It’s March Madness season and I’m thrilled to announce that I’m running a women’s tournament pool for OOYL subscribers!
And look, there’s a part of me that wants to say “fuck the NCAA” for preemptively adhering to Trump’s Executive Order by banning trans women from women’s sports. I still feel that way. I also know that a lot of my subscribers still want to root for the players who are out there giving us incredible basketball, and who want to follow along with a community of like-minded fans. This is one of those complicated places where I don’t want the perfect to be the enemy of the good and I’m trying to find a way to navigate a sporting world that’s becoming increasingly hostile to my community. I don’t know if there’s a right answer here, but it’s okay if you disagree!
Anyway, if you want to participate, join our pool, fill out a bracket (even if you know nothing about NCAA WBB), and follow along. Participants will have access to watch parties on Zoom, where we’ll select one game each round of the tournament to watch as a group. There will also be live threads for each round in the OOYL subscriber chat.
The winner will receive a gift package that includes: a copy of the book Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women’s Basketball; a year’s paid subscription to
; a drink koozie from A Bar of Their Own; a $25 gift card to All She Wrote Books, a queer-owned bookstore in Boston; and an OOYL mug and stickers (yes, I’m launching merch!).Important Dates:
March 16 (Sun): Team selection starting at 8:00 p.m. ET
March 21 & 22 (Fri & Sat): First Round
March 23 & 24 (Sun & Mon): Second Round
March 28 & 29 (Fri & Sat): Sweet Sixteen
March 30 & 31 (Sun & Mon): Regional Final (Round of 8)
April 4 (Fri): National Semifinals (Final Four)
April 6 (Sun): Championship
Brackets will be due at tip-off of the first round (March 21 at 11:30AM ET), but you can begin filling them out following selections on March 16.
Let’s Go!
The tournament pool is for paid subscribers and the link to join is below:
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