(UCONN ties up the Spartans on the way to the Final Four. Picture USA Today)

Fabulous day yesterday- I mean, they don’t get any better, do they? Oh, sure, the sky was gun-metal gray, the temperature stayed in the 40s, though the fresh breeze made it feel colder, and bands of rain continued to sweep across the farm.

There was a fire in the fireplace, and plenty of basketball on the television to make being indoors feel just fine. After a comfortable morning spent lounging around, I girded myself to go out and hit Croftburn Farms to get more country-raised eggs. I like the ones from Highland Farms, with the multi-colored orbs hand harvested by an eleven-year-old named Zach.

Junior was behind the counter. She told me she did not get in to William & Mary, but had pretty much got over it. Now her picks are down to James Madison, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and Emerson.

“Emerson is kinda pricey,” I said. “What does it cost?”

Junior pushed her glasses back on her nose. “Around $60,000 a year,” she said.

“That is a cool quarter million for a fur year baccalaureate,” I said. “Seems kind of a strange way to start out your working life being that far in the hole. I like NC State or Tech.”

She nodded gravely, and was extra careful with the dozen eggs, which I elected to put in one basket. When I got back to Refuge Farm it was raining again. I drove down to the barn and started the JG’s Explorer to keep the battery topped up and the engine lubricated, hooked up the trickle charger to the Turf Tiger and wandered over to the office to look for more pictures to digitize. There was too much crap to go through and it was cold and the rain was beating off the metal roof. I looked at the phone to see what time it was, and it was nearly tip-off time for the Michigan State- UCONN men’s Elite Eight. Michigan-Kentucky would follow immediately, and it was time to open the bar and get my mind right for a double triumph for my two Big Ten teams to join Wisconsin in the Final Four.

Or at least that it what I thought as the fire danced merrily and the rain pelted the roof. Six hours later I was wearing the stunned mullet look on the couch, and contemplating how I felt about going Zero-for-two.

A learned colleague in Michigan summed it up nicely in the first alert that popped up on my smart phone:

“Michigan and MSU fans!! Today was no big deal. (Most of us are also Detroit Tigers fans.) Whether we root for UM and the Tigers; MSU and the Tigers; or all 3; we are used to near misses and improbable disappointing losses by championship caliber teams that annually come up short.”

It was too late to stop drinking just because of a minor sports disappointment. So, I shut off the television and took the iPad in hand to look for the Next Big Thing, which is not, as you may have been thinking, the Masters Golf Tournament. It is opening day, and if you had not noticed, that is today.

Forward!

(Kentucky’s Aaron Harrison goes up for the 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds to go. Photo USA Today).

Copyright 2014 Vic Socotra

www.vicsocotra.com

Twitter: @jayare303