Julia Sims: Ready for March madness!

It is my favorite time of year. You guessed it, I am addicted to ACC basketball. March is filled with good-natured hoopin' and hollerin' in our house. Naturally, Will gets into the madness as well. He does his little fist pump and dances around the den saying "Oh yeah... oh yeah..."

I bought Will his first basketball when he was about 18 months old. The first couple of nights, he slept with it. That ball was by his side every minute of every day. We'd go to our neighborhood park and on Sunday afternoons, he'd watch the grown men play a little pick-up ball. Will would stand on the sidelines completely mesmerized. Inevitably, he'd try to join in and the good-natured dads would humor him for a few minutes.

Silly me, I thought Will would find his own way when it comes to hoops. I assumed he'd figure out who he wanted to root for without any help from Mike and me. What was I thinking?!!! Mike went to N.C. State.... and apparently, so goes the son. And, if you look around any day care, you'll see it's pretty much the same with every family. I drop Will off and half the children have on Wolfpack red, the others are in Carolina blue and sprinkled in the mix are some Duke blues and Wake Forest gold and black.

Will does the Wolfpack howl better than anyone I know and if he had his way, he'd wear his ratty tattered Wolfpack shirt every day of the week. He always says "You know, Mama, I want to wear the one with the magic marker all over it."

So, I finally resigned myself to the fact that Will's path was chosen (or rather destined from birth) and paved in red. Imagine my surprise when recently Will woke up one morning and said "Mama, I think one day I may want to play for Carolina!"

Yes! I love March madness!