Thursday, March 16, 2006

Preschooler Bracketology

We made big decisions this morning in the Pearson home. The intense discussion did not center on income taxes, the household budget or the children's education. It had nothing to do with emptying the dishwasher, taking out the trash or doing the laundry.
No, this morning my 4-year-old son, Curt, had some tough decisions to make for his bracket for the men's NCAA basketball tournament, which was just hours away from kicking off.
"West Virginia or Iowa?" I asked.
"WEFF VIRNINIA!!!!" Curt replied.
And on and on it went, one game at a time, with 64 teams from which to select.
I "helped" a bit with some of the first-round games, guiding him away from picking a No. 16 team over a No. 1 team, or even a No. 15 over a No. 2.
But the rest was pretty much up to him.
"Montana or Nevada?"
"MONTABANANA!!!!"
With the Doodlebops singing in the background, Curt stood in nothing but his underwear in the middle of the living room and called out his picks as I filled in his bracket.
"Seton Hall or Wichita State?"
"STHEETON RALL!!!!"
Each pick was followed by some kind of energetic decision dance, with Curt bouncing all around the room in celebration. I almost shed a tear when he picked Texas A&M over Syracuse in the first round, but he had my beloved Aggies losing to LSU in the second.
"Villanova or Wisconsin?"
"VILLASCONSIN!!!!!"
Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing.
"No, it's either Villanova OR Wisconsin."
"VANILLANOVA!!!!"
Curt then suddenly dashed into his bedroom and dragged out his little plastic basketball game, the one with little catapults that send little plastic balls through little plastic nets.
"Boston College or Ohio State?"
"OHIO STEAK!!!!!"
Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing.
We got down to his final four: LSU, Kansas, Tennessee and Ohio Steak.
"Tennessee or Ohio State?"
"TENNETHEEE!!!"
Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing.
"LSU or Kansas?"
"KANTHAS!!!!"
Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing.
"OK, this is the last one. Who is going to win the whole thing? Kansas or Tennessee?"
"TENNETHEEE!!!! HOORAY!!!!! I DID IT!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing.
Curt had a bracket last year and did pretty well, but a risky pick early on took him out of contention in the pool of a dozen or so other brackets. He did, however, pick some upsets that no one else saw coming. I don't recall what they were.
For some reaon, Curt has always loved basketball, or "baskeetball" as he calls it.
The kid who can't sit still for more than 0.0001 seconds sometimes will watch a whole basketball game without moving.
I'm not too confident in his Tennessee pick this year, but as crazy as the NCAA tournament is, just about anything can happen.
And if Tennessee does happen to win, my wife and I might need to start thinking about moving to Las Vegas.

4 Comments:

Blogger Brian Pearson said...

Fiddlers.

Scores of them.

1:09 PM  
Blogger ~Ivy said...

That is tooooooooooo cute!!! i can totally picture it.. My son often stands in his underware in the living room watching tv.. Its just "his thing" lol.. My son.. who never sits quietly either can sit and watch an entire baseball game and never move..

2:31 AM  
Blogger Brian Pearson said...

Well, poor Tennessee lost.

Oh well.

< : - (

10:10 AM  
Blogger Clicketynix said...

That would be a cute commercial for promoting March Madness, It would be like the one a couple of years ago when they had two women at a bar, deciding on the football picks for superbowl by shopping location or by cutest uniforms.

1:24 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home