The Dance. (image: Seattle Municipal Archives)

Sixty-five were invited to the dance. One will come out on top.

by: Grayson Leverenz

Louisville, Pittsburgh, Connecticut and North Carolina (wooHOO!) captured #1 seeds in 2009. Alabama State and Morehead State, both #16 seeds, received the honor of opening the Tournament with the play-in game on Tuesday, March 17th at 7:30pm EST. Regular tournament games begin Thursday, March 19th at 12:15pm EST. I’ve read in several places that the first day of regular NCAA tournament play holds the record for the highest number of employee absences during the US work year.

Get ready for March Madness!

Click here to learn more about the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Click here to see the 2009 brackets.

Hoop Dreams (image: Bekah Stargazing)

Charlie Zegers is my new hero. I mention pretty often that I’m not a sports fan by any stretch of the imagination. That having been said, I always try to keep up with big games, especially during MBA recruiting season, to facilitate small talk and to stay on top of my game, no pun intended. You really can’t teach US language and culture without embracing the world of sports. Hence, my love of Charlie Zegers.

Charlie writes for About.com and translates sports into a language fit for those of us new to the arena. Below Charlie introduces March Madness, the NCAA Tournament.

About the NCAA Tournament

Your Introduction to March Madness

by Charlie Zegers, About.com

The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament is the largest, most elaborate championship tournament in American sports.

Read the rest of this entry »

by: Grayson Leverenz

Sports fans or not, Super Bowl Sunday excites most Americans with the parties, the commercials, the half-time show and, of course, the game. Here are some essentials for creating a memorable Super Bowl Sunday:

The Game
On Sunday, February 1 at 6:00 pm EST the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa Bay, Florida. Those of us not lucky enough to be in the Sunshine state can watch the game on NBC.

About.com published Football 101 – The Basics of American Football, an overview for people that know little to nothing about football, like me. I found it easy to read and understand. If you want to learn more about the sport before the big game, click here to check it out.

If you want to learn more about the Steelers and the Cardinals, click here for the National Football League’s breakdown.

Read the rest of this entry »

image: wakeforest.rivals.com

by: Grayson Leverenz

Whenever I meet an International student, I always ask, “What’s the biggest surprise for you in doing your MBA in the US?” The answer helps me learn more about the International experience to create better content for you. Plus, I’m a naturally curious person, especially when it comes to cultural experiences.

I recently met a student from India that said he was surprised by the role sports play in the MBA Recruiting process. He said, “People love sports in India, too…but we don’t talk about them during interviews.” A lot of other International students agreed.

He’s right; sports do play a role in the MBA Recruiting process in the US, especially if you go to a school that excels in a particular area. I think I’ve mentioned in blog posts before that I am not a huge sports fan, but I went to two major ACC basketball schools for my education, Wake Forest for undergrad and UNC for my MBA. Incidentally, Wake Forest just beat UNC in basketball last night and moved into the #2 position in the AP poll. That’s the kind of thing you’ll want to know walking into an interview. Read the rest of this entry »

Image: posted by MorphoMir on flickr.com

A tremendous thank you to MorphoMir from flickr.com for the image for this post and the amazing write up of the celebration after the game!

The account below epitomizes the joy and unity created by winning a National Championship…

Kansas Jayhawks 2008 NCAA Basketball National Champions!!!

This is the moment we have been waiting for. 20 years in the making. The time has finally arrived. The Kansas Jayhawks clinched the 2008 NCAA Basketball National Championship!! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!

It is really very hard to put into words the emotion going on in the streets last night. The streets were so much better than when beating North Carolina. Mass St. had between 40,000-45,000 fans on the streets last night. A loft on Mass St. had a DJ mixing it up for us on the streets until 2 a.m. People were having a blast partying it up without any worries because classes were cancelled today. A lot of people actually requested being photographed, which doesn’t happen very often. Friendliness throughout the night. As Lisa likes to call it, social solidarity was all around last night. And why not? WE’RE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!! And boy oh boy do we deserve it!

It was a very tight game which ended up going into overtime, thanks to Mario Chalmers and his magical three to tie the game at the last second to force overtime. From there it was KU all the way—unstoppable beasts.

Today, I barely have a voice from all the hollering going on last night. But it was well worth it. There are not many people who can experience such an event, and I’m proud to say that I have and that I’m a Jayhawk!! There’s nothing better at the moment. Nothing. I hope these photos do just a little bit of justice for the experience had last night. You really had to be there. I suppose I can look at it as a good experience for me learning to capture the moment(s).

Thank you to all who have visited my photos and favorited these party photos and/or commented on them. Your support is very generous and very welcomed. Also, if you watched the game and rooted for KU, thank you!! All of you Flickr friends are amazing people

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!

Click here to check out the rest of MorphoMir’s photo stream.

image: Kansas Basketball Fans by the Associated Press on Yahoo! News

Memphis to play Kansas for NCAA title

By Steve Ginsburg

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) – Kansas and Memphis will meet in the NCAA championship game on Monday after using superior guard play to overwhelm their semi-final opponents on Saturday.

Read the entire article here.