I’m the sports editor of this newspaper. If anyone should be going to March Madness this week and travel the country, it should be me, right? After all, I’m the one who makes the assignments, right?

But there I was Friday night, at home sitting on the couch.

Why? Because this job is a lot like coaching. Crazy hours. Going to ballgames for a living. Trying to convince your wife that she really will see you for more than an hour a day once April arrives...

And trying to keep your players happy.

So that’s why Steve Hanf has the chance to follow Duke to the Final Four, via Syracuse, N.Y. and Indianapolis. And why Mike London has a chance to spend time in Birmingham and Austin, Texas, before heading to Indy.

And that’s why I sat in front of the tube, cheering on Duke and North Carolina (oops, I’m supposed to be impartial, right?)

“Supposed to be.” Hey, let’s get something straight. When you grow up on Tobacco Road following ACC basketball your entire life, you forget impartiality at home. I’ll be as stoic as the next guy on press row. But in my house, I do what I want (unless, of course, my wife speaks).

Both Tobacco Road teams won Friday night and I wasn’t excited. I looked up at the walls of my “sports room” with the mural of my favorite players and framed photos of all those UNC and Duke guys and felt empty.

Why? Because Mike and Steve were on press row.

And I wasn’t.

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It hasn’t always been like this. My first two years at the Post, I was on Cloud Nine.

My initial season, I followed Duke to Indianapolis. The Dookies were fighting back from something called “Pete Gaudet coaching” (Mike Krzyzewski was ailing).

Krzyzewski now had the Devils back in the Big Dance but in the first round, Eastern Michigan (Eastern Michigan?) danced on their face.

It didn’t matter. I was in the RCA Dome, watching stuff like Pete Carrill and Villanova upsetting UCLA. I was caught up in something called Hooiser Hysteria.

The next season, 1997, I was in the sunlight of Tucson, Arizona, following Tim Duncan and Wake Forest. This was going to be great, I remember telling myself. Wake is the team that is going to take me to the Final Four.

All the Deacons had to do was win two games. .

They won one of ‘em. I came home.

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But that’s OK, I figured then. I’m going to be the sports editor. There will be plenty of other opportunities involving Final Four glory for yours truly to to be a part of.

I haven’t been to another and I’m downright Mad in March — at Wake Forest and N.C. State. It’s their fault, you know.

For the past three seasons, both schools, despite talented rosters, have not made the NCAA field, leaving just two North Carolina teams from the ACC. This year, they were both supposed to make it. And midway through the season, both appeared likely candidates. But of course, that’s when Robert O’Kelley lost his shooting touch and N.C. State simply lost.

And that’s why I was sitting on my duff this weekend.

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Speaking of sitting, was there anyone left doing that when North Carolina completed its upset (upset?) of Missouri?

You were surprised that UNC won? Have you lost your mind?

London knew the Heels would win. So did I.

The Heels were not favored. They always win when they’re not favored.

They always lose when they are.

And that what scares those cynical Tar Heel fans about today’s game with Stanford, which is a No. 1 seed. The Cardinal should be heavily favored. But the whispers are getting louder. I’ve heard them on TV and in the neighborhood.

“North Carolina is exactly the team that can knock off Stanford.”

Uh-oh.

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Actually, I should be happy that I’m staying home. It’s the first time I’ve been with Joan and my two boys in about two months. We gorged on pizza Friday night and got messy and bloated. It was wonderful.

It had been a long time. When you’re a sportswriter, you can forget about a home life in February and March.

Mike and I seemed to be having a mileage battle in February. I looked at my calendar and saw 21 days of February driving, going somewhere to write something.

By the time this month rolled around, we were still enjoying our favorite game — we were just taking a lot of deep breaths and thinking about what was ahead.

A March Madness trip to a distant arena somwhere.

A trip that I didn’t make.

Thanks Wake Forest. Thanks N.C. State. I’ll be covering you throughout the NIT. I love basketball but it just isn’t the same. Sorry.

Well, I’m going to prepare for today’s games: UNC-Stanford and Duke-Kansas. They will both be great spectacles to watch.

From my freaking couch.

It just doesn’t seem fair, you know?

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