Survive and Advance

March Madness. A sports lover's dream. Three weeks of college basketball played at the highest level and on the grandest stage. It. Just. Doesn't. Get. Any. Better.

"Survive and advance" applies to those higher ranked teams that should win, but squeak out a win to continue to play another day. On Saturday, UNC survived versus Villanova. And Kansas survived a feisty WKU team, just to name a couple.

But what are more thrilling are the upsets. A little-known team beats a big-time basketball team. There are always a few, and everyone loves to cheer for the underdog. Anyone catch #15 seed Florida Gulf Coast dominate #2 seed Georgetown? That's what I'm talking about-the NCAA Tournament at its most exciting. Now everyone is a FGCU fan. Keep in mind that FGCU is only in its second year on even being eligible to compete at the DI level. A true underdog.

But what about Georgetown? Anyone feel sorry for them? Anyone want them to also survive and advance? I did. Because I know what it's like to be dominated by the underdog. Granted, in our house the underdog is an 8 lb newborn, but last night I was left with the same frustrated feeling as the Hoyas.

Anyone catch that massive alley oop in that game? If you didn't, below is the You Tube video:



Yea, that Hoya player trying to defend the dunk? That would be me. The FGCU player soaring through the air and dominating said defender? That is Mackenzie. Total Domination.

Last night, Mackenzie would NOT stop screaming. Being a 5 S's enthusiast, I swaddled and shushed my heart out. I danced around the living room shushing. I sang top 40 songs by shushing. I sang any show tune that came to mind. Finally, we found that the vent above our stove was more effective. That worked for a while. Eventually, I resigned myself to the fact that there wasn't anything wrong-she was just a newborn who didn't know how to handle her new environment. And-at least for that night-the best I could do was make sure we both survived to advance.

She did at some point stop crying. Mackenzie granted me a mulligan and I gladly took it.

Of course we love Mackenzie dearly. Her coos make our day, and every day we see her grow and change. It's an incredible feeling and one I wouldn't change for all the wins in the world. But last night she busted my bracket.