My Daughters' Brackets
I can already tell that for the next ten years or so, my favorite part of the first week of the NCAA Tournament will be getting my daughters to fill out their brackets.
Not only is it amusing, but they're so much less resistant to it than my wife.
I don't often bring my kids into the blog world, but this stuff is just too good for me not to go all Cosby on you for one day and share their insights into the bracket.
Because they really do say the darndest things.
First of all, you might be wondering what kind of dad I am that I bring my children into the world of March Madness. The answer is unequivocally an awesome dad. They love it right now. They think it's awesome. I love it. I think it's awesome. Wait until they get old enough to appreciate the fact that I've been keeping track of their brackets. Dad of the decade right there.
This year was particularly exciting because it was the first time my 2-year-old would be doing a bracket. (My 4-year-old was filling out her third.) It was hard getting her to stay still long enough to fill in the bracket, but eventually we got into a rhythm. Unfortunately, that rhythm resulted in her picking the last team I said:
Me: Hampton or Duke? Her: Duke
Me: Michigan or Tennessee? Her: Tennessee
That chain was broken in the East bracket with the following exchange:
Me: North Carolina or LIU?
Her: We had so much fun with Elly!! Elly-oo! (I figured, eh, an LIU upset. Gutsy pick. I didn't correct her misunderstanding of Long Island University. But she went with Elly over Washington, then Syracuse, then West Virginia, then Texas, then Florida St. for the championship. I should have gone with nicknames and mixed her up a bit.)
Both daughters were particularly enamored of St. John's. ("Your name is John!")
My oldest seemed thoughtful about the process....for a while. She didn't get suckered into Boston University like my youngest, who put them in the Sweet 16, probably because we spent the weekend talking about BU. For the oldest, it was Kansas over BU.
But my oldest was also pretty well swayed by the names as well. Kentucky? In her mind it was Ken-Tuck-y, and she invoked the name of the WonderPet Tuck as she advanced them to the championship game. North Carolina? "That's where Kevin (the Southern Bureau) lives," she accurately pointed out - though this only bought UNC a ticket to the second round. Both girls liked Belmont to go deep in the tournament - the town where I work.
But my 4-year-old couldn't get enough of St. Peter's.
Her: I have a friend named Peter.
Me: I know you do. St. Peter's or Kansas?
Her: St. Peter's!!!! (This pattern continued until St. Peter's was the last team standing.)
After she sang a song featuring the chorus, "I love Peter!", I put the girls to bed.
And so it is that I get to work on my own bracket.
But not before I call this Peter's parents and tell them to keep their kid away from mine. He's clearly a bad influence.
