By Elizabeth Ladzinski
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
EAST VILLAGE — As if St. Patrick's Day wasn't enough, March Madness began Thursday at noon, giving New Yorkers yet another excuse to take the day off work.
The sizable crowd at the Village Pourhouse at 64 Third Ave. attested to the spirit of both St. Patrick's Day revelers and college basketball fanatics.
"These are the most important four days of my life, as I see it," said Ryan C. Zerfas, 29, of the Upper West Side.
A Michigan State fan, Zerfas has been coming to the Pourhouse for March Madness since the bar opened in 2006. The first thing he does when he starts a new job is request the first two days of March Madness off.
"I spent about 12 hours researching my picks this year, and then I spent about 15 hours writing about them," Zerfas said, of his tournament bracket picks and writing for "The Bleacher Report," a website that publishes articles written by sports fans.
He has Ohio State winning the championship against Kansas State, with Purdue and Duke also in his Final Four. He hates the University of Michigan and Florida State.
Ryan Gallagher, 32, a Duke fan who despises the University of North Carolina, counted himself lucky — call it the "luck of the Irish" — that he had the day off to watch the games.
"I'm just a fan of college basketball in general. I'll watch any game," Gallagher said, as he drank a Bud Light at the bar.
The crowd at Slane Public House at 102 Macdougal Street was also glad that the sporting "holiday" and the Irish holiday were united this year.
"Not only do I get to celebrate March Madness, but my heritage as well," said Juan Garcia-Salmon, 26, who said his father was a native of Ireland.
Garcia-Salmon, a confessed "hardcore Duke fan," has the team going all the way, beating Kansas by 6 points in the final.
"It's the best weekend of sports," said Ed Martin, 29, of the first two rounds of the tournament. He chose four upsets to make it to the Final Four: Syracuse, Texas, Kansas and Florida.
The afternoon ended well for Garcia-Salmon, who correctly predicted Butler's win over Old Dominion in his bracket.
"That just happened!" Garcia-Salmon yelled, as the final seconds of the game ran out. He then promptly teased his friends, who were less fortunate in their bracket predictions.
Check out the NCAA's website for a full schedule of March Madness games.
