Selection Sunday

With playful grins, CJ and Chad asked me on Sunday afternoon: “Where are our special snacks for Selection Sunday?” I looked at them with that perplexed expression, which they’ve seen countless times, and responded: “Uhhhh…what’s Selection Sunday?”

After expressing their disbelief at my ignorance of Selection Sunday, and communicating their surprise at my not having their favorite snacks prepared, they proceeded to inform me that this event was more important than even the Super Bowl. Yada. Yada. Yada. It was all a big charade-- because they know how much I don’t know about what’s happening in the sports world! 

Now, in case there are any girltalk readers who are as uninformed about sports as I am, here’s an explanation of Selection Sunday (which I’ve simply copied and pasted from the internet): “Selection Sunday is the day when the NCAA College Basketball tournament participants are announced, placed and seeded accordingly. The NCAA committee gathers to select and place 65 men’s teams and 64 women’s teams that they deem worthy of an invitation to the NCAA Men’s and Women’s basketball tournaments that take place in March and April.”

Sadly, not only did my husband and son not have their favorite snacks on hand, but it turned out that their beloved Maryland Terps did not get selected for the tournament, or in their words, “were not invited to the big dance.” I don’t think this Selection Sunday will go down as one of their most memorable. However, their disappointment was somewhat abated by carrying on a Mahaney tradition immediately after the big NCAA announcement: filling out the tournament bracket. Chad printed out a bracket for his dad, himself and me (yes, they insisted that I participate in this all-important tradition), and then we headed off to Noodles & Co. for dinner, where each of us filled out our bracket while drinking our sodas and eating our pasta. I was the first to finish. I think that’s because my method is not quite as complicated as theirs. My selection process goes something like this: Let’s see…I’ll choose Florida to win since that’s where I grew up. Tennessee is a good choice, because we love to vacation there. West Virginia is a fun state to visit, so I’m going with them. You get the picture. Most likely, it’ll not be a winning bracket!

As you may gather, the men in my family enjoy their sports. However, I am so grateful that my husband doesn’t simply enjoy sports; rather, CJ uses this medium to cultivate his friendship with Chad and more importantly to teach our son about growing in godly character and discernment. Over at the Together for the Gospel blog, CJ attempts to share how he goes about this. I thought it might be helpful for all of you mothers with sons to read and pass along to your husbands.   

I love all the fun, laughter, teaching, learning, and growing friendship that happen in our home around sports. In fact, next year, I think I’ll just find out ahead of time on what day Selection Sunday falls, and I’ll have CJ and Chad’s favorite snacks all ready to serve up when they come asking. They will be stunned!