8 Major Keys to Watching March Madness

The NCAA Tournament is set and March Madness has begun. Here are 8 keys to maximizing your March Madness viewing enjoyment.

1. All devices on deck: Have your phone, tablet, computer and TV fired up for maximum tournament coverage. Decide which will be tuned to what. My personal setup: TV showing games, iPad for FastDraw diagramming, computer on Twitter, and phone for texting friends.

Pro tip: Have chargers ready – the last thing you want is to run out of juice during a critical end of game situation!

2. Respect the old school method: Print out a hard copy of your bracket so you can (hopefully) highlight your winning selections and (hopefully not) cross off too many of your losing picks. Technology is a beautiful thing, and sites that automate brackets are great – but some things deserve to be preserved in their original format, so pen and paper it is. This also takes me back to being a kid when I had to write in the name of every time and follow along manually. Nothing beats a classic.

Pro tip: Use two different colored highlighters/pens to mark wins and losses on your bracket. Also make sure to trash talk others in your pool when their Final Four team gets knocked out in the first weekend.

My Bracket

3. Food delivery on speed dial: As previously mentioned, technology is great. These days you can pretty much Google any restaurant and call for a delivery within a short amount of time. Better yet, many spots have their own app or use a third party system like GrubHub, ChowNow, PostMates, etc. Get your account set up ahead of time to make ordering easier, ensuring you don’t miss a second of the action.

Pro tip: Look for restaurants that offer discounts for first time subscribers to their delivery app to score a deal.

4. Snack central: The key here is convenience and nutritional value, as your delivery meals will most likely not be the healthiest of options (and that’s ok!). My NCAA Tournament Snacks Big Board rankings: apples, trail mix, protein bars, yogurt cups, almonds, baby carrots. Also, don’t forget to hydrate!

Pro tip: Avoid foods that leave your fingers greasy so you don’t leave fingerprints on your devices. Or get wet wipes.

5. Remote control skills: A couple things here depending on your strategy. If you’re locked in to one game, you must be quick to mute the commercials while you check into your other devices. Nothing worse than hearing the same five rotating commercials all tournament long. Do this for your sanity. If your strategy is to flip channels during each commercial, setup your top games so you can utilize the “Last” button or have your main channel numbers memorized. Efficiency at it’s best.

Pro tip: Save a tab on a device that lists the tourney schedule so you have all the channels in front of you without having to use the TV guide.

6. #dontgetfired: Luckily, I work at a place where watching basketball is actually encouraged! For those of you who have day jobs, time management will be key leading up to the tourney. Take care of your top priorities and communicate with your boss openly. Maybe you can come in earlier and take off earlier, or swing a work from home situation. Recruit coworkers to join your campaign and mention this will boost team morale!

Pro tip: Be your company’s “Bracket Guru” and set up a tournament for the office. #dontgetfired

7. Follow us on social media: The official @FastModel Twitter account will be full of tournament content. Our all-star lineup of contributors will post at least two plays from every tournament team, and also selecting top Plays of the Day as well. Download these pre-made plays directly to your FastDraw library in seconds. Feel free to tweet us questions and things you want us to cover as well.

Pro tip: Interested in becoming a contributor to build your coaching portfolio? Click here

8. Speaking of FastDraw: Don’t have it? Get it! (FastDraw Play Diagramming Software) Treat this as a professional development opportunity and invest in yourself. You will witness many of the best coaches in our game on the biggest stage. Pay attention to how they interact with their players. Study their game plans and halftime adjustments. Make notes of what you would do in a given situation. Diagram plays you like Overall, pick up as much as you possibly can that will be valuable to your career.

Pro tip: Purchase our Desktop + iPad package as you get a price break, and then can use both platforms for diagramming plays and sync data between devices. Works great for the office and home, or when on the road.

The off-season is the ideal time to take your coaching game to the next level. Get FastDraw today and organize your #XsOs like a pro!