LET THE MADNESS BEGIN!

Today marks the start of one of the best weeks of the year if you are a true sports fan.  For those of you in the dark, it's "Championship Week", when all of the major college basketball conferences crown their champions and berths to the NCAA Basketball tournament are granted.  It's an annual rite of spring that sports fans enjoy, year in, year out and this year is no exception.  From today through Sunday, you will see non-stop college basketball, day and night, as all roads lead to Selection Sunday, when the bracket for this year's Madness is finally revealed.

Locally, we have the Big East Tournament taking place at Madison Square Garden, beginning on Tuesday.  The tournament always draw a crowd and this year should be no exception.  This year's tournament is very strong and quite frankly, anyone could win this thing.  There are folks predicting that up to ten teams from the Big East could make the tournament, that's how strong the conference is.  Should be exciting to watch and I'm sure we'll have our share of fans making their way to the bar.

Of course, the Big East Tournament wouldn't be what it is without a visit from some of our favorite fans, The BUFFALO CREW!  The BUFFALO CREW are a group of hard-partying guys who make the trek to New York for the tournament every year.  The biggest question we ask every year is whether or not they actually make it to a game.  They are such a fun group of party animals that they often get distracted by their partying to the point that they often end up missing the games.  They are a great bunch of guys and we look forward to seeing them again this week.  Get the Fireball ready!

That being said, it isn't all about basketball this week.  If you are a soccer fan, this is also a big week for you as the Champions League is in the midst of it's "Sweet Sixteen", with teams moving on to the quarter-finals after the replay matches taking place this week and next.  Matches take place during the afternoon, so I'm sure we'll have our share of folks sneaking out of the office for an "extended lunch".  Should be fun (and intense).

And if that isn't enough, it's also FAT TUESDAY, marking the end of Mardi Gras. We of course, will be celebrating Fat Tuesday with our annual "FAT TUESDAY BEAD BASH",  where mugs of Abita Purple Haze, Bud/Bud Light and Hurricane shots will be flowing all night long!  Beads are the order of the day and we'll be awarding prizes for the individual who collects the most beads (by hook or by crook)!

Hopefully you're as excited about this week as I am. There will be a lot of stories to tell for sure and I'll try to capture as many of them as I can.

As always, if you haven't done so yet, follow us on FACEBOOK or Twitter (@thirdandlongnyc)!


Oh and yes, the sun IS shining today!

Cheers!