It's what I love about what I do. March is my favorite month of every year. It reminds me of the song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by The Byrds. Because, truly to everything there is a season. Maybe it's my favorite month because the best basketball at all levels is played in March, whether it's at the Big House in Oklahoma City or Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Or, maybe it's because I know the crack of the bat in March delivers me unto a new baseball season. Or, better still, maybe it's just because I know more bearable weather is right around the corner. I'm 34 years old now and I despise winter anymore.
March offers a renewal of energy, an opportunity to fill your tank when it might be cratering into the red. I feel a new spirit come over me like I don't feel at any other time of the year. Hopefully, the same can be said for the Rogers State basketball teams. Both will likely play in the national tournaments. The women in Frankfort, Kentucky. The men in Kansas City, Missouri. RSU pulled the double dip last year with both teams reaching the 32-team joyride in the same season for the first time in the athletic department's short history. Up first, though, the Sooner Athletic Conference tournaments at Bill George Arena on the campus of John Brown in Siloam Springs. It's cool to have the games played in a two-year-old facility, and hosted by the hospitable folks of northwest Arkansas. The prospects are good for the 4th-seeded Hillcat women, who open up with St. Gregory's in the first round Thursday morning at 10:45. The teams split the regular season series in two close games. If all falls right, RSU will have a chance at the nation's #1 team in Oklahoma City in the semifinals Friday. The RSU men, on the other hand, will have a much more difficult road right from the jump. The 'Cats are the #2 seed and take on 7th-seeded Oklahoma Christian in the opening round Thursday at 4:30. RSU swept the two-game series during the season, but they were heart-stoppers. The Hillcats won both nearly at the buzzer, on the road by two and at home by three. It wouldn't shock me at all to see any of the 8 teams in this year's field hoisting the Sooner Athletic tournament trophy come Saturday night.
It had to have been in the mid-to-late 1980's when the month of March grabbed hold of me and put me through the spin cycle. I was an energetic spitfire who had just started my foray into competitive Catholic league basketball at the grade school level. The photo above is probably from 6th or 7th grade, suiting up in the orange and white of St. Francis of Assisi. Check out those shoes...the pumps were all the rage back in the day, especially for those who couldn't afford the Air Jordans. It's a shame the heels of the shoes didn't fill up with air to make me taller. I digress. March stole my heart back then. March spoke to me. March latched onto my chest and gave me a bear hug that to this day has never left. I hope the teams I cover play well enough to cut down nets, and make me feel like the shooting star I once was in my childhood. It's why I broadcast games, it's why I never want to leave the gym. Hillcats...I'm living vicariously through you. Now, go make us proud!
