Early Morning Madness!

My favorite sporting event of the year, March Madness, is upon us and I wasn't going to let a 12 hour time difference or a lack of American TV get me down. Quite the contrary, in fact. Armed with CBS' free online live streams of every game and the company of equally enthusiastic college basketball fans, this might be my most closely watched NCAA Tournament ever. It doesn't hurt that Michigan is playing in the tournament for the first time in almost half my life.

At 4:55 am on Friday morning my alarm went off and I quietly left our apartment and jogged up three flights of stairs to our 5th floor neighbor Kerstan's apartment. When I knocked on the door he already had his laptop set up to a projector preparing for the 5:00 am start of the Washington/Mississippi St. game. With both Kerstan and Karen being Washington alums the game was of greater interest to me than it usually would have been.

The CBS online stream of the game was flawless, and we were able to watch the game at the highest quality settings. It was at least as good as watching the game on TV in the States.

Watching the first half of the Washington/Mississippi St. game projected on the wall. It was still dark outside so the picture wasn't compromised by encroaching sunlight.

Karen and Kerstan cheering on the UW Huskies with coffee in hand around 5:30 am.

Fortunately, Washington ran away with their game and were ahead by double digits for most of the second half. That game finished around 6:55 am, giving me 15 minutes until the 7:10 am tipoff of the Michigan/Clemson game. I ran back downstairs and woke up Megan to see if she was interested in watching the game. She mumbled that I should try again at halftime. Back upstairs Kerstan, Karen, and I checked through scores to see the hits our brackets had taken so far in the early stages of the tournament. Finally, Michigan and Clemson tipped off!

The tipoff of the Michigan/Clemson game! Go Blue! Despite 3 layers of curtains, the sunlight was starting to dim the picture projected on the wall.

About 15 minutes into the first half, Kerstan had to go teach his 8 a.m. class so I was sending text messages to him throughout the rest of the game updating him on the score of both the Michigan game and the American/Villanova game, where Villanova narrowly escaped an upset. He told me later that as I updated him he was writing the scores on the board for his students, who he (like me) made fill out NCAA tournament brackets.

At halftime, with Michigan leading by 3, I went downstairs and this time successfully woke up Megan. I started a pot of coffee for her and ran back upstairs so I would not miss the start of the second half. Megan followed 5 minutes later, just when halftime was wrapping up.

Megan and Karen watching the Michigan/Clemson game and the Villanova/American game. This is around 8:30 am. Notice the shorter curtain in the background - that is actually Kerstan's bedsheet that we used to try to block the light.

Around 10:15 Kerstan returned from class and I had had time to shower and change after the Michigan win and we met back in his apartment to catch the later games. We ended up watching UCLA/VCU and Illinois/W. Kentucky side by side, which both turned out to be pretty exciting, until about 12:30. With that, I went and ate lunch and prepared to teach my 2:00 pm class, my only class on Fridays. All in all, one of my most enjoyable March Madness watching experiences ever.

Watching the UCLA/VCU and Illinois/W. Kentucky games side by side on laptops with a big bag of sunflower seeds, center.