Life Lessons on the Road to the Final Four

I just finished the awesome and important task of filling in my brackets for the NCAA tournament. My son and I always bet a $1 McDonald's double cheeseburger on our picks, but he never pays up.

It's time to separate the winners and the losers, who's hot and who's not, the big talkers and the money players. We'll see who steps up and who falls flat, who comes through in the clutch and who chokes under pressure. And when the smoke clears, we will see who is still standing, the true champion among all the wannabes and pretenders.

Lots of life lessons are there on display at the Big Dance. A few that stand out to me are:

• Tons of press coverage won't score you any points and a big reputation won't get you rebounds. You still have to play the game.
• A good team will usually beat a great player.
• On a given night, anybody can beat anybody.
• No matter how well you prepare, there are some things you just cannot control.
• The most valuable player may be someone you have never heard of, who has never played in the spotlight before.
• Believing in yourself makes all the difference in the world.

Can you think of others? Sports is in many ways a modern parable about life. I think that's why we watch. What about you?

(By the way, Mizzou defeats Pitt to win it all. Remember, you saw it here first.)