March Madness

I often feel the need to tether these ramblings toward the content of the film. I don’t know how to do that in this case, but it might go something like this: we are hardwired for underdog stories. Maybe it’s an American thing, but we never perceive ourselves as dominant or powerful (unless we’re referring to ourselves within a large group of people that we identify with, like a team or a company or nation, but that’s another conversation). Anyone who thinks they are The Best is usually met with skepticism or thinly veiled hatred; unless, of course, they’re interesting. Then we get someone like Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan.

I am moving further from what I wish to say. Athletics are where we get underdogs, and it happens, on a large scale, in two realms: the Olympics and the NCAA basketball tournament. The Olympics are every two/four years, so forget that. March Madness, though, is a time to be inspired. Young, hardscrabble basketball players deemed unworthy by major programs fall to unwanted regional schools in peripheral conferences, where they have to win a pressure-filled conference tournament to earn a bid to the Big Dance. There, they are invariably put up against legendary programs stacked with NBA-caliber talent who are disappointed each year they receive a low seeding. Case-in-point: the blond-haired North Dakota State Bison taking on the defending champion Kansas in a first round game (the Jayhawks prevailed).

In short, the first round of the tournament has actual David vs. Goliath-stakes and they’re legitimate. The reality of dreams and dreamers and the often-superhuman efforts we are capable of come through, and I really believe this sort of nonsense only at this time of year. And, as usually happens, none of the dreams actually come true—this year’s tournament produced only one low-seeded team reaching the Sweet Sixteen, and that was Arizona, a perennial powerhouse having a “down year” after coaching turmoil.

Anyway, that’s my excuse for not posting, and I’m sticking by it. Missouri, my own underdog (though they’re still a big dog by most standards), had a strong showing but another heartbreaking loss in a lifetime of them. That’s my sob story for now, though.

Anyone concerned with the production of “Santa Ana Winds,” which is far more important than basketball, may be thrilled at the following updates:

–Our first big surge of fundraising has gone out and gone well, though we need more money. This sort of sentence is a pain to write as I imagine I will be writing it countless times over the next 60-80 years.

–The script is nearly finalized, and will soon be available to anyone who wants to read it. Just email our contact address and we can shoot you a copy if you’re interested in the specifics of what is going down.

Many other fun things are going on, but I’ll leave with this visual nugget: video of one of the wind machines from Roger George Rentals that we’re checking out for the film. There’s no sound but the images should be enough!