They Still Goin Put Picture of My Derriere in the Magazine

It crosses all languages, resolves year long conflicts and causes more money to shift hands than the super bowl. Yes my dear friends, it is back and it will be all people talk about for at least the next week and a half. Sure, it does run three weeks, but by a week and a half, most brackets will be so toasted that you could warm your hands over their glowing embers. Oh, yes sir, it is march madness bracket time.
No sporting event brings in more of a diverse interest. I haven't held too many jobs in my days, but every one of them has had a march madness pool where everyone participates. The scary thing is, it seems that the people who know the most about college basketball do only marginally, if at all, better than those who pick teams based on the number of letters in the name (Less is more. Hmm, I'm going to fill out a bracket like this, just to see how it goes. I'm mildly scared it might work out). Sure there are myriad ways to fill out a bracket, and that's amazing in it's own right, but what gets me is how everyone you meet over the next week can be easily engaged in conversation by one of the two following questions : 1) How's your bracket? 2) Who's in your final four? I gaurantee that one, if not both of those questions will immediately incite a tone of either bravado or remorse, depending upon their level of success in the world's biggest crap shoot.
I know this, because it happened to me. I have cousins. Yeah, kind of a surprise to me as well, considering I have not seen some in over ten years. Believe me when I say that there were times when I would have to ask a date's last name, just to make sure we wouldn't have to move to Mississippi in case things worked out. There are still some that I honestly don't remember ever seeing in the flesh. I have pictures, and have met their siblings, but to be honest, I question their existence. I know what can be done with photoshop and no longer trust pictures at face value.
Traipsing through campus, I saw one of the formerly estranged relatives. We've spoken maybe ten minutes to each other total, so clearly we have a firm history. I said hi, and he replied with "Hi. Have you filled out your bracket yet?" Not kidding. Those were his first words. As they should be. With 48 hours till tip-off, (No, the play-in game does not count, although, being in the Mountain West, we have no one to blame but ourselves for this predicament as they needed to add an additional spot for the conference champion. That's why it's there, in case you were wondering) nothing is more important in the sports world than having your bracket filled and filed with some group. It trumps studying, homework and class easily. If you were wondering if I once spent an hour on a date filling out a bracket with the girl, you would be correct. (Yes I did beat her, but barely, thanks to me predicting the right national champion.) Really, if you haven't filled one out and submitted it yet, take the ten minutes to do it and submit it to me.
No really, I've decided to hold a contest. The most successful bracketologist gets lunch on me. Yep, it's out there now. I'm doing it. For those three devoted readers of this blog, you all have a shot of having me pay for your lunch. If you want to submit one, feel free via email. Considering most people fill them out online, I'll explain how to send it.
In the upper right of the keyboard, you'll find one labeled Print Screen (or possibly PRT SCR if it's an old one). This one's important. You'll need it.
Pull your bracket up onto the screen and have it fill the screen. Now press Shift+Control+Print screen. Open Word, and press Control+V. It should past the bracket nicely. Now email it to me. You should have my email if you're reading this. If not, use rickrussell239@gmail.com.
It's on. Deadling for this is 10 AM MST Thursday. That gives you 24 hours to email the bracket you filled out a while ago. The only caveat I am giving is that there needs to be at least three people submitting brackets before I put lunch on the line. I'm not just going to let Mike walk away with my money because he's the only one who actually did it.
I didn't expect this post to go this way, but there you have it, and here we are. Word.