It had been a few years since I'd shared how our family's NCAA Tournament bracket challenge started, so I thought it would be fun to share the story again and then share our brackets for this year. It's a little less fun now that my bracket is COMPLETELY busted - thanks, Purdue - but I'm going ahead with the blog post as planned.
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Ferris Family March Madness began 19 years ago with a simple, friendly competition between newlyweds. 17 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. 13 years ago we entered three-year-old Will's bracket in our online pool for University of Michigan graduate students...and he didn't finish in last place. (Here's a cute video of Will making his selections that year. He had a preference for teams with "W" names as well as Duke University because of his kitty best friend.) 10 years ago Hallie participated for the first time, adding a little chaos to the competition because no one wanted to lose to a pipsqueak who made her selections based on mascots and school colors.
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| Always the last one to finish her bracket... |
For a few years we entered Tux in the competition, and while Will had plans to help Plié and Popeye craft brackets this year, he didn't have the time (or energy) required to help them both make 63 decisions using complicated treat and toy incentives.
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| Using toys... |
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| ...and then treats to help Tux make his decisions. |
So in 2023 it's just Dad vs. Mom vs. Will vs. Hallie. Our annual battle of the brackets will end in cheers for one and tears (not really) for 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.
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Are you participating in March Madness? If so, did this past weekend bust your bracket or are you still going strong?
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