the madness begins.

{barack's bracket}

Each year, I call my father to go over our bracket picks. (I have high hopes of beating Jordan this year; enough is enough.) An excerpt of tonight's conversation is being published here, for posterity's sake. 

Father, incredulously: You have St. Mary's beating Richmond? 

Daughter, sheepishly: Yes. I needed an upset!

Father: Is there a particular reason you chose this one? Richmond is pretty good.

Daughter: Barack Obama picked them!

Father: He also smokes.

Thanks, Dad, for that much needed perspective. I went ahead with St. Mary's, despite the fact that our President smokes, and since Jordan has Richmond going to the Sweet Sixteen (he wanted to root for the Spiders!), you can bet I'll be rooting for that particular underdog.

Don't know what I'm talking about? For shame. 

It's March Madness! If you read this early enough, you can fill out your own bracket here. Choose wisely. Or, if you're like me, you'll wind up eating vegetables every year.*

*May the record show that despite my failings each year, I personally introduced W. Jordan Jones to the world of the college basketball bracket in 2005. He'd never filled one out before he met me. I literally changed his life.