14884http://fullcourtpress.kingsconnect.com/archives/1488March+Madness2009-03-11+05%3A06%3A37Jason+Thompson

March Madness

It’s March and the madness has started. It’s just a crazy time of year in college basketball. This is where stars are made. With all the great finishes and buzzer beaters, there’s a lot of great history to be made.

My Rider Broncs got to the semi-finals of the MAAC Tournament and lost in double-overtime. They were up three then Niagara made a lucky half court shot that hit the backboard and went in to send the game to the first overtime. My brother, Ryan Thompson, played well — 27 points and 12 rebounds.

Even though they lost, I just want to give a lot of respect to the Broncs. It’s tough losing the way they did. But hopefully they get a postseason berth in the NIT or another tournament. I hope they keep playing because it means a lot for the seniors. If not, watch out for them and my brother next year!

With Selection Sunday coming up, I think the four number one seeds will go to North Carolina, Pittsburgh, UConn and maybe Memphis. If Memphis wins the Conference USA tournament, I think they’ll get a number one seed. I also think Siena might be able to upset somebody in the tournament like they did last year, so look out for them.

If you haven’t heard the news or seen the twitpics, my fellow rookie, Donté Greene, had his car popcorned. He tried to keep all his emotions in, which I couldn’t do when it happened to me! He actually ended up driving home with popcorn still in his car. I know he was upset and hopefully he learned his lesson, just like I did.

We both have different rookie duties. I have to bring two bags of cinnamon raisin bagels with jelly and butter. He has to bring fruit. Yesterday, he didn’t bring it. It’s just crazy he didn’t because he saw what happened to me, so I guess you can say he had it coming!

There’s a difference between his situation and mine. I’ve seen articles and blogs saying ‘JT didn’t bring the bagels,’ but they were there! I just didn’t bring them myself. I paid for them with my money, but just had somebody pick them up for me. I would’ve picked them up myself, but I was in a tricky situation that day. I had one more weight-lifting workout with our Strength and Conditioning Coach Daniel Shapiro. I could’ve left and picked the bagels up myself, but I would’ve gotten a big fine! I figured I could just kill two birds with one stone by getting someone to deliver the bagels while I got my lift in, but the vets still got me.

They expect things to be done a certain way and you may not know what they want all the time. They can be picky, but I guess that’s just life as a rookie. It cost me close to $200 to clean my ride. It took awhile because I had way more popcorn than Donté’s car. There was no way I could’ve driven away from the practice facility with my car filled like he did!

On Friday, we’re going to play the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s going to be great to play against LeBron, who is one of the best in the game. He has the same agent as me and I met him before I got to the League. Earlier this season, we played him in Cleveland and I had a good game against them. I don’t know how this is possible, but he had a quiet triple-double. We were up for most of the game, but they came back at the end. That can happen when you play a team that’s only lost one game at home. Friday night’s game should be a good test for us as a team and ARCO Arena should be rocking, so I hope to see you there supporting us.

Next week we have an East Coast road trip. We’re going to Washington D.C., Atlanta, Charlotte and New York. I have an aunt and uncle out in Atlanta, so it should be great to see them. I’ll get to spend some time with them the night before. I’ll probably get them some tickets to the game so they can enjoy themselves. New York is only a train ride or maybe a one or two hour drive from Jersey, so I’m trying to get my family from Jersey and Philly to come and support me as well. I’ll have some box seats reserved so they can have a great time. I have an off day out there so maybe I’ll get to spend some time with them. I’ll also try to catch up with family in the D.C. area as well. Whenever I’m on the East Coast people come out and support me, and I love it. I thrive off it and it makes me the player I am today.

I’ve noticed the number of followers I have on Twitter keeps rising, and I appreciate it. I’ll keep trying to answer as many questions as I can. I can’t reply to everybody all the time! If I could, I would probably turn tweeting into a second job. But I’ll keep doing what I can to let people know what’s going on in my life, so just keep supporting. Keep checking in with my blog. Follow me on Twitter and be safe!