TORRINGTON – Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. The late-night hemming and hawing over brackets is done. The expert picks have been analyzed time and time again. The ink has dried (or the mouse clicked) on brackets across the country and it’s time to get down to business – basketball.

March Madness has been an integral part of my life every spring for as long as I can remember, ever since I got into my first pool, which only had about five people. Since that first pool, it has been an addiction. I can’t get enough college basketball this time of year, although admittedly I don’t devote that much time to the sport during the regular season. Local teams take precedence over the powerhouse colleges across the country.

The unpredictability of the tournament is my best guess as to what keeps me glued to a screen during March. The first-round upsets, the Cinderella teams, the favorites bowing out early – it never gets old. Each and every tournament is different and that is one of my favorite things about sports in general.

Whoever can string together the best six games, or seven if the team was in the first-four games, will cut the nets at the end of the tournament. No matter how many metrics are analyzed or experts polled, it all goes out the window at the first whistle. On the hardwood is where games are won and lost, not in sports newsrooms and studios across the country before the games even start.

Yesterday and today (Thursday and Friday) are two of my favorite days of the year. Sure, the Final Four and championship is great, but it’s the first two days of the tournament that really catch my attention. The first round of games can keep you in the hunt of your pool, but can also start the process of busting your bracket.

For those of you who take a big hit on the first day or two by this year’s Cinderella team in the making, don’t get discouraged. I’ve had several years where I think I’m out after the first couple games, but come around at the end to at least be in the mix. Remember, when your bracket is in shambles, all it takes is one or two games to cover everyone else’s brackets in red as well. If you survive the first round in good shape, don’t get cocky, it can all change in an instant.

I will never imagine being able to feel what those players are feeling on the court when the season is on the line, but watching it all on TV is good enough for me. The joy, the despair, the triumph, the heartbreak.

If you need me over the next couple of weeks, odds are I’m staring at the TV, or multiple screens, taking it all in.