March Madness in North Carolina

The problem with living in the Great State of North Carolina in March is deciding which North Carolina team am I going to support in the NCAA Tournament.  UNC?  Duke?  It's a big question.  Last year it was decided that the Gruetzmacher clan would in fact support UNC.  It pained me greatly to have to say that because it was just a few short years ago when UNC beat the University of Illinois to win the whole tournament.  But my ties with Illinois are being cut this year now that I own a home in this blessed land of Carolina.

This all became even more challenging this year now that another North Carolina team has come out of nowhere to capture the hearts and minds of the Iraqi- I mean, err,  the American people.  Spunky little Davidson College is proving to be a tough nut to crack.  They are the cinderella story of the tournament as a 10th seed who has knocked out both the second seed Georgetown as well as the third seed Wisconsin.  This tiny college of 1500 students, Davidson has gone on to slay Goliath not once already, but twice.  

Tonight they face their toughest challenge yet as they face the top ranked Kansas.  But if there is one thing we should always take into consideration it's that you can't underestimate the skills of a college basketball team from North Carolina.  After all, we may have crappy professional teams (with the exception of hockey) but our college basketball teams always manage to shine bright in the March tournaments.  So this year, I'm not cheering for one college, but rather for an entire state.  

Go North Carolina!