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At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

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Bracketscapes: Washington, D.C.

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Washington, D.C. – Verizon Center (March 17 & 19: Rounds 2,3)

Why your dad likes D.C.: Because all dads love history. Fact: every dad claims to know more about history than their kids. Dads also really like to tell you what they know about history over and over and over again. Growing up, my dad must have told me a hundred times about Abraham Lincoln writing the Gettysburg Address on the train ride up to deliver his most famous speech. To this day, whenever I have to give a presentation my dad will remind me of this story.

Signature Food/Beverage: Got to be the martini, or a scotch on the rocks. Those government types are so refined. Anytime I visit friends in DC I end up drinking cans of PBR. Why travel all the way down to DC for a PBR when I only need to go to Brooklyn. So ironic. For food, I would go with Five Guys. Best “fast food” burger I’ve had. The chain started in DC but has migrated north to New England which is fantastic for my appetite but not so much for my cholesterol, blood pressure, and physique.

College Basketball History: With all the fallout following the recent Fab Five documentary, maybe now people will give the Georgetown basketball program its due. Patrick Ewing and John Thompson were as transcendent as Jalen Rose or Chris Weber and their Hoya teams actually won something.

Bracket Predictions: Round 2 – (8) Butler over (9) Old Dominion, (1) Pitt over NC-Asheville, (3) Connecticut over (14) Bucknell, (11) Missouri over (6) Cincinnati Round 3 – Pitt over Butler, UConn over Missouri

view from the Verizon Center courtesy of @howtoJimmyK

Bracketscapes: Denver, Colorado

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Denver, CO – Pepsi Center (March 17th & 19th: Rounds 2,3)

Why your dad likes Denver: My 58 year old father use to fashion himself somewhat of a downhill skier, although I can’t remember the last time he took to the slopes. He loves traveling out west but usually sticks to the National Parks of Montana and California. At one point in his life my dad had a boss who was a co-owner of the Broncos and he was able to travel to San Diego to watch Timmy Smith, Doug Williams and the Washington Redskins run all over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.

Signature food/drink: Coors has got to stop running those NFL coach press conference mashups with Herm Edwards, Jim Mora, and Mike Ditka. What ever happened to Pete Coors? I use to love those ads where he was knee deep in powder talking about how his grandfather learned how to brew from his great grandfather who just happened to “buy” his Rocky Mt land from the Apache.

College basketball history: My favorite player from UNLV’s 1990 National Championship, played in Denver, team was Stacey Augmon.  I loved Augmon for several reasons including his great intangibles -defense and rebounding – , prolific dunking ability, and great nickname “Plastic Man”. All the talk recently has been about ESPN’s Fab Five doc but I thought the Running Rebels show on HBO was much better.

Bracket Predictions: 2nd round – (5) Vanderbilt over (12) Richmond, (4) Louisville over (13) Morehead St., (6) St. John’s over (11) Gonzaga, (3) BYU over (14) Wofford 3/19 – Louisville over Vanderbilt, BYU over SJU

view from the Pepsi Center courtesy of @KentTaylorWAVE

Bracketscapes: Tampa, Florida

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Tampa, Florida – St. Pete Times Forum (March 17 & 19: Round 2,3)

Why your dad likes Tampa: I use to think Florida was a place reserved for Spring Training, strip malls, and retirees. But, as it turns out, there’s a whole lot more to the Sunshine State than just palm trees and pavement. As it turns out, Florida also has its fair share of golf courses. With this in mind, what’s a father not to like about Tampa/St. Pete? One of my favorite parts of the area is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which spans Tampa Bay. I have never seen so many people fishing from the side of a highway in my entire life.

Signature food/drink: Why is it that all old people like gin? Don’t they realize that there are much better alcoholic beverages available? I once went to a wedding in late August where the only alcoholic offerings were red/white wine, a local craft beer, and gin. Gin! Did they not expect people under the age of 75 to actually attend the wedding? Not to mention the fact that gin, tonic, and 100% humidity do not mix well. I almost passed out before my first sip.

College basketball history: What do you think Jake Voskuhl and Khalid El-Amin are up to right about now? Both players were instrumental in UConn’s 1999 National Championship. Of course the star of the team was Rip Hamilton but Voskuhl and El-Amin had what basketball announcers like to call “charisma”. I wasn’t surprised El-Amin didn’t have much of a NBA career. I always figured he had the type of game and body type better suited for the European leagues where teams require their players to take siestas during halftime.

Bracket Predictions: Round 2 – (12) Clemson over (5) WVU, (4) Kentucky over (13) Princeton, (2) Florida over (15) UCSB, (7) UCLA over (10) MSU Round 3– Kentucky over Clemson, and Florida over UCLA

view from St. Pete Times Forum courtesy of @GatorzoneMBK

Bracketscapes: Dayton, Ohio

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Dayton, Ohio – University of Dayton Arena (1st round: March 15 & 16)

Why your dad would like Dayton, Ohio: I have a few friends who went to Dayton U and swear the middle of nowhere Ohio was a great place to be for 4 years. They say that the school has a tremendous Greek life and an active music scene.  I have never had a reason to visit Dayton and my dad hasn’t been there either, which is sort of surprising because normally he loves all things Wright Brothers.

Signature Food/Drink: Besides a few pizza joints and a steakhouse that prides itself on not taking any reservations, Dayton has very little that would rank on a Zagat guide. The most notable thing about the Dayton food/drink scene are the beer and wine drive-thru’s.  To those of us living in Connecticut, the “Blue Law” state, the beer and wine drive thru is such a foreign concept. We can’t buy beer after 8pm let alone do so without getting out of our cars.

College Basketball History: Dayton has been the host of the NCAA tournament “play in” game ever since its genesis in 2001. This year, with the field expanded to 68 teams, the site will now host a total of 4 games spread out over 2 nights.  I would never argue against more basketball however, what exactly is TruTV and how do I find out if I get the channel?

Bracket Predictions: March 15th: Texas-San Antonio over Alabama State, Clemson over UAB March 16th: VCU over USC, UNCA over UALR.

view from Dayton Arena courtesy of @tracywolfson