This Thursday is my favorite day of the year. Bar none. March Mattness Is Back. 🏀 The NCAA Tournament tips off… and with it, a 32-year tradition: 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.

Every year, 500+ people pile into the pool. The week leading up to tip-off is pure chaos:

Invite reminders. Venmo notifications. Brackets submitted incorrectly. Brackets resubmitted more incorrectly.

But with it, the annual catch-ups with people I only talk to once a year. I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Then Thursday hits.

Four games on at once. Group chats lighting up. Cinderella runs begin. And my own championship hopes usually implode by about 12:47pm.

This pool started WAY back during my freshman year of high school, when scoring brackets meant a pencil, a highlighter, a sharpie, a calculator, and questionable math skills.

Since then the pool has included NBA players and coaches, Hall-of-Famers, current college coaches, colleagues from every job I’ve had, and friends from elementary school through adulthood. It's all digital, from scoring to payments.

These days even my kids’ friends are joining, which is surreal in the best way.

One thing hasn’t changed: $20 per bracket. Still the same price.

I fully expect to be collecting $20 Trump bills as entry fees in a nursing home in 2067.

Good news -- you can still join, too. Want in?

Comment or DM me and I’ll send an invite, or get in here:

Just remember: everyone thinks they’ve got the winning bracket… until Thursday afternoon.