This week the weather has finally warmed somewhat, and today the last remnants of snow have melted in Valparaiso. We’ve even experienced our first thunderstorms signaling the eventual oncoming of spring in Indiana. However, the arrival of the NCAA basketball tournament, preceded by a week witnessing all the conference championship games, offers another sure indication the beginning of spring may be upon us. Indeed, my spirits are lifted every year by the start of March Madness no matter which teams make their way into the brackets of office pools across the country.
Nevertheless, the 1998 tournament (chronicled above) remains among my favorite memories, particularly because of Valparaiso’s miraculous run to the Sweet 16 and the appearance of my alma mater, Utah, in the championship game. Additionally, these elements blend with a few fond recollections associated with literary events, as I viewed some of the games at an Associated Writing Programs conference in Portland at a hotel bar among a number of fellow poets, including a couple of other Utah grads.
I doubt my breast pocket name tag, worn at any conference I ever attend and identifying me as being from Valparaiso University, will ever receive as much attention and as many nods of approval as I observed while walking the corridors toward poetry readings and panel sessions or touring publishers’ exhibits after the famous last-second winning shot by Bryce Drew was broadcast repeatedly during that week of the Associated Writing Programs conference. Consequently, I believe some of the subsequent literary conversations developing from the initial talk about basketball may have helped promote and sell more copies of my book, East of Omaha, which had just been released and was being displayed at my publisher’s table in the AWP book fair.
The AWP conference in Portland wasn’t the first or the last that I have attended. Likewise, the 1998 NCAA tournament isn’t the only one from which I hold great memories; however, that year my enthusiasm for college basketball and my passion for poetry intersected in a manner that will not likely be repeated.
For further thoughts concerning connections between March Madness and poetry, visitors are invited to read a pair of my previous articles about basketball and poems: “March Madness and B.H. Fairchild’s ‘Old Men Playing Basketball’” and “Indiana Basketball, Homer Drew, and ‘Jumpshots in the Dark.’”
Nevertheless, the 1998 tournament (chronicled above) remains among my favorite memories, particularly because of Valparaiso’s miraculous run to the Sweet 16 and the appearance of my alma mater, Utah, in the championship game. Additionally, these elements blend with a few fond recollections associated with literary events, as I viewed some of the games at an Associated Writing Programs conference in Portland at a hotel bar among a number of fellow poets, including a couple of other Utah grads.
I doubt my breast pocket name tag, worn at any conference I ever attend and identifying me as being from Valparaiso University, will ever receive as much attention and as many nods of approval as I observed while walking the corridors toward poetry readings and panel sessions or touring publishers’ exhibits after the famous last-second winning shot by Bryce Drew was broadcast repeatedly during that week of the Associated Writing Programs conference. Consequently, I believe some of the subsequent literary conversations developing from the initial talk about basketball may have helped promote and sell more copies of my book, East of Omaha, which had just been released and was being displayed at my publisher’s table in the AWP book fair.
The AWP conference in Portland wasn’t the first or the last that I have attended. Likewise, the 1998 NCAA tournament isn’t the only one from which I hold great memories; however, that year my enthusiasm for college basketball and my passion for poetry intersected in a manner that will not likely be repeated.
For further thoughts concerning connections between March Madness and poetry, visitors are invited to read a pair of my previous articles about basketball and poems: “March Madness and B.H. Fairchild’s ‘Old Men Playing Basketball’” and “Indiana Basketball, Homer Drew, and ‘Jumpshots in the Dark.’”
No comments:
Post a Comment