BY LUKE PORST
Let’s face it. No one cares about college hoops anymore. Kentucky took the title, Michigan State didn’t, so I’m upset, and the only bracket anyone’s talking about is the prom bracket. The prom bracket is a dance tradition started by the girls of the senior class.
“It actually started freshmen year when we made a homecoming bracket,” explains senior Olivia Saulnier. “Now over the years it’s just sort of grown and now we have nicknames for each guy.”
The bracket isn’t exactly like that of the NCAA basketball tournament. What the Prom bracket does is it takes each girl in the grade and matches them up with all of their possible suitors for the dance. This practice isn’t as warmly accepted by the senior guys.
“I think it’s insert-worst-adjective-you-can-use-on-the-Warpath,’” says senior Joe Rolander. Rolander goes as far as to say that the bracket actually makes him not want to pick any girl he’s matched up with.
Saulnier, however, claims that the intention is not for the girls to control Prom, but rather to prepare for any situation.
But like any good bracket, there are some surprises no one could have prepared for, or what are referred to as “bracket-busters.”
“There are always some random couples that no one could have guessed, like Heffy and Lizzie last year,” explains Saulnier.
While the bracket seems to be splitting the men and women of the senior class, it’s not the only issue splitting the boys and girls during Prom season. Prom seems to draw much different approaches by the opposite genders.
“I spend a lot of hours looking for a dress,” claims Saulnier. “Then hours at hair appointments, I don’t know, I spend a really lot of hours.” And how long does she think it takes guys to prepare for Prom?
“Maybe like one hour total,” she guesses. According to Rolander, not even that.
“Thirty to forty-five minutes,” Rolander states confidently. When Joe was asked if it’s true that all guys do less preparation than girls, he said that was “indubitably correct.” Saulnier agrees with this.
Do boys care as much about Prom as girls? “No. Not at all,” says Saulnier.