Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come once again!
Today is Selection Sunday. The glorious day when 68 teams of young men will learn that they are going to be playing in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – and who they’ll be playing in the first round.
It’s also the start of a 2 day countdown to the start of the greatest sports tournament in North America.
However, as we have learned over the years, the NCAAs don’t make everyone smile and they can make things tense and uncomfortable and even unfair in many homes and relationships. Because we don’t want anyone to be negatively impacted by this awesome event we’re back with the 4th annual March Madness Widow Survival Guide.
In the last 3 years we’ve looked at some ideas that partners of NCAA Tourny fans can look into so they don’t feel so neglected during the journey from 68 teams to 1.
And that’s exactly what I’m here to do again right now! Here are 5 suggestions of things to do this year while your S/O is on the couch cheering on their fav team, hoping for upsets and crying over their busted bracket.
1. Catch up on Girls/Homeland/Game of Thrones/Mad Men/ The Walking Dead/ Etc.
There are a lot of great shows out there and it’s almost impossible for everyone to keep track and watch them all every week. However, with Netflix, On Demand, DVDs and downloads there are ways that you can watch these shows in shortened, intense periods. And what better opportunity than the 21 days of March Madness?
Get your episodes in order, make some popcorn (a great antioxidant) and enjoy!
2. Prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse.
It’s coming, this much we know. But when and how we don’t know. So the best thing to do is get yourself prepared. I would suggest reading The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, think about packing your Zombie Apocalypse First Aid Kit, building your Zombie Apocalypse Team and thinking about where you can go, where you can get weapons, food, ammo, tools and everything else you need to survive.
I’m pulling for you and hope to see you in the safe zone.
3. Start your Spring Cleaning.
I’m not saying that you have to do all of the heavy cleaning by yourself, that’s not fair at all. What I’m suggesting is that you can use this time to go through your closet and pick out the clothes that you want to donate to charity. You can organize the tupperware cupboard. You can even make your shopping list for the things that you need after going through the house and realizing what you’re missing!
4. Eat All The Things.
This is your chance friends. Your basketball fan is going to be so engrossed with the games that they will be able to survive on cereal, chips, celery and coffee. But you, you get to try all the new recipes that you’ve wanted to get at and enjoy some old favourites as well.
And here’s the best part – if you don’t want to share, you don’t have to! That’s right, this is your time and your food and your treat. I would recommend maybe sharing a couple times to be nice, but not every night. You can even invite other non-NCAA fan friends over and have a little dinner party with some wine and stories and laughs. It will be great!
5. Get in the Game!
I say it every year, the best thing you can do is play along with your partner. You don’t have to sit down and watch every game of course. But filling out your bracket, picking a favorite team, cheering with and against your S/O can be a lot of fun.
Remember this though please: NCAA fans are really into things and when their team loses (and the odds are they will) don’t rag on them too hard. It’s an emotional and disappointing time.
Good luck with your picks and your sanity during this wonderful time of year.
I’m excited. I hope you are too!
If you want to see some other suggestions for your March Madness loneliness, check out the first 3 guides.
The March Madness Widow Survival Guide – March 18, 2010
The March Madness Widow Survival Guide 2.0 – March 10, 2011
The March Madness Widow Survival Guide 3.0 – March 8, 2012
