By Rachael Smith, Alumna of Radford University

I am an extrovert. I can talk to pretty much anyone about almost anything … except sports. I can watch them on TV or on the field, but I really cannot attribute to the conversation with my friends.

Bravo to those of you ladies who know your stuff … keep it up! But for those of us who sit back during events like March Madness, you can still have fun with everyone without feeling completely in the dark.

First, a little fact that maybe even the boys don’t know is that the term “March Madness” was coined back in 1939 by Henry V. Porter, a basketball coach in Illinois. He used the term to explain the excitement of the March basketball season in an essay that appeared in the Illinois High School Athlete. March Madness helped to pull the state together during those years of World War II that came soon after. Porter writes, “A little March madness may complement and contribute to sanity and help keep society on an even keel.” Keep this little tidbit in mind when you want to shock your posse!

Other key concepts to keep in mind while attempting to be in the know: The tournament begins with 64 teams, which are eliminated through brackets. Many friends/co-workers/groups will get together and pool their money while creating brackets. Whoever wins takes all the cash. A bracket-buster is a team that no one predicted would win and when they do they are “busters” (ex: Harvard or Florida Gulf Coast this year). The Final Four are the last four teams in the tournament from which the national championship team will eventually emerge.

When in doubt, just pull out some of your prize-winning chips and dips and Buffalo wings and yell out random things like, “That wasn’t a foul!”

For your inner Martha Stewart (she would never allow you to show up to a party empty handed), check out this website filled with March Madness Munchies and wow the crowd!

If you don’t understand something, just ask the cute guy next to you, and he will love showing off to you while explaining what a jock he is and how intelligent he is on the subject of sports.

Happy March Madness!

Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net