I’d like to begin this column with an apology on behalf of my hometown of Providence, R.I. It’s not as if we need any more bad press – although Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D) might argue that bad press is better than no press. We’re now known as the place where NCAA brackets go to die. Given that Rhode Island has been named the second most neurotic state in the United States – largely in part to the aforementioned congressman – it’s sort of fitting that the Dunkin’ Donuts Center would be the place where March Madness lived up to its name. I doubt, however, that many Georgetown fans will find comfort in that factoid.

Disappointed though I am that the Hoyas are out of the running, things could be much worse. Our loss doesn’t look as bad when compared to Kansas’ loss on Saturday. Though if we had gotten by Ohio, we likely could have punched our ticket to the finals with the Jayhawks out of the way.

More importantly, since everyone picked Kansas to do well, there is still a chance, however unlikely, of salvaging your bracket. In my case, I’m rooting against my original picks because people in my pool who are ahead of me have picked the same teams to advance farther. It’s masochism at its finest, but ’tis the season.

It’s amusing to see how seriously some people take the NCAA tournament – unsurprising, but amusing nonetheless. A friend of mine told me that the first- and second-round upsets had done a number on his bracket, to the point that he couldn’t even talk to his roommate.

“I was like a 15-year-old emo kid, without the eyeliner,” he said.

Even if that individual is taking the tournament too seriously, his reaction is nothing compared to what some men are willing to do. For the past few years, the number of vasectomies performed across the country have spiked by about 50 percent during the first week of March Madness. Evidently, some men are really desperate for an excuse to be left alone on the couch with a cold beer during the opening rounds. Maybe the Chinese government should repeal the one-child policy and show basketball games instead in order to curb population growth.

At this point, my bracket hopes are, realistically speaking, finished. I need Syracuse and Kentucky to lose, and Baylor to make it to the finals in order to cover my bases for the different pools I entered. Not very likely, I know. But there is still a fighting chance that I can recover my buy-in fees if I place third or better, so I think I’m still alive. And I don’t see my compulsive gambling and desperate rationalizing of bleak odds as at all neurotic. Then again, I can still take comfort in the fact that I beat the president. Even if I had to root against myself in order to do so. Insanity, or a brilliant strategy? We shall see.

Colin Nagle is a junior in the College. He can be reached at naglethehoya.com. Getting in Tune appears every other Monday at www.thehoya.com