Bracket Busters was established in 1997. We didn’t know it at the time, but 4 kids at a lunch table at Lincoln-Way High School would run the very first Bracket Busters Challenge that would continue well into the next century. Armed with our paper brackets, red pens, and highlighters, Bracket Busters was born. For years to come, it would continue in the very same way it started; blank brackets out of the newspaper and gathering to talk about which collegiate powerhouse would advance and which Cinderella would dash our hopes. One of the original four would carry it forward, through college, into his first career, move it across the country, and watch as it gained popularity over the years.
Family members and college friends were the first to get into the action. As the number grew from 4 to 10 to 20, cutting blank brackets out of the newspaper would no longer cut it. Bracket Busters moved to custom made Excel spreadsheets designed to look exactly like the brackets we mulled over in the library’s copy of USA Today. Bracket Busters went digital (early stages). At the end of the day, I still printed each of them and tracked and tracked them with the same red pen and yellow highlighter we had in that high school lunchroom. But now we had everyone’s email address. So, I began the daily recaps. A new era for Bracket Busters.
I can assure you those early write-ups were weak and not well-crafted. But the legend was growing. Now it became an event to gather with friends and family to watch the games and think of tomorrow’s witty quips that would be sent to the early participants. As I moved around the country, I met new friends who had the same passion I did for the greatest sports tournament of the year. They became Bracket Busters regulars over the years. As the crowd grew, so did my printer ink bill. Enter CBS Sports and their March Madness bracket website. The next evolution for Bracket Busters.
Having people fill out electronic brackets made those days between Selection Sunday and Tip Off Thursday so much easier. No more panhandling around the office or emailing friends asking them if they wanted a physical printed bracket. Now I could use CBS to send invites and have them fill out their bracket themselves. This led to the largest growth in Bracket Busters’ history. Soon we would have upwards of 75 participants entering multiple brackets that were all electronically tracked. But rest assured, there were some that continued sending me paper brackets. And for my friends, I always accepted those as I always had, entering their picks manually into the website to be included in the tracking. I look back at those days fondly. I never let technology get in the way of participation.
After moving back to the Midwest in 2011, I started a tradition by hosting March Madness for the first two days of the tournament at local bars across the Columbus, OH area. The first year it was just me. The next year it grew to 4, and then 8, and eventually to the point where I had to start scouting locations to reserve half the bar. My passion for this tournament and gathering as friends was not singular in nature. It was contagious. And I infected multitudes of people who I consider to be some of the best people on the planet. We would find our spot at 11am Thursday morning and essentially live there until Friday at midnight. The greatest 2 days of the year. We gather, laugh, tell stories, and watch the best of college athletics together as friends.
The Bracket Busters community has now grown to 100+ and I anticipate that growth will not stop. I have made friends through friends and share this passion with many people I would’ve never met had it not been for this crazy time of year. I am grateful. I look to the future and what it may become, while only looking to sustain what we’ve built. So now, we take the next step in our digital evolution. Our very own website, bracketbustershq.com, to be the one-stop shop for all things March Madness and Bracket Busters greatness. A way to connect with those many friends and family. Those that have been with us from the very beginning, and those that we embrace as new members each and every year. We continue to evolve, but we hold close onto what this has always been about…relationships.