"Toby Brackets"

Can I tell you what one of the most beautiful things about March Madness is? The Bracket. Not THE BRACKET. Any bracket. I love a bracket! I love drawing brackets. I love looking at brackets. The squareness of them, their definitive nature. Win and advance to the next line.

If you're a person who carries a daytimer, a person who likes their office papers perpendicular to the desk...you love a bracket. It's clean. It's clear. There's a reason chaos ensued when The Oklahoman unveiled its circle bracket a few years back. That's like putting a mustache on the Mona Lisa.

Ever since I was a child I have drawn up my own NCAA bracket. Every year I get a white posterboard from Wal-Mart, a new pack of fine point markers, a ruler and a pencil and go to work. Every team's name color coordinated. Every bracket perfectly spaced. Just printing one off the computer isn't good enough. A bracket must be hand-made. A fine bracket is like a fine woman...beautiful.

I'm such a dork.