“The Big Dance” is awaiting and as the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament starts I find the anticipation building.

Since I was a child I have enjoyed the NCAA tournament. I associate the tourney with my older brother Sean as we are 4 years a part and he has always been a sports fantastic. Growing up in the same household as Sean meant that as we were falling asleep in our bunk beds I was being quizzed on the stats of baseball players, the sport of the season was always on TV, any game he made up had an athletic spin, I was often a stand-in for the pick-up games as inevitably a child would have to go home early for dinner, my weekends were spent at his games and matches, our house was always filled with jocks (certainly not a negative), and I learned to love the NCAA tournament.

The tournament is one of my favorite times of the year probably as much for the actual games as the passion and spark it evokes in those around me. It also is nostalgia for the times when Sean and I were under the same roof and I was young enough to learn from the sporting master. I think he used me as his guinea pig. Our little brother Ryan is 8 years younger then Sean…far to young at that point to be useful J and Ryan has never been interested in the least with sports. So I feel like Sean saw me as a way to make an impression on a young mind. He molded my sporting thoughts until he had a little likeness of his own. J I grew up a Cubs fan, a Bears fan, a Bulls fan…whatever team Sean liked in a given game…that was the one I was rooting for too. I remember years of cheering for Duke and North Carolina and the very first time I hear Dick Vitals voice “A P.T.P FROM D.U.K.E BABY!” Even thinking about it makes me smile. He taught me what teams to like, how to swing a bat (bite your shirt if you pull your head out), how to throw a ball, how to kick someone at the right place in the knee so that they go right down, how to tackle someone effectively (if you bring your forearm up into their chest/neck right as you are coming up from the line no one will see you and it will stun the other guy), how to shoot a lay-up (I need more practice), how to channel “Andre Dawson power” and most importantly how important sports are in life. They can give you confidence, grace, power, agility…and guys dig a girl that can hold her own on a field or watching a game!

To this day I call Sean with all of my sports questions, he is my guru. He knows everything when it comes to athletics and I trust his opinion above all.

With all of that said (and trying to make this post end soon) there is one thing that Sean did not teach me about sports…one thing that Sean did not influence me on…my love for the Zags. That’s right…Gonzaga is in the Sweet Sixteen and I have loved them since I was a wee lass. I am not even sure how long but I do know that I applied to a master’s program there just because I love the basketball team so much. You can’t beat the Zags…when the Illini played Gonzaga I almost cried as I did not know who to root for. My alma mater verses my one true basketball love.

So here’s to Seany and also a big Zags win this weekend!! Go Team!