Do you find yourself actually going mad during March Madness?

Think that Jim Nantz should stick to calling bunker shots and 50-foot lags at Augusta National to cover the $916,000 per year he owes his ex-wife in alimony?

Is the only Big Red you care about the next stick of chewing gum you'll deposit in your mouth?

I'm with you. Come give me a hug. Count me among the apparent few who refuse to fawn over the NCAA Tournament.

Yes, there are some of us out there. Our existence was apparently made permissible shortly after women's suffrage. And for those of you who share a similar disdain for this annual hardwood hysteria, there's good news: Baseball is just around the corner.

We're not talking about the 37-year-old Atlantic League lifer the York Revolution just locked up. Or another episode of O's Optimism, Spring Training Edition.

A real-life phenom is coming to the area in the form of the Washington Nationals' Stephen Strasburg. The No. 1 overall pick in last June's draft was assigned to the Double-A Harrisburg Senators on Saturday.

So think about it: The most highly anticipated prospect in baseball history will most likely pitch about a 40-minute ride up I-83 in a month's time. Feel free to burn that busted bracket.

"It's all about confidence -- confidence in the pitches, confidence going out there. That's the bottom line," Strasburg told the Associated Press after a showing in major league camp that included a 2.00 ERA, eight hits allowed, one walk and 12 strikeouts in nine innings.
Wondering if this $15.1-million stud smothers his corn flakes in Red Bull after a comment like that? Me too.

Moreover, consider another point: According to the Washington Post, with his current scheduled rest factored in, Strasburg is slated to make four of his first five starts for Harrisburg on the road.

The Post suggests the Nationals could push back his debut date two days -- from April 8 to 10 in Altoona -- and three of those would become home starts. Think this might sell a few more tickets?

So keep that in mind. Plus the Nats have plenty of reasons to keep Strasburg glued to Harrisburg for awhile -- all of them green. Delaying his major league debut to late May allows the Nats to stall arbitration for a year.

So feel free to entertain the thought of 100-mph heat flying from Strasburg's arm on City Island.

In the meantime, we can all stop praying that CBS commentator Gus Johnson's head doesn't explode.

-- Jeffrey A. Johnson is a sports reporter for The York Dispatch. He can be reached at jjohnson@york dispatch.com or 505-5406.