March Madness, Fishing Style

Courtesy of Trout Unlimited
Courtesy of Cheeky Fishing

This is such a fun time of year to be a sports fan. Pro basketball and hockey are into the stretch drive toward the playoffs, and baseball teams are preparing for the season at spring training. But in March, for me most other sports take a backseat to college basketball and the NCAA Tournament. March Madness – which I eventually found out the NCAA swiped from the Illinois high school basketball state tournament – has become a national obessiion. Filling out a bracket to choose the winners of the 68-team hoops orgy has become must do, not just by fans like me but my Bob in accounting and Betty in human resources. One of my colleagues here asked if March Madness involved hockey last season (she suprisingly didn’t win our office pool; then again, neither did I!). But she isn’t the only one who bases her picks off nicknames, school colors or whatever else one who doesn’t watch the game uses for the logic of picking UAB to beat powerful Iowa State (of course that happened last March, which is the point of the whole Madness thing).

Anyway, back to the point of this, which is fishing. Such a big part of pop culture has March Madness become that you can find a “bracket” to pick in just about any category you can think of. Check out this list that includes staging a tournament to decide, best Will Ferrell flicks (I have a Final Four of Old School, Talladega Nights, Anchorman and in one of the few times he actually “acted,” Stranger Than Fiction; candy brands (Reese’s vs. peanut M&M’s in the final); Muppets (those smart-asses from the balcony could pull off a first-round upset over Miss Piggy or Gonzo, but Kermit the Frog is the Kentucky of this tournament); and boy bands (do the Beach Boys qualify?).

So we give you CheekyFishing.com, a rod and reel retailer, which is staging a March Madness-style bracket tournament – “The Road To The Final Fish” – to determine the national champion of gamefish. It’s a great cause – the $10 donation benefits Trout Unlimted and Casting For Recovery, with several prizes. So enter here and make your picks. Watch out for that possible second-round matchup of king salmon vs. rainbow trout; that’s more like an Elite 8 game!