Written by Nina Earle
March Madness is ending, but it was fun while it
lasted. If you are a sports fan or not, March Madness can
be a fun time. As long as I can remember, my family has
created brackets for March Madness and it is brilliant. We
would always spend one night during the beginning of
March and fill them out together. When I was younger,
teams were picked by ranking or mascot. It was always
fun because Dad would say it as “who would win, the
Bulldogs or the Blue Jays?.” It was never about the teams
or the brackets, but individual games.
I may be a basketball fan now who follows the
teams throughout the season, but back then I would just
pick at random. We did not win prizes, but we could win
small things like the right to pick where we would go for
dinner one night. Brackets bring the games to life
because sports always are more fun when you care about
the outcome of the game. Having a favorite team makes
you pay more attention to the games. I have always
enjoyed things more when I have a stake in the outcome
of whatever it is.
Brackets during March Madness have always
been a fun thing that brought people together. I have
had teachers that printed brackets for all of us, kept up
with our brackets, and gave away candy and homework
passes to the winners of the brackets. As March Madness
ends, finding fun ways to connect with people should
not. Brackets during March are a fun annual thing, but
throughout the year there are many tournaments where
brackets can be made. Brackets in March, to me, have a
similar effect as fantasy football in the fall. This is a
bonding tool that can be a lot of fun.
