When I say March madness, most moms know inherently that their husbands go into some sort of daze in front of the tv screen for about three weeks forcing mom to shuffle kids, turn in tax returns, handle birthday parties, and work around and sometimes through Spring Break…alone.

In many households the tradition of NCAA Basketball Playoffs can cause tension between spouses.

Not in my house. We celebrate the madness. You see, I married a basketball player. I knew this from the moment he tried to show off in front of me before we started dating at a church league game by doing a 360 dunk…which he hadn’t attempted in several years. Let me assure you…IT WAS IMPRESSIVE, all the up to the part where he came crashing down and his knee gave out. This lead to much sympathy, courtship, surgery, and eventually having to propose on one knee which was still in a full brace. But I digress.

Basketball has always been a part of our lives. Now, in addition to being a State Farm Agent, Jim coaches basketball for our local private high school. Together, he and his best friend took those kids from nothing to the State Semi-finals in 2009. He has coached Little Dribblers for many ages and stages, including All-Stars. All three of our kids play. We live it.

So, rather than fighting the madness in March, we started a tradition of picking brackets years ago that carries through today. Our first year of marriage, Jim suggested we start this tradition. I had grown up a tennis player and watching football on the weekends…didn’t know much about NCAA basketball. So, I did what every good wife does, I picked my teams based on colors of uniforms, mascots, cool sounding names like Gonzaga and Xavier. 17 years ago, those teams were unknowns, and I could easily pick a “Cinderella” team quite by accident. Jim was baffled as I often times won the bracket competition. You should know that we are both highly competitive and since he made his picks based on players with injuries, seeding, records, etc…he SHOULD have won…or so he thought. 

Now our kids share in the madness and we all pick brackets. My two teenage sons, one  pictured here pulling off some great basketball moves like his father, choose their picks much like their dad…using their massive knowledge base of the sport. Our 9 year-old daughter picks much like I used to…colors, mascots. She only missed 2 the first round and she hit every single upset much to the boys dismay.

With all of the excitement, mom still won the brackets this year…I successfully beat out the rest of the family when Duke made the finals Saturday night. Of course the other half of all of our brackets was shot with Butler’s surge to the finals, but WHO CARES? Butler is exactly why we LOVE March Madness. And I venture a guess that many other families join ours tonight tossing out their brackets and instead cheering for Butler. What a true “Cinderella” story.

I hope that your family too embraces the madness, invites friends over, grills out, and catches the Championship game tonight. To see athletes give all they have just for the love of the game…not quite jaded by professional sports and big contracts yet. What a great excuse to laugh, cheer, yell at the referees and celebrate life together. GO BULLDOGS!!!