The Bracket Syndrome.

Did you fill out a bracket for this years NCAA tourny?  Are they shredded?  Are you still going to be watching with such excitement that you did when it first started?  These questions actually spurred on another question for me, why do we even watch the NCAA Tournament?  Yes, I know that seems like a really simple and almost dumb question, it's exciting right and we love the drama and passion of college sports(at-least I do).  But, during the NCAA tourny did you find yourself rooting for teams that you would never root for in your life time if it was the regular season, why?  Because you had them moving on in your bracket!  Does that make you less of a loyal fan?  Example, during the Butler vs. Pitt game I found myself in a bit of a dilemma.  I had Pitt moving on to the Final Four, but Butler is an Indiana school and one of their players is from the town my Grandparents live in.  Should be a no brainer right root for Butler(which I did), but, its not always that easy because most of us that love that passion and drama in the tourny also are competitive and like to be right and if Pitt loses I am pretty much out of my brackets.  Well, as we know Pitt lost and I couldn't be happier for Butler, but this is what I like to call the Bracket Syndrome.  The Bracket Syndrome is simple,  if you didn't fill out a bracket would you watch every game intently?  Would you find yourself rooting for those teams that during the regular season you didn't even watch or if you did watch you loved it when they lost?  I think not, I think our brackets make us pseudo fans in some cases maybe even rooting for our own teams that we love and follow during the season to lose.  So another question is do you continue to fill out a bracket in the years to come?  I honestly think that if I didn't fill out a bracket that I wouldn't be rooting so intently on Penn St. to hit that last second shot(that they didn't make) over Temple.  Don't get me wrong I would still watch and love the fact that its a close game, but would I really care who won?  No.  Because lets be honest, if your team wasn't the team that won the NCAA Championship would you even remember next year who won?  Maybe, but probably only because you won your bracket pool, or because you picked them to win.  I think next year I will try watching the tourny without filling out a bracket and see if I enjoy it more, I think that may be the only cure for the Bracket Syndrome.