Nothing says America like brackets, and it’s that time of year with the NCAA basketball tournament getting under way yesterday.

Since the latter portion of 2009, hoops teams from as far north as Maine and as far west as Alaska and Hawaii are hoping to have the opportunity to be recognized as this season’s national champion.

Last year ended perfectly for me, with my University of North Carolina Tar Heels leaving Detroit’s Ford Field as the unquestioned kings of college basketball during the 2008-‘09 season, defeating Michigan State to earn the national title. It’s amazing the difference a year makes.

If you have already filled out your bracket, you will find that North Carolina is nowhere to be found, following a subpar 2009-’10 campaign that has the program playing for the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) title.

Please believe I have received enough of a ragging by Duke fans — in particular my wife and a certain editor who shall remain nameless — to make this season one that I definitely want to forget, yet somehow believe the bad play of the Tar Heels will be hard to flush from my memory.

A staple at this time of year, I can remember one March in which I played sick so my father could pick me up from school, all with the intention of watching the first day of the NCAA tournament.

I still can remember holding my stomach, doing my best acting job walking down the hall to the nurse’s office so I could make the call to good ol’ dad, who at the time was a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army, based at Fort McClellan, Ala. To this day, I believe he knew my intentions, though he didn’t want to take any risks should my phony illness prove to be actual.

“You know you’re going to be back at school tomorrow, right?,” asked my father as I climbed into our family car.

Being a mere middle school student, I simply said “yes sir,” and settled into my seat for the 10-minute ride home.

Fortunately, my timing was on point, with the first contest of that year’s opening round — No. 5 Arizona facing off against 12th seeded Miami of Ohio — was preparing to tip off. After my dad tucked me in and slid a bucket to my bedside in case I happened to get sick, it was game time.

Then known as the Redskins (now the Redhawks), Miami of Ohio surprised the world in its upset of a highly regarded Arizona team, beating the Wildcats 71-62.

This would be the first fireworks of an epic tournament which included UCLA’s Tyus Edney maneuvering through Missouri defenders to get to the basket, helping the topseeded Bruins save their season with a 75-74 win. A little more than an hour from my family’s house in Anniston, Ala., my beloved North Carolina Tar Heels earned a Final Four bid at the Birmingham - Jefferson Civic Center riding the wings of future NBA stars Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse to a 74- 61 win over Kentucky in the South regional final.

I still find it funny my celebration after the game landed me on punishment for a week or two; oh well, guess I deserved it.

Prior to that day in 1995, the NCAA

tournament was big business, though my school day ate at a chunk of the coverage. Since then it has become big business — both personally and worldwide — with millions filling out brackets and becoming emotionally invested as their schools, friends and family take their shot at immortality.

While most of us look forward to the three week stretch which ends with confetti falling on the heads of that year’s national champion, it’s unlikely many owners, managers and bosses of diverse titles agree.

A recent report by the Challenger Gray & Christmas outplacement firm published in the Nashville (Tenn.) News said “businesses stand to lose $1.8 billion in lost productivity during the first week of the tourney,” up from last year’s estimate of $1.7 billion. Whether it be the intrigue of games being on during work hours or trying to keep up with their placement in brackets, the attention span of employees seems to diminish greatly during March Madness.

Even I’m guilty, last year being accused by my wife of paying her little attention as long as a game was on. Usually adept at quick snappy responses, I had nothing to say; after all, she was telling the truth.

Nothing proved it more than me staying up to watch Siena’s upset of Ohio State in the first round, a game which ended shortly after midnight.

“You must be planning on sleeping on the couch, eh?,” my wife said.

This year I’m ready; I set my pillows and blanket on the couch before I left for work. Ha!

Joe L. Hughes II writes feature and enterprise stories for The Gaffney Ledger.