Not long ago, many of you were filling out your March Madness brackets, hoping for a taste of improbable glory, even while knowing full well your hopes and dreams of striking it rich or rubbing a win in your buddy’s noses was likely to be blown up after the first round of games anyway.
And typically, around this time of year, many of us bemoan that the NBA’s first round is a seven-game series since it often includes a few teams who make this boring annual pilgrimage to sacrifice themselves to the league’s top seeds before hitting Cancun.