I admit I am jumping on the March Madness bandwagon. I am a fair weather fan. A college basketball novice. A neophyte. A poser. My friends have decided we’re making brackets this year with the winner gaining advantage in our fantasy football league. The loser may have to do a naked lap, but that’s up for debate. I chose my bracket by following the standings, that is all, which is not even a creative way to do it for someone who knows nothing. I could have done it though best mascots or most colorful uniforms, but I was too lazy even for that! I chose Duke to win because my cousin Charlotte, a sport’s writer, told me to, and that was the extent of my research.

I’ve watched a few games because the bros I live with sometimes have it on, and now that I have my own bracket and I’m competing against my friends I Want. To. Win. Basketball is generally very exciting to watch and you get to yell cool terms like “popping trips!” and “looping plopper!” and “cheese whistle”. Did I look up these terms on UrbanThesaurus.com? Yes. Do real life basketball fans even use these? I can’t imagine they do. Please help me out with more legit things to say so I can stop being such a greenhorn. 

What I do know about, though, is snacks, which are essential to any sports experience. And of course the best snacks are cheese. I asked our March Madness watching staff what cheese they’d like to eat while watching Duke win it all (when I said that, they shot me dirty looks):

Chris – He wants a cheese that doesn’t take a lot of thought, something not too strong and not too mild, nothing too messy. His choice is Chebris, a sheep and goat’s milk cheese from France that is smooth, smooth, smooth. It is easy to love and easy to pair, it’ll melt for you, or stay in neat little cubes. Be careful with this one – if you’d like any leftovers, hide some away because anything out will get scarfed. 

Susan – Susan is the shop’s biggest March Madness fan! Her choice is Gorwydd Caerphilly, which we just got in last week. She loves this lactic, buttery Brit, but all I could get out of her was puns on puns. Caerphilly pick your brackets! Shoot Caerphilly! There’s a defender, Caerphilly push him to the ground! And so on…

Peter – One of Dad’s favorite cheeses is Garrotxa, a very firm, peppery goat’s milk cheese from Spain. Another plus to Garrotxa (pronounced Gahroacha), he says, is that it sounds “exactly” like Gonzaga, the team that will win it all, Kiri! He’s a dad so he can’t help himself…

Happy March Madness, or just Happy March!

For the love of cheese & basketball (now that’s a sequel I would love to see!),

Kiri