Any basketball fan who is NOT watching the America East Conference tournament final between Vermont and Boston universities is missing some exciting basketball.

Any Bowie residents who are in-the-know about Mike Lonergan, a Bowie native who happens to be the coach of the Vermont Catamounts, should be watching as UVM is up 50-40 with 15 minutes left in the game. The winner goes to the NCAA Tournament ~ MARCH MADNESS!!!!!!!!

Hey, any readers of The Capital ("The Mothership" of the Blade-News) who are not watching this game, I have news for you: freshman Brendan Bald (Severna Park High School) has played some nice minutes in this game for Vermont and he is one win away from the NCAAs as well.

Capital-Gazette Communications has no publication in Howard County, but Vermont assistant coach Matt Hahn is a 1996 graduate of Atholton High School in Columbia, where I attended until my graduation in 1993. As a senior, I did have freshman gym class with Hahn. His dad was the longtime assistant to Gary Williams at Maryland, too!!

And my condolences go out to Vermont junior Evan Fjeld, whose mother passed away Tuesday and he found it in himself to play in this game. His mom battled cancer without making it public ~ even Fjeld's teammates had no idea his mom was sick ~ and her son is playing his heart out, literally, today. He just got his 4th foul --- but this kid has fire in his belly, man.

More Bowie!! --- Bowie resident and former Cal coach Todd Bozeman and his Morgan State Bears are playing in the MEAC tournament title game today at 2 p.m. on ESPN2. How strange that two Bowie coaches are on ESPN2 in back-to-back games for the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament!

Bozeman hosts the Todd Bozeman Basketball School twice a year at City of Bowie Gymnasium and has quite a few years of success behind him. Also behind Bozeman is freshman DeWayne Jackson, who Bowie basketball fans will remember from Bowie High School.

MARCH MADNESS ROCKS!!!!!