Welcome to March Madness ...

How great is the first day of the NCAAs?

The excitement.  The anticipation. The brackets!

We're starting up "Brackets on the Side" at Johnnie's in Boston.  The crowd will be packing in by the big screen HDTVs upstairs and downstairs at our joint.

We're encouraging everyone to bring their brackets and finish them up by Noon (or scratch them off or tear them up and start over again later this evening!).

Be there.

And, BTW, click on the March Madness headline above to consult the bracket filled out by the leader of the free world, the great President Barack Obama.  (Not sure about the Duke picks...)

He earned new respect from all sports fans with his tremendous appearance with ESPN's Andy Katz.  Some people might criticize the President for taking the time away from his primary duties of running the country and trying to solve the economic crisis to do brackets.  But, these are my thoughts:

1. Whoever says that should look in the damn mirror.  (Do you spend every minute of your life on your work? Do you deserve a few minutes of fun with your friends to celebrate the true American (and global) pastime of the sport of BASKETBALL?  A few minutes time to enjoy a whole month of NCAAs?

2. He kept his promise to ESPN's Andy Katz.  That is HUGE.

3. The man picked a pretty good bracket and knows his stuff.  There is no doubt he is one of the smartest people who have ever walked the planet, plus he knows his hoops.  Case closed.

4. He had the "political" guts to pick against 32 colleges!  That's a lot of votes!

5. Hands down, he has earned my VOTE and my respect for the rest of his life and the rest of mine, not because of his love for basketball but because of his down-to-earth honesty and ability to relate to people and give honest answers to honest questions.  May God Bless Barack Obama and his wonderful family.

I grew up with idols named John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Dr King.

I have a new "American Idol" and his name is President Obama.