Let the Madness begin!

3.19.14- 

I love SPoRTS! I've always been that way.  Comes from growing up in a home where my Dad played baseball for as long as I can remember & coached almost every sport in HS for close to 30 years & I went to almost every one of them. Thanks to a good Mom who toted us kids, everywhere.  

So I've pretty much been this way from day 1. 

I tell my husband all the time how lucky he is to have a wife that will sit & watch baseball, golf & go to football or baseball games with him just because it's fun.  

 Have I mentioned on here before that I am a passionate Duke Blue Devil basketball fan?  Well... actually our whole house is true blue fans! 

{I'm grateful to my guy for making my dream come true of getting to travel back to Durham, NC to go to a Duke game not only once but 4 times, thanks babe!} 

-Here I am filling out this years bracket- 

Be honest, how many of you out there even know what March Madness is or what a "bracket" is?  Have you seen your husbands coming home from work with a piece of paper, studying it like it's an exam & feverishly writing things down on little lines that branch out to the center?  

{Don't be fooled, it's not a family history chart they're filling out... it's the NCAA College Basketball Tournament bracket or better known as the beginnings of March Madness}  

I laugh because I was once mistaken as doing family history when actually I was filling out my bracket.  Hahaha! 

-Throwing it back to 2003 when I got to meet the Blue Devil himself at the 1st round tournament games in Raleigh, Duke Won!- 

 If you want to join in all the fun & discover the madness for yourself I'm here to help & get you some brownie points with your husband & kids.  They will think you are really cool if you fill one of these out.  

You can do this today & have a great conversation piece for dinner tonight. 
{ex."Hey, Honey- just wondering who's in your Final 4?"}

 The "official" games begin tomorrow so you have time.  There have been a few play in games that have already taken place but don't worry about those just fill in who won & go from there. 

 You can look it up on ESPN.com

{do you know what that stands for? ;)} 

March Madness 101

Go HERE to print out a bracket.  

Grab a pen {I like to write in blue} & start in the upper left hand corner {picking between Florida & Albany} write who you think will win between the two & work down, game by game selecting a team you think would win. 

{FYI- the lower the number by the Universities name the better the team} 

Teams are seeded from 1-16 in each region.  

{So for example Florida, Virginia, Arizona & Wichita State are "suppose" to be the best heading into the tournament} 

*It's ok & sometimes encouraged to pick what they call a Cinderella team, an unexpected sleeper to get into the big dance.  That's always fun to see.  So don't just pick all the 1's.  It RARELY happens that way. 

 {p.s. I think the #3 seed in the Midwest Region looks pretty good}

Go all the way down the left side & then go up to the right hand side & do the same thing all the way down.  Repeat over & over until you get to the Final 4 teams.  From there you'll pick the 2 teams you think would end up in the Championship Game & then one final winner!

{Can you guess who I picked?}  

The fun of March Madness is having the bracket all filled out before it even begins so don't wait & do it round by round just get it all filled out at once. You can base your picks on just about anything.  The colors of their uniforms, {sometimes that's important!} the school's mascot, what state they are from, their record for the year or their history in the tournament.    

Remember it's just for FuN!  It's such a enjoy able time in our family to all gather around theTV, check the news each night & check our bracket.   

{It's always thrilling the years Duke goes far into the tournament around our house, fingers crossed for this year too!}

-Funny pic from last year!  So my girls will put their Duke gear on, grab the pom poms, make up routines as we watch the games & cheer the whole game!  Last year Audrey couldn't find her Duke shirt so she improvised.  Haha, this kid.  She has quite the personality!- 

This does happen at our house each March come tournament time.  Calm, cool & collected at the beginning & then it can get quite "Crazie" around here.  No, I didn't spell crazy wrong, it's in reference to the greatest student body in all of college sports- the beloved Cameron Crazies.  

So that's what March Madness is in a nutshell.  If you've already filled out a bracket or if you fill one out today, I'd love to hear who you pick, leave a comment & tell me.  

Let's GO DUKE!!

-Love this time of year, bring on the Madness-

{M}