best thing to UK being in the hunt, and brought back some of the joy of college basketball for me.

Attending the games in person was really something – you get a jolt of excitement there that you just can’t get on TV. And college basketball games are the perfect length, only about two hours. Baseball and football games can get loooong and tedious, but college hoops is in the Goldilocks zone. The finish of the Creighton game was one of the wildest I’ve ever seen – for the last 3 minutes of the game clock (stretching out to 15-20 minutes real time), it was clear that anyone could win. Lots of suspense. Sharing all this, plus some great food and drinks, with our friends from San Diego was special.

But now it’s back to reality. Some reading, some naps, some time with the boys and trying to live a lot healthier for a week. Sounds wonderful.