It's an annual tradition. I take both Thursday and Friday off work so I can watch all the NCAA tournament first round games. There is nothing better than these two days - nonstop hoops in the one and done format. From 12 noon to almost midnight there are David vs Goliath games (with Davey sometimes winning big) and nail biting 8/9 seed games that are practically toss-ups.

I sit in a local bar/restaurant in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, cab company phone number saved on my cell phone, and I proceed to eat and drink my way through both days watching, and at least keeping tabs, on all 32 games. It is not unusual for me to eat three meals and down a couple bottles of vino during the 12 hour period. It's great because I see a lot of friends, plus all different types of hoop fans filter in and out of the establishment. Some people spend enough time to catch a meal and an entire game, or some just come in quick to catch the latest scores.

And throughout the day, I check my brackets.

The bracket pool I enter each year is run different than the average office pool. For each win in every round, you get the amount of points based upon each teams seeding. For example, if you like Davidson over Gonzaga (and I do), if Davidson wins I would get 10 points because Davidson is a 10 seed. If Davidson goes on to win in Round 2, I would get 10 more points. Takes a little more guts, but is more fun. It is easy to pick the favorites.

In fact, I like and am picking Davidson to get to the Elite Eight.

So, if you like, say #5 seed Clemson to win its first two games (over Villanova and Vanderbilt) and reach the Sweet 16, why not pick Siena to upset the #4 seed Vanderbilt? It's a different way of doing things but it gives the fan another reason to pick the upset and root for the underdog. The winner of our pool usually wins at least 3 of the 8/9 games and a few upsets.

And this is what the NAA tournament is all about - rooting for the upsets!

Those are my little rituals I do for the first two days of March Madness - eat, drink and watch non-stop hoops. It appears that when we are involved and engrossed in sports, there are no problems in life.

Are there any other plans you execute each and every year for the NCAA's?