Madness Ensues

I usually share our NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament predictions before the first round games actually start, but when my printer took approximately 27 hours to scan each of our four completed brackets, I didn't have time to pull the entire post together before we left on our spring break adventure.

Yes, 27 hours is a bit of an exaggeration. But each time I want to scan a document I have to turn on the printer, wait for it to warm up and print a test page, connect it to my computer, scan the document, wait for the scanned image to appear on the computer screen, edit the scanned image, and save the scanned image. Then I have to close all printer-related windows on my computer, turn off the printer, and start the process all over again. For each document. It takes FOREVER.

And now I've gotten off track…

Ferris Family March Madness began 11 years ago with a simple, friendly competition between newlyweds. Nine years ago our cat, Duke, joined the game when we developed a complicated treat- and toy-based selection system to help him fill out his bracket. (Will and Hallie hadn't yet entered the picture back then, so spending time on cat brackets didn't seem as ridiculous as it seems now.) Seven years ago Will participated for the first time, and five years ago we entered Will's bracket in our online pool for University of Michigan graduate students and he didn't finish in last place. Two years ago Hallie participated for the first time, and while she finished a distant last both that and last year, she adds a little excitement and commotion to the competition; there's nothing like trailing a four-year-old who made her choices based on how pretty the school's name sounds when she sings it in the shower.

"Valparaiso. Gonzaga. Xavier."

"Ohhhhhh-Oak-lahoma where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain!" (Yes, she actually sang that song while working on her bracket.)

Here's a little history of our family competition for those of you who might be interested: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014. (Apparently we didn't write about the madness in 2011 or 2012.) I highly recommend checking out the 2013 post, as it links back to an adorable video of two-year-old Will making his bracket choices and breezing right past his now-beloved Aggies.

Now that the 2015 tournament is underway, the competition 'round these here parts is fierce. I'd rather not lose to Hallie, but I'd gladly lose to Will - that boy did extensive research and put more thought into his bracket than the rest of us combined and he deserves his first victory.

Erin

Hallie Ferris

Will

Dad Ferris

As of last night/this morning, the family standings are as follows:

Will - 42
Tom - 40
Erin - 38
Hallie - 31

The 2015 battle of the brackets will end in cheers for one and tears for (at least one of) the others, and then after all is said and done we'll talk about how much we love this family tradition and can't wait to do it all again next year.