Varsity Kid in the Wall Street Journal

OK, so it was my column in the Wall Street Journal, so I had the flexibility to make a gratuitous reference to Gabe's insanely good record with NCAA Tournament picks:

2006: Gabe finished in the 30s out of more than 10,000 participants in my ESPN.com Daily Quickie Readers pool group through the old column. (And he was still in the womb!)

2007: Gabe finished in the Top 10 out of more than 1,000 participants in my ESPN.com Daily Quickie Readers pool group through the DanShanoff.com blog. (And he wasn't even ONE!)

Of course, his mom (making his picks for him and the true NCAA Tournament bracket savant of the family) was picking Florida to win, which helps. Not sure how it'll go this year.

The good news (or maybe bad news) is that this year, I'm going to walk Gabe through the pairings and let him declare his own picks.

He's almost 2. Parents with kids this age (or who had kids this age know), his answers to questions are highly suggestible based on the way you ask the question.

Here's the question: So do I give him the choice between school names (which he won't possibly know or understand) or team nicknames (which, for many, he will)?

I'm leaning toward nicknames, but picking your bracket based on nicknames seems awfully "Duane from What's Happening picks NFL games based on helmet logos" for my tastes.

-- D.S.