hoosier born.

The photos above are a collection from my Georgetown years and beyond. The top left photo shows me with the banner
my dad {in yellow} made for our house senior year. The picture of a TV captures Patrick Ewing, Jr.
on the night 
we beat UNC to advance to the Final Four in 2007.

I grew up in the land of basketball, otherwise known as the state of Indiana. The movie Hoosiers was released the year after I was born. Milan {pronounced My-lin}, Indiana {the town depicted in the film} is just an hour from my hometown.

In Indiana, you were either a Hoosier--or a Boilermaker. {Ok, you could be a Bulldog, Sycamore, or Cardinal too...but that's besides the point.} I grew up in a Hoosier household, as the daughter of two Indiana grads. {My mom was even a student when IU had its perfect season back in 1976!} Suffice it to say, we watched a good deal of college basketball in our home and I have fond memories of my dad sporting a sweet red IU sweater while watching games on TV.

Fast forward to the early 2000s: I'm thinking through my college options...and one of the strange things {outside of academics!} that I hoped to find in my future alma mater was a strong basketball program. When I was accepted at Georgetown, I felt like I'd struck basketball gold. I held season tickets for my four years as a student--and for two years after I finished school. {I would certainly still have them if we lived in DC!} I've loved of Georgetown basketball for almost eight years now...
yowza. I feel old.

When March madness rolls around, it inevitably invokes a sense of nostalgia for my senior year of college. Georgetown advanced to the Final Four--and though we didn't win that year, I'll never forget the Hoya hoopla. I can always say with pride that I graduated the year we went to the Final Four.
I'm so glad {cv} is a Hoya too so we can share in the hysteria :)

Do you get into March Madness? If so, who are you rooting for this year?

Whether you love or hate college basketball, there's something about this time of year which makes it exciting for everyone! Best of luck to all of your teams--and you better believe I'll be tuning in on Friday night when Georgetown plays the winner of USC/VCU. 
I hope the sun is shining where you are today! xoxo {av}

47 comments:

  1. While I don't get into March Madness, everyone around me does...so I inadvertently get sucked in!
    {ps. small world! I'm a hoosier too, and I grew up in the town that was portrayed as Milan in the film. Lots of my family members are extras in the movie!}

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  2. I've always been more of a college football fan myself (and with a husband that is from Nebraska, football is big in our house) but we both went to Creighton for undergrad and spent college going to the games. I like being at basketball games but don't know enough technical details to get a lot out of watching it on TV...that being said, I hope Georgetown wins :)

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  3. yay for fellow Hoosiers... although, I'm from Boilermaker country, so we may disagree there. :) love your blog!

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  4. My freshmen year and senior year we made it to the final four...and tragically lost both times. It is super fun to be a part of it though!

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  5. i'm trying to get into march madness, but i really know nothing!! it's shameful :)

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  6. great blog <3
    anyway i like you header :)
    check mine if you want dear!

    http://paramitadana.blogspot.com/

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  7. i'm so excited for march madness! my dad and bf are all about basketball so it's fun to join in the action. the one thing I wish I had considered when choosing a school, is the sports program. You are definitely lucky to have gotten to experience a real sports school.

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  8. Oh goodness, March Madness is new to me. My bf has all brothers and the have Duke, Georgetown and Kentucky alma maters so MM is huge to them! I'm glad to see a girl who feels the same so I don't think they are AS CRAZY as I thought they were :)

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  9. As I live within walking/ viewing distance of Georgetown, I'll be cheering for them! Plus my Alma mater's Cinderella streak has run out with the graduation of all their best players last year. Sadly they are not in the tournament this year because if they were it would be all BIG RED (aka Cornell).

    ~ Julie

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  10. LOVE March Madness!!! Buckeye born, but Hoosier bred right here! Wish they were good enough to be in the tourny this year, guess I will have to cheer on the buckeyes! Enjoy :)
    *Ashley {a little dash of ash}

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  11. Love it. Can't believe it starts tomorrow!

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  12. basketball is just SO not my thing.

    I used to watch with my brother back in the day, but that was it.

    My dad went to Georgetown too! Well for med school but still lol

    CarissaExplainsItAll

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  13. aww too cute! i love that you are psyched about march madness! i just filled out my bracket (hosain and his brothers have a friendly competition every year and the winner is the new owner of a tacky o'mally necklace...here's hoping i suprise them all!). xoxo jcd

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  14. I have to say, I'm pretty neutral about basketball... but March Madness even excites me! Haha.

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  15. YES!!! I love March Madness! Although my alma matter does NOT have a team close to being in the running, I still love to fill out my bracket and watch the games!! I'm not really sure who I'm rooting for this year - Kentucky or Kansas maybe. As long as Duke doesn't win!

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  16. just filled out my bracket! going for florida! of course ;)

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  17. I grew up in Indiana too! But...not so much a huge bball fan - but I did always watch the Bulls when I was little :)

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  18. I love, love, LOVE March Madness! It's my favorite thing about this month! My school (oregon state) was never in it, but my bf went to Indiana and was there when they went to the finals in 2002 (and he's got some stories to tell)! He actually guest posted about March Madness if you want to stop by and check it out :)

    Hope your bracket does well! I have a few going :)

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  19. Hi! I love your blog and I am a grad student at Georgetown right now, so I'm rooting for the Hoyas too! HOYA SAXA!!!

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  20. Love March Madness! I need to fill out my bracket asap. Basketball has always been one of my favorite sports to watch, (thanks to 3 older brothers that played it:-) xoxo

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  21. Haha oh my goodness, I totally see why you picked Georgetown over Northwestern now! Our basketball program is pretty dismal... but the hot dogs they serve in the arena are enough to get me to the games. Sigh, I'm probably going to leave the brackets to my brother and dad.

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  22. Rock Chalk Jayhawk, go KU!!! I love March Madness too - so freaking exciting! When KU won in 2008, my friends and I all went to the KU bar here in town and watched it with hundreds of other people, including a very excited little boy right in front of us. It was one of the best nights EVER!!!

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  23. you have a beautiful blog
    my deepest adoration for you and your boy*
    wishing you the best!!

    love amy ^.^
    www.amyflyingakite.com

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  24. I grew up in Southern Indiana, where everyone is either a Louisville fan or an IU fan. Not my family- both parents are Kentucky graduates, so I was always the odd one out at school.... Which is maybe why I ended up at UK myself- I just had to see why my parents were so crazy during the basketball games. Now that I'm a UK alum too, I can understand why they looked so forward to March Madness- SOO exciting :) Go Cats!!!

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  25. I drove past seymour indiana this weekend on my way to Chicago and thought about your "see-moore" post! Ha! Everyone here is either UK or UL and I completely understand the basketball obsession. A UK loss ruins my week!

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  26. SO excited for March Madness too!!!
    Wooh!!

    xoxo
    www.stephanieandsuch.blogspot.com

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  27. My Dad was JUST making SO much fun of me for not really caring about March Madness! Though my semo-competitive nature, I'd probably like to join a 'pool' {is that what they're called?!} ha!

    xo! Lauren @ tickled.

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  28. Hi! I just discovered your blog, and it looks as if some of my other blog friends have as well! You have such an inspiring story. I am so happy to be here. We are basketball fans in our home. I went to UVA so I usually cheer for any ACC school! I also went to high school in Newport RI; and there are a lot things I miss about New England. Look forward to reading more . . . xo Samantha
    www.vintageisforlovers.com

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  29. Well, since I'm from a bonafide college football state (ROLL TIDE!), I have a hard time getting into basketball. :( But every time I do watch it I have so much fun!! I think I'll try to get into some March Madness excitement this year! ;)

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  30. I love college basketball. We are in the tournament this year (SDSU) and I can't wait to watch! I even filled out a bracket for the first time ever! I love being able to cheer for MY school - it makes it so much more exciting. Good luck to Georgetown :)

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  31. March madness!!!! Woohoooo!!!!

    xo
    melissa
    http://melissa-champagnewishes.blogspot.com

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  32. My school, University of Michigan, hardly ever makes it into the tourney! They're in this year... but sadly probably won't get very far. Either way March Madness is still fun... especially since I usually try and get into a pool and bet like $5 or something. Fun time! (:

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  33. AH I forgot about March Madness. I don't keep up with sports really, but it really is exciting when everyone else gets excited by it!

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  34. I am one of those girls that pick their bracket based on colors and mascots! lol

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  35. I rarely watch basketball, but this time of year is super fun, and I love making a bracket, plus you just made me even more excited!!!

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  36. i know this post is about basketball but i have to just say how cute you and your man are! :)

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  37. Oh man, college basketball. Growing up in Boston, we don't take college sports that seriously- that's what the Red Sox are for! Then I went to a college that NEVER wins basketball or football games, and I'm done for. I've always been a tiny bit envious of schools with big sports programs, though- it seems like it would be so much fun, such a uniting factor.

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  38. As a music student, I must confess that I know next to nothing about college basketball. My sweetheart's little brother plays college football and I only recently figured out what all the numbers on the screen were!

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  39. Well I grew up in Canada so I knew next to nothing about college sports until I came to school in the states and was part of the gymnastics team for four years at Michigan State! Then I really had to learn a whole lot about sports in the US in general :) Needless to say, I feel like I owe it to the green and white to cheer for them!! xo

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  40. YES I get into it. It's the most wonderful time of the year! Can't wait for the maddness! I'm rooting for Duke. But all my GT friends here have kind of won me over to the Hoya side :)

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  41. As an "Angelino" it is kinda of hard not to get into it! I can't wait for Friday's game. How cute are you guys :)

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  42. I'll be excited for March Madness next year when IU makes it. :) It was disheartening to be a Hoosier during the Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson years (and, of course, Mike Davis makes it this year). Yay for Coach Crean!

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  43. rooting for texas of course, and wish i could be in houston to go to the final four games!
    xoxo em

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  44. I miss March Madness!
    And I remember seeing Hoosiers in the movie theater, I feel so old!!

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