Have You Filled Out YOUR Bracket Yet?

So begins the NCAA tournament, anxiously awaited by some and callously ignored by others. I must admit, I wasn't a March Madness fanatic until I came out to BYU. But then I met my roommate Christine, who not only fell instantly in love with any man who could dribble the ball, but also had her bracket filled out and turned in to the ward pool before anyone else. She converted me. Or just educated me a little bit; perhaps even now I can't honestly claim the title 'fanatic', seeing as how I'm still fairly ignorant as far as details of the tournament and teams go, but at least now, unlike my prior-to-BYU days, I know that "March Madness" is not a springtime epidemic or related in any way to Cabin Fever.

I have my teams picked. Some are good picks, others are gutsy, and the rest are probably just plain stupid (Georgetown and Northwestern State, for example). What can I say, I'm hoping for a miracle - and gloating privileges. If they lose, well, no one will be surprised. My strategy is: pick a couple top teams, pick teams that will likely play against each other so that I will be sure to win either way, and then pick some underdog teams just for the sake of it. Hey, someone has to cheer for them right? And besides, there are always upsets. I'm just hoping they're by my teams.

I'm in a competition for the first time ever; Scott's family has invited me to join their family bracket competiton, and perhaps against my better judgment (this is an opportunity for me to reveal how stupid I really am) I've accepted. My family was never big on brackets (like I said, I didn't even know what March Madness was until I came to BYU), and for the last few years I've watched, amused, from a short distance. But no more. Now that I have a competition, a challenge, I've got teams to fight for. And you'd best believe that I will. Even if I'm losing spectacularly, I'll hold my head high. Even if my teams can't make their free-throw shots, I'll cheer them on anyway. Even if my teams trip and take me down with them, I'll continue to smile smugly - and trash-talk all the way down.

I don't think Scott's family realizes what they've gotten themselves into.