Last modified: Friday, March 16, 2007 12:55 PM PDT Make way for March Madness I’m not going to tell you who I’m picking for the winner of March Madness this year. My record has not been very good over the years, but I faithfully turn in my brackets every year anyway. I’ve been an Arizona Wildcats fan for a lot of years, as my wife worked for the University of Arizona when we lived there. We were “sort of” required to attend the pre-season yearly banquet. It wasn’t that we didn’t feel lucky to get an invitation, and it was nice to see the team and hear what the season might bring. Quite frankly, it was Coach Olson. Every year he gave nearly the same speech as the year before, and along with being boring, it was very, very long. In Arizona, Olson is a god — at least to faithful Wildcat fans. He is one of the best recruiters in college basketball. Every year he signs “blue chip” high school kids from areas where you’d think they would be snatched by the nearby schools. I think he’s a good coach, but no longer a great coach. This will be the first year I haven’t gone with my heart, and while I have them beating Purdue in the first bracket, I think that’s as far as they’ll go this year. Now if the Wildcats prove me to be wrong, I’ll be delighted to eat crow! March Madness is one of the few sporting events that rank up there with the U.S. Open and the British Open (both golf). I don’t rate the PGA that high, but all of them fall short of the Masters with me. Maybe it has something to do with being raised in the upper Midwest where the Masters was the start of spring and the beginning of “real golf.” If you don’t know what I mean by “real golf,” you must play the other type of golf where you wear so much clothing you can barely swing. In your golf bag, you stuff in extra sweaters and windbreakers, fleece gloves, stocking hats and rain pants (for their warmth). Your golf bag will weigh so much that carrying it takes a young, strong back and legs. Most of us either use a push-cart, gas or electric carts that have at a minimum a windshield, side curtains and even some have small heaters. We’re pretty lucky here, as our winters have been pretty mild of late. These last few days, and the upcoming weekend, look really nice. I’ll probably not see many of the afternoon March Madness games. Now if Arizona does get lucky, I’ll not miss any of its games, but that won’t happen. Just hope there’s a surprise or two — like some “Cinderella” team knocking off one of the powerhouses. The good news is I have a DVR, and it’ll be working hard this weekend. Have a great weekend, and keep it in play. Steve Krehl is the publisher of the Argus Observer. He can be contacted at SteveK@argusobserver.com.