The Morning Walk-thru - That was fun, now what?

Is the Madness over at this point?...Despite much rabble-rousing after the first two days of the N.C.A.A. Tournament, it actually ended up being a pretty decent first round. The bracket is covered in chalk, but, for the later rounds, isn't that a good thing?

The all-day basketball buffets are over, the upsets, in most cases, never happened and Cinderella can't even get a job mopping floors. Now's the time for big time games between big time programs, right?

Or is the tournament solely about the first round? I'll still be watching come Thursday and Friday but will the random office dude who's winning the pool right now? Will he stick around for the Final Four? Will I?

Last year I didn't. I couldn't have cared less about Florida-UCLA. I watched baseball.

It's starting to feel like March Madness is one glorious four-day feast followed by another two weeks of indigestion. People felt cheated after Thursday produced none of the miraculous finishes we were entitled to, and maybe we're in over our heads.

The unexpected is expected. Nothing surprises us anymore, the tournament can only fulfill, and that seems like a loss.

Speaking of losing...Gregg Doyel isn't enjoying the tournament either, but for a much different reason.

Doyel's column points out how hard it is to be a fan which seems a bit whiny, but I agreed with that sentiment 100% after Creighton fell to Nevada. I didn't want to watch any games after that, but I did.. That's what you do and now I'm back to just enjoying the games.

Gregg isn't because CBS made him fill out a bracket. All I can say is: I told you so. My first year without pride on the line is going swimmingly. I thought it would be maddening, but it's not. I watch the games, develop a rooting interest and shrug at the result either way.

This has made me a lot more sane, but also much more boring.