So your kids want to help you fill out your NCAA basketball bracket and you're too proud to admit that they'd do a better job than you. Here's a way to save face.
The nice folks at SimplePlayIdeas.com have created a printable mascot bracket so that the kids can play along, picking teams based on their favorite mascots, colors, animal types (birds vs. mammals), whatever. You can download the bracket for the first two rounds here and they will update it throughout the tournament. Here is the Final Four bracket.
If you want, you can use the tournament as a way to teach your kids about odds, "seeding," history ("Mom, what's a Gael?" "Do they play with a sword?"), questionable natural history ("Dad, can we go to Alabama to see the elephants?").
Prepare your kids for the possibility that their favorite mascot might lose. Explain that mommy led her office pool into the final weekend a couple years ago, but awful refereeing on ticky-tack fouls did her in. (Maybe TMI, but you be the judge.) But whatever you do, do it quickly — Temple plays Tuesday night at 9pm.
Enjoy watching the games with your kids. And try not to root against them when their mascot is going up against your underdog.
