I could not let March pass without a nod to basketball.
I’m part of a large extended family that for several weeks each year, loses their minds over March Madness.
If I tried to construct the history of the nonsense it would be moot.
Suffice to say, there’s a 90-year-old and his wife (my parents) still filling out brackets.
Various husbands and wives who travel to catch Rounds of 64, Sweet Sixteens, and even one Final Four.
An “outlaw” (what we call those who married into the family) who emerged as our self-appointed, board-of-one Commissioner.
And a very sketchy trophy, engraved with winners’ and losers’ names, awarded during Thanksgiving dessert. The trophy must be displayed all year in the winner’s home. The loser does Thanksgiving dishes.
Let the Madness Begin!
It’s 64 teams, a few Cinderellas,
a commissioner-visioner (his rules overwhelm us).
Best guesses, best names, seedings and brackets,
it’s group texts and trash talk, all good-natured racket.
Alum picks, the mascots, statistical models-
the random or fandom, fodder for squabbles.
It’s status and badness, lunacy, potshots,
craziness, laziness, long shots, and what-nots;
rooting and rivalry, nonsense and gambling,
predictions and matchups, positioning, scrambling.
It’s checking the scores. It’s upsets and turmoil.
It’s cheering for underdogs, enjoying the spoils.
It’s bragging rights and being part of the group.
Who’s in the cellar? Should we root against Duke?
At the end of the day, it’s just family tradition,
(on condition the commissioner grants you admission).
Simpleness-sprinkled-with-silly enriches.
It’s wishes, then swishes, a trophy, some dishes.
On Thanksgiving Day we’ll rib and relive
the annual Madness, and also we’ll give
the new champion their five seconds of fame.
And come March, this family will do it again.
Poem and images ©2023, Patricia J. Franz
Photos of some March Madness memories. The last image is a fave: VERY LONG LINE FOR MEN’S ROOM!
It’s Poetry Friday!
My friend and Nevermores poetry partner, Rose Capelli is the round up host this week. She’s celebrating Spring and hummingbirds and e.e. cummings!
Patricia Franz is a kidlit writer and published poet. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
Ok this is the BEST! And I love the rhyme and the way it describes this whole situation
has to be a mainstay at the sports banquet!
The awards ceremony may need a whole separate poem! -lol
Your poem is so much fun, Patricia! And such wonderful rhyme – great for reading out loud! I still do a bracket, just competing with my husband. Even though we were tied at the end of the first round, I had little potential left for subsequent rounds. But it’s always fun!
Oh gosh, the whole thing is a hilarious distraction – and such a great way to connect.
Patricia, what fun! Your poem is rich in detail, and it makes me wish I could be a part! I love the “it’s group texts and trash talk, all good-natured racket” about your brackets. Fun! I hope you shared your poem with your family group!
Yes, there are a few poems floating around our family Madness!
Love your poem — and your family’s tradition. Why not go totally mad in March? Basketball is one of the few sports I enjoy watching (along with tennis and baseball). I like the feel of frenzied activity in your poem . . .
Oh I LOVE baseball! I think it may be the only sport without a timeclock? Maybe that’s why…
But baseball must wait till April!
This is so fun! I was talking about March Madness with a family member earlier– she’s so excited our arena will host some games next year. Here’s to basketball and sports traditions! And the trophy? That’s pretty wonderful. Thank you for sharing!
omg- the trophy is quite a sight… an amalgamation of a few children’s trophies that got blended together – And we’ll need a new base in a couple years for the annual addition of names (our own Stanley Cup!)
Oh Patricia, I adore this. I love March Madness & don’t do a bracket but do talk about it with my older granddaughter and her dad, my son-in-law. So far, she has him beat, I’m told. You’ve shown the excitement so well in the catchy rhythm of your poem, like a bouncing basketball!
Thank you, Linda – we do have fun with it!
Lots of fun here. I love the loser doing Thanksgiving dishes. Thanks for sharing this… swish!
Yes, and I believe we’ll add a “loser’s towel” this year as consolation prize – lol
March Madness is a foreign world to me, but it would have been fun to have something that held our family together with such good-humored glee!
I think it helps that we’re all sports nuts!
I don’t really understand March Madness (I blame it on growing up overseas with no television), but I love that your family goes all-in for this! Your poem is perfection and I hope you are putting a copy of it on each plate at Thanksgiving.
Last year I wrote a ditty that we sang at the awards ceremony. lol
Hahahahahaha! This is fantastic! I’d be doing dishes every year. I’m not a Bball fan. But, I appreciate the losing of minds over March madness. Great poem…perhaps a reading of it needs to be incorporated into the annual festivities.
The awards ceremony is a bit like the Oscars…getting a bit too long! But perhaps this once…
Every family needs its traditions, doesn’t it! In my spouse’s large Catholic/English family the annual reunion is a tournament dubbed the Mozambique Open, affectionately known as The Moz. You’ve inspired me to write a poem for it this year!
Hmm…who knew we Catholics could be so much fun.
And The Moz? What sport?
Upsets indeed! Can you believe all of the #1 seeds have been defeated? No wonder they call it March Madness.
Gotta love the chaos!
Your family sounds like so much fun, Patricia. I bet they loved this poem, too.
We do have our moments…This year we have 4 new members (various nieces/nephews getting married!). I think they’re all wondering what they’ve gotten themselves into!
I have no point of reference and no similar basketball-love in my own extended family, and yet I found all of this delightful, Patricia. 😀
We’re all sports nuts, which is probably why it’s come to this.
All that family tradition and madness- some may call it commitment conveyed in rhyming couplets paints a picture of a valued activity within your family, Patricia. Thanks for sharing and in doing so, evoking memories of our own family traditions and rituals.
It’s really a joy, Alan. Thank you.
Patricia, your family’s tradition sounds wonderful. My husband is “into sports”. I hear the words, It’s March Madness!, all throughout the month. Your poem is filled with all the details of your extended family’s fun times. Have fun the rest of the month.
It’s sort of crazy how so much of our country gets into the March Madness stuff!
Hahahaha–what fun, Patricia!
“Simpleness-sprinkled-with-silly enriches.
It’s wishes, then swishes, a trophy, some dishes.”
Love this. We host a little Super Bowl gathering each year, and my brother-in-law created a tacky Superb Owl trophy that the winner of the trivia/betting game “gets to” keep until next year’s game. Sadly, my husband won this year. :>D Thanks for the peek at your family!
Yes, the trophies! I’m secretly quite happy to keep landing somewhere in the middle!
Marvelous Madness, Patricia! Your line: “It’s wishes, then swishes, a trophy, some dishes.” sums it up perfectly. I love your family. 🙂
Aww, thank you Bridget!