For the Love of Basketball (With a Little Love for the Treadmill)

I don't have cable TV. I know I'm one of the few folks out there, but 90% of the time it just doesn't seem worth it. Most of the shows I like are on network television and if not, they're on Netflix or Hulu. However, there is one big problem with not having cable--NCAA basketball.

Photo credit: Richard Lipski/Associated Press

I'm a Georgetown grad and while I may not watch every basketball game (I didn't get season tickets until my senior year), I try and keep up with the Hoyas as much as possible. Unfortunately, without cable, it's hard to watch most games from the comfort of my own home. Usually I have to go to a bar to catch a game and going to a bar means consuming a variety of things that don't really contribute to my training and spending money I don't really have.

Well, yesterday I found the perfect solution--they gym! The treadmills at my gym are all hooked up to TVs--TVs with ESPN. Now I hate running on treadmill so much I call it the dreadmill, but my love of the Blue and Gray is strong enough to counteract [some of] that hate. With a recovery run on the schedule, it was easy enough to pick a pace and an easy incline, plug in my headphones, and almost forget I was running on a treadmill.

I will say that watching such a close game between Georgetown and St John's was a pretty good distraction. I ended up logging 9.2 miles when I had only meant to do 6 just because I didn't want to miss the end of the game. This may become my new healthy way of cheering on the Hoyas.