The Slice: NCAA pairings: What are the odds?

Today is the day a few people in the Spokane area get turned into momentary celebrities.

Well, perhaps that’s overstating it. Maybe “office novelties” or “bracket bull’s-eyes” is more like it.

But Selection Sunday is when graduates of the college paired up against Gonzaga in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament find out that their alma mater is about to be mentioned a kazillion times in Spokane over the next few days.

It might be that dozens of local people went to that school. Or it could be, I suppose, zero.

More likely, at least a handful of graduates of Whatsamatta U – or whatever school is designated to be the likely first-game cannon fodder for GU – are about to discover that they have a decision to make.

Assuming they care about college basketball … will they root for their school or cheer for the local favorites?

The choice isn’t as easy as it seems. You might assume someone would back his or her college. Only natural, right?

But many people who have lived here a long time are big fans of GU, even if they are graduates of Brand X Tech or whatever. And for those who think this might be Gonzaga’s year, it would be quite a blow to see the Zags stumble right out of the starting gate.

Still, graduates of the designated GU opponent have every right to root for their own school. And there’s always the charm that attaches itself to underdogs.

Graduates of “the other school” can enjoy a burst of attention as co-workers fill out brackets for office pools.

“Hey Byron, have you got your team going all the way? Ahahahahaha.”

He or she can haul out a Fighting Muskrats sweatshirt or Sea Turtles cap and parade the old school colors. All in good fun.

The media might even call and ask how it feels to be living behind enemy lines.

Chances are, the pirouette in the limelight will be over Thursday or Friday.

But then it starts all over again, for somebody else.

Assuming Gonzaga actually wins a few games, fresh batches of Spokane area residents will get to see their alma maters’ teams line up against the Zags. The deeper into the tournament GU goes, the higher the emotional stakes.

But I’m told there’s nothing like seeing your school revealed on Selection Sunday as Gonzaga’s first foe.

And then hearing your phone ping … ping … ping as the taunting texts from friends start rolling in.

Today’s Slice question: What’s the strangest thing you have witnessed on a local elevator?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. When was the last time you got carded?