We all have our own traditions, whether it’s going home to be with family for someone’s birthday or hanging out with friends on certain dates that are of great significance. For me, there is really only one event that holds tradition: the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament — or as I like to call it, America’s newest pastime.

Last week, the greatest four days of sports began on Thursday and ended on Sunday. I do understand that a lot of you may think it is strange that I would dedicate four “greatest” days that include 48 games overall, but to me, they the greatest four days of the year. Yes, better than Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and St. Patrick’s Day combined.

This is the only event that will basically give you permission to drop what you’re doing and watch basketball. My cousin and I have made it tradition to take those four days and do nothing but watch basketball, eat food and play video games when there is a break between games.

If you are anything like me, the basic setup for your viewing area was pretty standard. It was probably a mess, cluttered with pop, pizza, beer — for those who are of legal age — and chips. And while it may be a cluttered mess, for those four days you don’t really care, because it’s sports heaven for the typical fan.

One problem that fans always seem to run into is the immortal question of how will they watch all the games.

Some buy the DirectTV package — but I am happy to say that this year, something did change, for once. 

This year, the CBS Sports Web site made the games available online, for free. That means that I was able to watch the games that mattered to me and not have to be restricted to regional coverage.

Not only did the online coverage keep me glued to the computer, but apparently there were thousands of workers nationwide that spent more time watching the games than working.

Yes, my bracket is officially busted — thanks Cleveland State — but honestly, I can’t really complain.

It’s upsets that make the games so much fun and so emotional.

It’s watching a 13th seed beat a fourth seed, and getting excited about it until you realize how much it hurt your bracket in your office’s bracket challenge.

It’s seeing the emotion of the players and coaches as some teams fall just short of realizing their dream and advancing to the next round. 

However, like everything else, those four days are not meant to last.

It is truly sad when that Sunday arrives and you are forced to say goodbye to the first and second rounds of the tournament.

Sure, there are the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final Four and the championship game, but none of those rounds compare the first two rounds.

So while a lot of you are just counting down the days until you don’t have to watch college basketball on TV and you can go back to seeing “CSI” or “Without a Trace,” I’ll be counting down the days until I can once again be lazy and enjoy America’s newest pastime.

Jordan Wickstrom is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Beresford, South Dakota.