Wednesday, April 8, 2009

March Madness Finale

Hello college basketball fans,

Its time to lay to rest this year's Gratz Family Spectacular. First, to begin, may we have a moment of silence for the vanquished green and white. They were a great team, who didn't have their best night, unfortunately. Despite the rough end to the tournament, it was a great run for MSU this year. But, as the facilitator of the Gratz Family Challenge, I must "play through the pain" and move on to our business of the day. The results:

North Carolina's victory shook up the family brackets to the point where our previous leader, Turney, who had the lead through most of the tournament, had to settle for fourth place - being beaten by not one, but all THREE of his daughter's significant others. Ohhh, the pain of defeat. The final standings:

1. Will - FIRST PRIZE, the gold medal. You win immense glory, pride, and a mystery gift. (Your mystery gift will arrive in the mail soon)
2. Danny - SECOND PRIZE, the silver medal. All you get is pride, bummer for you.
3. Tyler - THIRD PRIZE, the bronze medal. I won a slice of key lime pie, eaten last night, sprinkled with Turney's tears.
4. Turney - So close, so close. You don't win squat - but you do get some respect for a daring bracket that almost paid off big.
5. Jeannie - You won a snow day yesterday, that's pretty sweet!
6. Lauren - Lost in the head to head dual with Danny, for Chicago pride. Very sad.
7. Rebecca - After leading early, her bracket just fell apart. Also very sad.
8. Bacon Log - Picked all the favorites - no glory there. Remains a tasty (if gluttonous) tournament entry.
9. Lynne - Sadly got whooped by a pork product, need I say more?

For Will, the taste of victory is bittersweet. Sure, Will now gets to brag about being the "college basketball expert" of the family, but his wisdom comes at the expense of his beloved basketball team. Given the choice, we're all pretty sure Will would have exchanged his Gratz Family Spectacular victory for a Spartan win. Perhaps he would have preferred to exchange those final game tickets as well?

So, that's it folks. Thanks for participating! Will's prize is coming to his house via mail. Its a glorious prize. We will expect him to wear it on our next visit out West.

As for the rest of the bracket, one can't help but notice a pattern. It seems like all of the men beat all of the women in the contest... hmmmmm? What happened, ladies?

Sincerely,

Tyler

The 2009 Gratz Family Spectacular Facilitator