Tournament Time

It's been a wild couple of weeks at the house, mainly because of hoops. KSU and UTEP both made it into the NCAA Tournament, and the wife and I both had a great time watching. But KSU came within an eyelash of making it to the Final Four, losing to Butler just a day and a half after playing 50 minutes (2 OT) in a win over Xavier. I know I felt really excited during the games and in the days leading up to the games, and it was differnt watching a team I truly care about do so well, yet deflating to see them go down. It sure was a great season, and we both enjoyed watching. Yet my dear wife understands (and I am starting to *get*) that it's really not that important in the grand scheme of things. We drank too much chocolate milk that night, but we weren't ready to go play in traffic or anything. It's supposed to be fun.

And for those of you scoring at home, yes, the same school knocked out both my teams. I'd like to personally thank Butler for pulling my still-beating heart out of my chest and stomping on it. Thanks guys.

And more on the Miners-- Tim Floyd is coming back to El Paso as our new head men's basketball coach. The man sold our program to kids from all over the place between 1977 and 1986, some of the better years of my memory, and the time during which I learned to love the Miners. Coach won two Big 12 titles at Iowa State. He got players to come to Ames, Iowa to play ball, and he's coming to coach my team. I wish hoops started tomorrow.

I know, too much talk about basketball. But I think it's of the healthy variety-- keeping it clean, being positive and having fun.

Anyhow, I ran 22 miles last week, and have 23 on the agenda for this week, including a 10-miler on Saturday. Hitting the weights some (but not to excess) and getting good runs in, albeit at a slower pace than what I'm used to. The speed will come in time. The weather's starting to warm up a touch here in Alabama, so I need to run outside before the heat and humidity crank up. Springtime has been pretty nice so far.