March Madness 2012

Several years ago now, I was convinced to take the day off of work to enjoy the basketball extravaganza that is opening day of the Tournament. It didn't take too much convincing...I told my wife that she deserved a day off from looking after our daughter and I would be more than happy to spend a vacation day to play with her. I seemed like a hero and the most caring husband in the world, when in fact I was just looking for an angle to get to watch the most basketball I possibly could. What was an even greater bonus was that Morgan was still in her multiple nap stage so she would nap from 9 to 11 and from 2 to 4.

The one pitfall to my masterful plan was I tried to take Morgs over to Steve's house after her nap to watch the early evening games without an abundant supply of goldfish crackers!

All that to say it is just about time to watch some more college hoops. And what fun is watching college hoops if you don't have a vested interest in the games. So it is with great anticipation that I announce the Third Annual Godfrey's Employment Memorial Bracket Challenge (more affectionately known as GEMBC). Free to enter, no prizes to be won, but the pride of knowing you're taking part in a great Canadian tradition much like the Stanley Cup Finals or Tobogganing.

In a little over a week, Selection Sunday will take place live on CBS. A couple of days later the play-in games (still can't call it the first round) will happen and come Thursday at 10am we begin a three week journey to madness. Start doing your research.

For those of you who had the joy of partaking in out nobel endeavor last year all you need to do is sign-in to your CBSSports.com account and you will be able to make your picks (once the brackets are released Sunday, March 11).

For those of you not yet privy to our game, you have a little more work to do. You will need to follow this link and create a CBSSports.com account. Once that is done you'll be prompted to enter the GEMBC password which is simply 2012.

That will take you to our group page where you will be able to make your selections.

For those of you who are less technologically adept, I will be sending out a printable bracket on Monday March 12 that you can print off, scan and e-mail back to me. If that is too much tech for you, you can hand deliver your bracket to me prior to the Play-in games and I'll look after them.

It's as easy as that. Sign-up, make your picks and enjoy the Tournament in all its splendor!