Spring Breakin' out...

I've never had the fortune of going on what you'd consider a "true spring break" in the wild and crazy sense. Definitely not in the Girls Gone Wild sense, that's for sure. (But that's a good thing.)

I don't think I'd really want to, either. Not my style. I may be liberal politically, but my everyday sense is actually quite conservative and reserved. (Those stories you've heard are all lies, I tell you! Lies!)

Sure, I used to enjoy Myrtle Week in college (the week after exams, where everyone at my school would drive down to Myrtle Beach for some fun in the sun), but in a much quieter way than most of my sorority sisters. We'd party on my b-day (Cinco de Mayo), but then I'd spend the rest of the trip just laying out and relaxing instead of hitting on random guys.

In college, I generally went back to NJ to visit my parents over Spring Break. Once I went to some first-round NCAA games, however.

That's what Spring Break always meant for me in college. One thing, and one thing only...basketball.

If you've read my previous post, then you probably think I'm a prissy little girly girl. And in many ways, I kinda am. And I totally don't think my college hoops obsession makes me any less girly. I just think it's normal.

See, my parents met on the steps of the graduate student dorm at Duke. My dad went there for undergrad, too, as did his dad before him. So I was reared on a steady diet of Duke basketball from about the time I could string together the sentence "Go Devils!"

There was no question where I wanted to go for college, especially with the fabulous back-to-back National Championships that occured when I was in junior high and high school.

So it was normal for me to spend Spring Break following the team, either on TV or in person.

On Saturday night we'll have the first ever Final Four with all #1 seeds, as UCLA and Memphis meet at 6 pm EST and Kansas and UNC afterwards. As cool as it is to see this historic meeting, I'm feeling rather bittersweet that Duke isn't among them.

Clearly I have to root for Memphis to beat UCLA. Why? Well, UCLA leads the nation in number of NCAA Tourney wins, and I want them to slow down so Coach K may eventually get a chance to catch up. And clearly I have to root for Kansas over UNC, because as a Duke grad, it's my solemn duty. I'm sworn to cheer against our bitter rivals to the end.

Unless Duke had made it to the Final Four this year, in which case I would root for UNC over Kansas, because I'd love for Duke and UNC to face off in the finals. Coolest. Game. Ever.

Speaking of UNC, I got married on the same night as the Duke-UNC game a few years back. I know, I know. Not too smart of me, and I always swore I'd never schedule a wedding in between November and April. But in my defense, the Duke-UNC game never used to be on a Saturday night...it was always Sunday afternoon! But ESPN decided Sat nite would be a better TV draw, so I had a bunch of pissed off wedding guests. LOL!

There's a fun pic of me and my maid of honor watching the game in the hotel bar. Needless to say, Mr. Brice was not amused...

So what about you? What did you do for Spring Break? Was basketball ever part of the agenda? Do you even care about the NCAA Tourney? LOL!