March Madness 2024: A Tradition

What is March Madness? The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament (known informally as March Madness or the Big Dance) is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship.

The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen. Played mostly during March, it has become one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States.

The tournament teams include champions from 32 Division I conferences and 36 teams which are awarded at-large berths. These “at-large” teams are chosen by an NCAA selection committee, then announced in a nationally televised event dubbed Selection Sunday. Teams are placed in four regions and given a seed between 1 and 16 within the region. The tournament consists of seven rounds and is conducted over three successive weeks. The first week starts with eight teams competing in the First Four, with the four winners joining 60 teams to compete in the first and second rounds. Sixteen winners advance to the second weekend to compete in the regional semifinals and finals, also known as the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, respectively, for the number of participants in the round. Four teams then advance to the third weekend for the national semifinals and national championship, collectively referred to as the Final Four. The winning team is crowned national champion, which celebrates by cutting down the nets and watching a montage of the tournament set to One Shining Moment.

… and that’s when our tradition starts.

Feels Like The First Time

About 16 years ago, my bro, Scott approached me in his casual way about college basketball. He asked me if I knew about “the Big Dance”, and I replied no. After a brief discussion, we decided that we would request time off from work for the opening 2-days of the tournament, which is always a Thursday, and Friday. We involved my sister / roommate, and other friends, as well as co-workers at Costco Travel. Charrina and I would host both days for the first year.

We lived in Issaquah, and had a grand room with an epic view!

Charrina and I had no idea what to expect, to be honest. We quickly discovered it was wall-to-wall basketball! Four channels simultaenously broadcasting a game after each game. It was crazy fun! I was recently introduced to a ‘gentleman’s bet’ aka $1 bet which was easily incorporated into the basketball watching.

My sister and I are hosts with the most so the drinks were always full, the menu was brimming with food, and music in the background if no games were being played. That set the precedence of March Madness: A Tradition.

It started with 4 of us: Scott, Jason, Charrina, and I. We were the First Four.

However, news spread quickly about how much fun we were having. So the next year was a party of 8 in our tiny apartment. But that’s why it was so memorable: the inside jokes, the laughs, the food, the drinks, and mostly the people.

At one point during each year, I scale back to absorb and revel in my friends and family being happy. I feel accomplished knowing I brought that happiness to them!

Diner Speak!

One year at the Issaquah flat (apartment) I was preparing sandwiches for the Brew Crew. As I placed each plate for the “expediter” (WCP), I joked, “I wonder what a ham sandwich is in diner speak?”

Diner lingo is a kind of American verbal slang used by cooks and chefs in diners and diner-style restaurants, and by the wait staff to communicate their orders to the cooks.^[1][2] Usage of terms with similar meaning, propagated by oral culture within each establishment, may vary by region or even among restaurants in the same locale.^[3]
~ Wikipedia

Scott fired up my desktop computer, located online a glossary of diner lingo, and belted out a few. Click on the link to read 55 phrases, but my fav is still …

“Gimme a pig on wheels and drag it through the garden!” (Ham sandwich to go with everything on it)

History

The origin of the lingo is unknown, but there is evidence suggesting it may have been used by waiters as early as the 1870s and 1880s. Many of the terms used are lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek and some are a bit racy or ribald,^[3] but are helpful mnemonic devices for short-order cooks and staff.^[2] Diner lingo was most popular in diners and luncheonettes from the 1920s to the 1970s.^[4][2]
~ Wikipedia

Every once in awhile, and only during March Madness, we break it out. Here’s a list of commonly used terms and the corresponding item / action. ba

86 – omit from an order; “hold”^[5]
Adam and Eve on a raft – two poached eggs atop toast^[6]^[7]
Adam’s ale – water^[7]
Angels on horseback – oysters wrapped in bacon^[8]
Axle grease – butter or margarine^[3]^[8]
B&B – bread and butter^[9]
Baled hay – shredded wheat^[2]^[7]
Bad breath – onions^[8]
Bark – frankfurter^[8]
Battle Creek in a bowl – bowl of corn flakes cereal^[9]
Belly warmer – coffee^[8]
BLT – bacon/lettuce/tomato sandwich^[7]^[10]
Biddy board – French toast^[9]
Blue plate special – a discount-priced meal that usually changes daily^[7]
Blowout patches – pancakes^[9]
Board – slice of toast^[8]
Boiled leaves – hot tea^[7]^[11]
Bowl of red – chili con carne^[9]
Bow wow – hot dog^[7]
Brick – biscuit^[8]
Bridge/Bridge party – four of anything^[9]
Bronx vanilla – garlic; originated in the 1920s.
Bullets – beans^[3]
Burn it – well done
Burn the British – toasted English muffin^[9]
Cackleberries – eggs^[12]^[8]
Cats’ eyes – tapioca pudding^[13]
Checkerboard – waffle^[9]
City juice – water^[8]
coffee high and dry – black coffee (no cream or sugar)^[9]
Cowboy with spurs – western omelette with fries
Cow paste – butter^[3]
Dead eye – poached egg^[7]
Deluxe – varies from restaurant to restaurant, generally refers to “all the toppings”
Dogs and maggots – crackers and cheese^[8]
Drown the kids – boiled eggs^[9]
Echo – repeat of the last order^[9]
Eve with a lid – apple pie^[3]^[14]
Fish eyes – tapioca pudding^[7]^[15]
Foreign entanglements – spaghetti^[9]
Greasy spoon – slang term for a diner^[4]
Guess water – soup^[9]
Hemorrhage – ketchup^[9]
Hockey puck – a well-done burger^[3]^[7]
Halitosis – garlic; originated in the 1920s.^[7]
Hot blond in sand – coffee with cream and sugar^[9]
Hot top – hot chocolate or chocolate sauce^[7]^[8]
Houseboat – banana split^[16]
In the alley – served as a side dish^[9]
In the weeds – overwhelmed^[17]
Irish cherries – carrots^[8]
Italian perfume – garlic; originated in the 1920s.
Jamoka – coffee^[8]
Java – coffee^[18]
Jayne Mansfield – tall stack of pancakes^[19]
Jewish round – bagel^[9]
Joe – coffee^[20]
Life preserver – doughnut^[3]^[7]
Looseners – prunes^[8]
Lumber – a toothpick^[3]^[8]
Machine oil – syrup^[9]
Maiden’s delight – cherries^[8]
Make it cry – add onion^[7]
Moo juice – milk^[7]
Mug of murk – black coffee^[8]
Mully – beef stew^[21]
Nervous pudding – Jell-O^[8]
O’Connors – potatoes^[8]
On a raft – Texas toast in place of buns
On the hoof – cooked rare (for any kind of meat)^[22]
Punk – bread^[8]
Put wheels on it – carry-out order; to go^[12]
Rabbit food – lettuce^[7]
Radio sandwich – tuna fish sandwich^[2]^[8]
Ripper – a deep fried hot dog
Rush it – Russian dressing^[8]
Sand – sugar^[7]
Shingles with a shimmy and a shake – Buttered toast with jam^[23]
Shit on a shingle – Chipped beef and milk gravy served on toast
Sinker – doughnut^[8]
Skid grease – butter^[21]
Squeal – ham^[8]
Sunny side up – a fried egg cooked on one side^[7]
Sweepings – hash^[7]
Take a chance – hash^[8]
Tube steak – hot dog^[7]
Two dots and a dash – two fried eggs and a strip of bacon^[5]
Wet mystery – beef stew^[8]
Whiskey down – rye toast^[7]
With the works – with everything on it (for a sandwich)^[22]
Wreck ’em – scrambled eggs^[6]^[7]
Yard bird – chicken^[8]
Yum yum – sugar^[8]