March Madness 2014 Is Here!

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia

Mahanga under CC BY 3.0 License 

For all you college basketball fans out there, the real fun has just begun.  Now I know today is officially the start of the second round of the tournament, but to me the first Thursday of the tournament will always symbolize the beginning of March Madness.

My picks for the Final Four are as follows. I have Florida facing Michigan State in one national semifinal and Wichita State facing Arizona in the other semifinal.  I have Michigan State beating Florida and Wichita State beating Arizona to reach the National Championship.

Drum roll please!  In the National Championship I have the Spartans of Michigan State coming out on top beating the Shockers of Wichita State.  This is a departure from how I usually fill out my bracket because I tend to go all chalk with my picks.  I just don't think Wichita State's magical run will be enough to finish with a perfect record at the end of the tournament.  I also fill out only one bracket for the whole tournament.

In any case, by the time we get to Arlington many brackets will have probably been busted (mine included), but as is the case each year, we look forward to those big upsets where a 13 seed beats a 4, a 12 bests a 5 or by some miracle a 16 ousts a 1.  Good luck to all of you and enjoy the Madness that March has to offer.

Tim Musick
Copyright 2014
All Rights Reserved.

Wide World of Sports Venues-January 19

Toyota Center

Houston, TX

Opened: October 6, 2003
Construction Cost: $202 Million
Capacity: Basketball-18,300 Ice Hockey-17,800 Concerts-19,000
Home Teams: Hoston Rockets (NBA) 2003-Present, Houston Aeros (AHL) 2003-Present, Houston Comets (WNBA) 2003-2007
Events Attended: None

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Atownballer under CC-SA 3.0 License

Wide World of Sports Venues-January 16

Alamodome

San Antonio, TX

Opened: May 15, 1993
Construction Cost: $186 Million
Capacity: American Football-65,000 (expandable to 72,000 Canadian Football-59,000 Basketball-20,662 (expandable to 39,500) Ice Hockey-36,000 Boxing-40,000 Arena Concert-33,000 Center-stage, 30,000 End-stage Stadium Concert-77,000 Center-stage, 50,000 End-stage
Home Teams: Alamo Bowl (NCAA) 1993-Present, New Orleans Saints (NFL) 2005, San Antonio Spurs (NBA) 1993-2002, San Antonio Texans (CFL) 1995, East-West Shrine Game (NCAA) 2006, U.S. Army All-American Bowl 2002-Present, NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament 1998, 2004, 2008, UTSA Roadrunners (NCAA) 2011
Events Attended: None

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Nick81aku under CC-BY-SA-2.5, 2.0, 1.0 Licenses
 

Wide World of Sports Venues-January 15

AT&T Center

San Antonio, TX

Opened: October 18, 2002
Construction Cost: $186 Million
Capacity: Basketball-18,581 Ice Hockey-13,400 Concert-17,444 (maximum capacity)
Home Teams: San Antonio Spurs (NBA) 2002-Present, San Antonio Silver Stars (WNBA) 2003-Present, San Antonio Rampage (AHL) 2002-Present, San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo 2003-Present
Events Attended: None

Wide World of Sports Venues-January 14

American Airlines Center

Dallas, TX

Opened: July 17, 2001
Construction Cost: $420 Million
Capacity: Ice Hockey-18,532 Basketball-20,000-21,041 Concerts-18,584 (standing room only)
Home Teams: Dallas Stars (NHL) 2001-Present, Dallas Mavericks (NBA) 2001-Present, Dallas Desperados (AF1) 2002-2008 and 2010-Future
Events Attended: None

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and RadicalBender under CC-SA 3.0 License