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Our doors may be shut for the time being but we want you to know that we are still working for you. We are committed to providing our members with new opportunities and resources as we navigate through these unprecedented circumstances together. The JCC staff is working hard to quickly create new content. As each day goes by more content will be added. [COVID-19 Facility Updates]

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Youth Sports

Click on a section below to expand for content ranging from movie suggestions, a breakfast cereal tournament bracket, video drills, and even sports trivia!

Introducing the the JCC Dallas Historical Highlight Video Challenge. Every week we will be posting a historical sports highlight and provide a little background about the highlight. After watching the video we want you to re-create the moment at home and video yourself doing it. If you have a basketball and hoop for the basketball videos that’s great, but if you do not get creative. Maybe it’s using a trashcan as a basket and a tennis ball as the ball, you get to decide. Then post your video in the comments section of the original post with the #historicalhighlightchallenge.

This week’s highlight comes from game four of the 1987 NBA Finals. The Celtics and Lakers met in the finals for the third time in four years. This was the rubber match as the Celtics won the 1984 finals and the Lakers won the 1985 finals. (The Lakers forgot to show-up in 1986). The Lakers were leading the series 2-1 but the Celtics took a 106-105 lead after a Larry Bird corner three. Then it was Magic’s turn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQgi1JGohUw

Toucan Sam Follows his Nose to a Championship - Click to View Article

From Monday, April 6 through Wednesday, April 8, Froot Loops faced off against Honey Nut Cheerios in the finals of the Cereal Tournament. Before we get into which cereal won and how. Let’s take a look at how each cereal got to the championship matchup.

Froot Loops seemed to have the more difficult path although their margin of victory was quite impressive at 20 points per matchup. They began by somehow beating the indestructible Twinkies Cereal 50-3 in the round of 64. They followed that up with a 28-18 victory over the dancing raisins of Raisin Bran (I heard it through the grapevine they were not dancing anymore). In the regional semi-final they easily handled Count Chocula 33-3. To win the Cinnamon Region they had to dispose of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and did so with a 27-19 victory to advance to the “Final Four.” Once there, like the 1991 Duke Blue Devils, they took on the heavily favored Lucky Charms, but were able to pull out the 31-26 victory and moved onto the finals.

Honey Nut Cheerios was the favorite as the one seed in the Honey Region, but definitely had some tough tests along the way entering the finals with an average margin of victory of 18.8 points per matchup. The round of 64 saw them take care of Grape-Nuts 48-5 to set up the matchup with Rice Krispies. They were able to silence Snap, Crackle and Pop with a 35-11 win. In the “Sweet 16” they took care of Captain Crunch, a popular underdog, 23-13. Finally, they finished off the region with a hard fought 26-20 win over Cocoa Puffs, knocking out the last of the chocolate cereals. In the “Final Four” they matched up with Frosted Flakes and had the matchup of the tournament squeaking out an overtime victory 29-28 on a buzzer beater to setup the last matchup with Froot Loops.

As the finals started that match up stayed very tight as neither team took larger than a one-point lead until Honey Nut Cheerios took a two-point 9-7 lead. To that point there had already been six ties and three lead changes. Eventually there would be 11 ties and six lead changes for the entire matchup. “Cleary this was going to be a back and forth battle and I thought our experience from the Frosted Flakes game would carry us through,” said BuzzBee. The matchup quickly turned from a close back and forth matchup to a match up of runs. With Froot Loops up 7-6, Honey Nut Cheerios went on a 10-5 run to take the biggest lead any cereal would in the matchup at 16-12. Froot Loops answered right back with a 6-0 run of its own to take an 18-16. “It was a strange matchup that way” said Toucan Sam, “At first we were going back and forth, kind of like trading jabs, then we both had big runs, kind of like exchanging haymakers. I don’t think either of us knew what style the matchup was going to take next.” Well what happened next would help decide the championship.

With Froot Loops up 19-17 Honey Nut Cheerios went on another swarming attack with a 4-0 run to make the score 21-19 and take a two-point lead. “I was just thinking in my head ‘Nobody can say to Honey Nut Cheerios’, but I also knew that the matchup wasn’t over,” continued BuzzBee. Toucan Sam went back to fundamentals and responded with a 4-0 run of his own taking a 23-21 lead with time running out. The next point went to Honey Nut Cheerios to make the score 23-22. “We were down two and got the next point, so we figured if we could get one more point and force another overtime, we would be able to pull out the victory during the extra period,” lamented BuzzBee. However, the final point came in favor of Froot Loops giving the more colorful cereal the 24-22 victory and the Championship. “I know I am beginning to sound like Dan Fouts in ‘The Waterboy’ but it’s because I followed my nose!” exclaimed Toucan Sam “We know, we know we know!” responded the pool of reporters. “I just think the people really like our individualist style, I mean I tell them all the time, ‘whatever Froots your Loops,” finished the Toucan. In the end Froot Loops proved to be the best cereal, but now that the finals have been decided, I am sure the pundits will have much to say about if that is really the case.

Throughout the tournament we had almost 300 votes. The biggest round of voting was in the “Final Four” with 57 votes. We hope you enjoyed the voting, watching the results and reading the articles. We are planning to run another tournament on a different topic starting next week. We look forward to having you participate again. Congratulations Froot Loops and Toucan Sam!

“O” What a Final! Froot Loops and Honey Nut Cheerios Advance - Click to View Article

In the 1991 “Final Four” the Duke Blue Devils took on the UNLV Running Rebels. Duke was the two seed out of the Midwest, while UNLV was the number one overall seed in the tournament and coming out of the West. While this was Duke’s fourth straight “Final Four” appearance, UNLV was the undefeated defending National Champion and heavily favored in the game. Sound familiar?

The second seeded Froot Loops just took on the heavily favored top seeded Lucky Charms. The matchup was a close back and forth battle out of the gate. Froot Loops jumped out the slim 4-3 lead only to have Lucky Charms respond with a 13-11 run to take a 16-15 lead. “It was a battle out there and it could have gotten really overwhelming,” said Toucan Sam, “but I just kept telling myself, ‘Follow your nose’ every time I got a little too excited.” The matchup remained close, but Lucky Charms started to pull away with a 22-19 towards the end of the game. “I thought we had fought through the toughest part of everything and were ready to put them away,” said Lucky the Leprechaun, “I mean ‘Hearts, Stars, Horseshoes, Clovers and Blue Moons, Hourglasses, Rainbows, and Tasty Red Balloons!’ were all playing so well. Our cereal is so deep, we even have Blue Diamonds and Pots of Gold in reserve. I didn’t think there was any way our magic would run out.” There was no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow for the marshmallow cereal as Froot Loops closed out the matchup on a 12 – 4 run to claim victory and move in the Championship game by a final score of 31-26. Just like Duke 29 years ago the two seed defeated the heavily favored one seed. Now, can Froot Loops follow in Duke’s footsteps and complete the championship climb.

The other “Final Four” matchup was not to be outdone. The battle between Frosted Flakes and Honey Nut Cheerios was nip and tuck the whole way. Neither cereal took a lead bigger than three points all game and neither went on a run of more than four unanswered points. “It was just a scratch it out, claw it out type of game and I thought that would favor us, and my large paws” said Tony the Tiger. It was that type of game as Honey Nut Cheerios took a 7-4 lead only to see Frosted Flakes respond with a 12-5 run to take a 15-12 lead. It would go back and forth from there as there were 10 ties during the matchup. With Frosted Flakes up 23-21, Honey Nut Cheerios turned up the pressure and went on a 6-1 run to take a 27-24 lead. “I thought once we took that late lead on the 6-1 run that the matchup was over. I think maybe we relaxed a little too much and it almost cost us the game,” said BuzzBee. Frosted Flakes responded with a 3-0 run to tie the game and force overtime. The tight contest continued with each cereal getting one point to start off the extra period, but then Honey Nut Cheerios got a buzzer beating point to claim victory and advance to the finals. “We had new life, but I guess that was our ninth life because we just didn’t have enough to pull it out in overtime, it’s a disappointing end to our season, but I am proud of our effort,” finished a somber Tony the Tiger. On the other side there was so much joy and celebration. Asked how he was feeling after winning the close matchup BuzzBee responded exuberantly, “It’s like I always say, Bee Happy. Bee Healthy.”

The overtime victory sets up the championship matchup of Honey Nut Cheerios vs. Froot Loops. Once again pitting the bird vs. the bee. “I beat a bird once, I guess I’ll have to do it again” said BuzzBee. Toucan Sam took a little different approach when discussing his next opponent, “Both cereals have been through so much to get here, I’m not as much concerned with matching up with the bee as I am concerned about following my own nose.” It should be a very intriguing and interesting final. It pairs a Kellogg’s cereal vs. a General Mills cereal. Both cereals are “O” shaped cereals with similar nutrition labels. Although, Honey Nut Cheerios is gluten free and claims to help lower cholesterol as a part of a healthy diet. It should be a close final with twists and turns along the way. Voting for the Championship is underway and is open through Tuesday, April 7. The Champion will be crowned on Wednesday, April 8.       

Small but Mighty: Honey Nut Cheerios Swarms Late - Click to View Article

Coming into the “Elite Eight” Froot Loops was the favorite in the matchup with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Even though the Kellogg’s cereal was the two seed in the bracket over the first three rounds the colorful cereal had defeated theoretically tougher opponents by an average score of 29, while Cinnamon Toast Crunch had and average margin of victory of 25. Froot Loops jumped out to an early lead proving the oddsmakers correct and never looked back. They finished with a 27-19 victory. While it was the closest matchup of the tournament so far for them, they still had a comfortable margin and the contest was never in doubt. “It’s a real shame we couldn’t win the region named after us,” said Cinnamon Toast Crunch, “I guess we will just have to go back into the lab and see what crazy concoction we can come up with next year to get over the hump.” Meanwhile, after a quick celebration Toucan Sam was strictly business: “We thought we should have been a one seed from the start, we are not surprised we won the region and are excited for the opportunity to compete in the Final Four.” Compete they will, and they will need their best effort against another legendary cereal.

The Marshmallow Region saw Lucky Charms as the biggest favorite, but some of the pundits were making really strong arguments for Cookie Crisp. These pundits claimed that the matchup would be the most exciting of the round. Unfortunately, for these pundits their prediction was wrong as Lucky Charms continued its tournament dominance with a 36-10 victory. “This has been a General Mills rivalry for years and I am just so upset for all my teammates and our fans that we didn’t put up a good enough fight,” howled Chip the Wolff. He could be heared howling one last “Cooookie Crisp!!!” as he left the arena. Meanwhile, Lucky had a different attitude: “They’re always after me lucky charms; having Cookie Criminal and Chip the Wolf come after them too was nothing new to us. We were really prepared for this matchup and look forward to the next round.” The next round will be intriguing for the tournament favorite a two historically famous mascots face off. Can Toucan Sam’s nose beat out Lucky’s Magic? Vote and stay tuned to find out.

On the other side of the bracket, in the Sugar Region, Frosted Flakes took on Apple Jacks. Apple Jacks can be known as a little bit of a rebel reminding people: “we eat what we want,” before the matchup even started. That rebel attitude might have cost them as Frosted Flakes took care of them 33-13 to win the region and move onto the “Final Four”. After the matchup was over Apple Jacks was happy it made it as far as they did: “We had a lot of doubters out there this year and I think we shocked them when we made it this far. We really appreciate all our fans and will be back next year ready to go all the way.” After the press conference was over, Apple Jacks yelled out “A is for!” and the fans replied “Apple!” followed by “J is for!” and the fans replied again “Jacks!” Clearly there is a strong base for this cereal, but just not strong enough to defeat Tony the Tiger. “We’ll just continue our march towards grrreatness,” said Tony the Tiger, “I’m not sure who we’ll get in the next round, but they’re both amazing cereals and we will need our best round yet to have a chance at the championship.” Frosted Flakes was not the only one unsure of who would win the Honey Region as that was the closest matchup of the “Elite Eight.”

Cocoa Puffs jumped out the early lead vs. Honey Nut Cheerios and many people had upset on their mind. “It was really crazy out there at the start,” said Sonny, “I mean, I know crazy better than anyone I’m cuckoo!” However, Honey Nut Cheerios would not be denied and buzzed back to take a late lead. “Once we finally took the lead and even got some breathing room, we thought it was all over, I didn’t think Sonny could come back from our swarming attack,” said BuzzBee. Comeback is just what Cocoa Puffs did though, “I was really proud of our fight out there. It’s both scary and dangerous when bees start to swarm, but we surprisingly kept our cool and scratched and clawed our way back into the matchup,” said Sonny. After cutting the deficit to two, no one knew which way the matchup would conclude. Honey Nut Cheerios went on a 6-2 run to finish out the round and win the Honey Region 26-20. “It was our toughest matchup yet and Sonny is a great competitor. I guess now we have to use that toughness to prove size doesn’t matter in our matchup vs. Tony the Tiger. We are going to do it for small animals and insects everywhere. That’s our motivation to beat this large beast,” said BuzzBee. While Honey Nut Cheerios proved the bees’ worth over the birds it will be interesting to see what happens vs. the much larger opponent in Tony the Tiger and Frosted Flakes.

The “Final Four” features a toucan, a leprechaun, a tiger and a bee; four very diverse cereal mascots. It also features two General Mills cereals and two Kellogg’s cereals. Lucky Charms comes in with the largest average margin of victory at a 32.75-point differential per matchup. Honey Nut Cheerios comes in with the smallest average margin of victory at a 20.75-point differential per matchup. Froot Loops enters having traveled the toughest path based on seeding. So now it is up to you to vote. Which cereals will be in the Championship? Picks for the “Final Four” can be made through Sunday, April 5. The results and Championship matchups will be released on Monday, April 6.

      

  

How Sweet it is: Sugar Dominates the “Sweet 16”! - Click to View Article

The “Sweet 16” had some of the most highly anticipated matchups of the tournament and possibly answered some age-old questions. Which do people prefer, cinnamon or whole grain? Marshmallows or the chocolate peanut butter combination? Bees or Captains? Are Cookies really a cereal? These questions and more were answered in a fun, but not so close “Sweet 16”.

In the Cinnamon Region, the top seeded Cinnamon Toast Crunch took care of Cheerios knocking out the long time General Mills rival by a score of 24-12. “For years we were the little brother to Cheerios, but now everyone knows that we can matchup with any cereal from any era” said an excited Chef Wendell. Wendell and his long-lost chef friends Bob and Quello are in for a tough matchup as Froot Loops blew out Count Chocula 33-3 to advance to the “Elite Eight”. Count Chocula blamed himself for the loss: “I guess I vanted to eat too many people’s cereal that I forced them to vote for that Tucan. I will have to go back and reexamine my methods for next year.” Just like that, Toucan Sam will face off against the crazy squares in what appears to be an epic battle to win the Cinnamon Region.

In the Marshmallow Region, Lucky Charms continued its dominance with its best performance yet eliminating Reese’s Puffs 34-2. “I thought we had a good game plan with chocolate and peanut butter being able to attack them, but in the end Lucky Charms just had too many options. Just when we would stop Hearts, Stars would take over and when we figured out Stars it was Horseshoes turn. There were just too many of them.” Said Reese’s Puffs. Lucky Charms will continue its march toward the Final Four with a matchup vs. Cookie Crisp. Cookie Crisp fought off Captain Crunch Berries 21-15. “We gave it our best effort for The Captain, but in the end it just wasn’t enough. Cookie Crisp was the better cereal today and we just need to get back at it” said the Berries. Meanwhile Cookie Crisp looks to take on the toughest challenge yet. Lucky Charms has an average margin of victory of 35, “Our goal is to keep it close and see what happens. They have not been in a close matchup yet so they could fall apart if we apply enough pressure” said Officer Crumb.

Over in the Honey Region, Captain Crunch himself did not fare any better than his berry friends. Honey Nut Cheerios knocked the Captain out with a 23-13 victory. The Captain was pretty bitter in defeat: “I always say ‘you and The Captain make it happen,’ but this time ‘you’ didn’t do enough for the captain and I lost to a Bee!” With both Captain Crunch Cereals losing; Quaker Oats last hope was Life Cereal. Life Cereal did jump out to the early lead over Cocoa Puffs and looked to give all Cinderella Cereals a hope for the future, but in the end too many people were coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs! The chocolate cereal won 22-14 “You can’t win all the time, I guess that’s just life” said Life Cereal. With Cocoa Puffs victory it sets up the matchup of the bird vs. the Bee in an attempt to prove which one is more important. Or just to see if people prefer chocolate or honey cereal.

Finally, in the Sugar Region, Tony the Tiger continued his stay of grrreatness with a 24-12 victory over Golden Grahams. “Not only am I going to prove that I am the grrreatest cereal, but I am also going to prove I am the real Tiger King” said Tony the Tiger as he prepares for the “Elite Eight Matchup vs. Apple Jacks. Apple Jacks defeated Rice Krispy Treats Cereal 21-15 defeating the fellow Kellogg’s rival. “I guess we’ve snapped crackled and popped our last sounds of the tournament” said the marshmallow form of the cereal. In the end not even, the added marshmallows were enough to keep the trio together.

As we enter the “Elite Eight” General Mills and Kellogg’s remain the only two conferences (parent companies) left in the tournament. The remaining four matchups feature all four one seeds, a two seed and three third seeds. The biggest question as we had to the Final Four is will cereal taste like chalk with all four one seeds advancing again or do the two and three seeds have what it takes to cut down the nets. Voting for the “Elite Eight” runs through Thursday, April 2. The “Final Four” will be revealed at 12:00 am on Friday, April 3.

General Dominance - Nine General Mills Cereals Enter the “Sweet 16” - Click to View Article

The round of 32 opened with many questions. Would any “healthy cereal” make it to the sweet 16. Which “conference” (parent company) would have the most cereals in the sweet 16? Will there be a Cinderella story this year? As voting closed Thursday night we all started to get some answers.

The one seeds continued their dominance with each of the four one seeds winning by at least 14. Frosted Flakes had the most dominant appearance winning 40-6. Tony the Tiger showed off his confidence reminding everyone of his greatness: “We’re grrreat!” The Tiger said after the matchup ended.

It was not as smooth sailing for the two seeds in the round. While Froot Loops and Captain Crunch Berries were able to take care of business and move on, the same fate was not in store for French Toast Crunch or Honeycomb. Both Life Cereal and Rice Krispy Treats Cereal, a pair of seven seeds, beat the aforementioned cereals 26-19 respectively.  “I guess there are a lot of Mikeys out there” said Life Cereal. “We are just excited for opportunity to be in the Sweet 16 and the opportunity to compete to win the Honey Region”. Compete they will, as they will face the three seed Coco Puffs.

The three seeds fared better than the two seeds did. As previously mentioned, Coco Puffs beat out Trix, 27-18. “I guess there just weren’t enough kids out there voting” said the Trix Rabbit. Meanwhile Apple Jacks beat Corn Pops 27-18 and will enter as the favorite again Rice Krispy Treats. Cookie Crisp continued its dominance with a 31-14 victory over Wheaties. This win came even as the cereal is under investigation for criminal activity. “We’re only worrying about what we can control and looking forward to our matchup against Captain Crunch Berries” said Cookie Jarvis. While three matchups went the way of the higher seed the final matchup show cased everyone’s love for Chocolate. Count Chocula defeated Waffle Crisp 24-21 for the right to take on Froot Loops in what will be a highly anticipated matchup.

The four vs. five and twelve matchups were the closest matchups of the round. Cheerios took on Cocoa Pebbles and eked out a 23-22 win. “Some people think you have to have a special taste to be a great cereal” said the historically great Cheerios, “but we believe in whole wheat and cholesterol reduction.” For this round that was enough for the five seed to pull out the win and set up the matchup with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The Flintstones had a tough round as Fruity Pebbles lost to Golden Grahams 24-22. “It was Yabba Dabba Don’t for us this round” said Fred as both Pebbles cereals suffered losses. “I guess we’ll have to try our hand in the vitamins tournament” said Barney. Meanwhile Golden Grahams will face Frosted Flakes. Reese’s Puffs put an end the Cinderella dreams of Chocolate Frosted Flakes with a 27-22 win proving at least for now that adding peanut butter to chocolate is better than chocolate by itself. Reese’s Puffs’ win sets up the matchup with Lucky Charms. Finally, Captain Crunch continues to make it happen with a 31-14 victory over Oreo O’s. Now the Captain gets a chance to take on the Bee in a much-hyped matchup vs. Honey Nut Cheerios.

After two rounds at least one cereal traditionally known as “healthy” has made it to the sweet 16 as Cheerios continues its journey toward the Final Four. To this point General Mills has been the most successful boasting nine of the sweet 16 cereals. Meanwhile Kellogg’s has four cereals and Quaker Oats has three cereals to finish out the round. Post has had a poor showing with no cereals entering the sweet 16. Cinderella dreams for the 12th seeded Chocolate Frosted Flakes flamed out in the round of 32. However, glass slipper stories are still in play for the seven seeds Life and Rice Krispy Treats cereals as well as for the sixth seeded Count Chocula. The “Sweet 16” is underway and voting takes place through Monday, March 30. The results and “Elite Eight” matchups will be released on Tuesday, March 31. Who do you think will advance?

Shockolate Frosted Flakes With Big Upset - Click to View Article

The round of 64 began and the tournament favorites proved right away why they deservingly received the top seeds. There was no tournament magic for Sour Patch Kids Cereal as the magically delicious Lucky Charms took care of business 49-4. Similar fates were in store for the remainder of the top seeds as all matchups between first, second, third and fourth seeds went chalk in the round of 64.

It seemed as though the five seeds would have similar success to their top four counterparts as historically successful cereals like Cheerios and Golden Grahams easily defeated Bran Flakes and Franken Berry respectively. The Honey Region, though, saw the best matchup of the tournament so far as Golden Crisp got out to a small lead making Oreo O’s fans cringe as they thought their beloved cereal with big expectations might lose to their Post Cereal’s rival. “I really had to dig in in the second half” said Oreo O’s. Sugar Bear was dancing with delight thinking of pulling off the upset, but in the end Oreo O’s had barely enough to squeak out the 27-26 victory to move on to the round of 32. “I thought I had the upset and was ready for a Cinderella story” said Sugar Bear. In the end Golden Crisp is going home and Oreo O’s gets a chance to take on Captain Crunch.

There was less drama in the other five vs. 12 match-up but the result was even more shocking. The 12th seeded Chocolate Frosted Flakes jumped out to a huge lead vs. the fifth seeded Boo Berry. “I guess I was really prepared for the match-up, because Boo Berry just disappeared like a ghost almost as soon as it started” said The Chocolate Tiger. For fans it was really shocking, not that Chocolate Frosted Flakes won, but that the matchup was not even close. Citing the seasonal challenges of playing in March, Boo stated his thoughts of moving this tournament to October: “I don’t usually come out other than in September and October so to expect my best showing in March might have been a little much. Still, in the end you have to credit the Tiger, he just got more votes than I did.” Chocolate Frosted Flakes did more than just get more votes the Tiger beat the Ghost by a final score of 41-12. Now after a wide margin of victory Chocolate Frosted Flakes has history on its mind. If they can win their next three matchups, they will be the first 12 seed to make it to a Final Four besting the 2002 Missouri Tigers’ run to the elite eight.

There was one other extremely close match-up over the weekend with the sixth seeded Wheaties taking down Peanut Butter Toast Crunch 27-25. The Breakfast of Champions was caught off guard by the cereal that few knew existed before this tournament began. However, everyone’s love for peanut butter is not really that stunning. “We really did not know what to expect and knew that we had to weather the storm out of the gate. Once we did that we learned how to attack them. We also felt pressure of having to represent all the great athletes that have graced our box” said Wheaties. In the end, the pressure of all the Champions that have been on the Wheaties box might have helped as they squeaked out the win. Still, Peanut Butter Toast Crunch took the positives from the match-up “While we’re disappointed that we lost, we are excited that we have so many fans and know our future is bright” said Peanut Butter Toast Crunch. Wheaties will continue to try to prove the truth of its slogan while taking on the modern-day bad boy of cereals in Cookie Crisp.

The round of 32 is underway with voting taking place through Thursday, March 26. The sweet 16 will be revealed on Friday, March 27. The anticipation and excitement surrounding the coming rounds is ramping up with predictions. Some of these include, Frosted Mini Wheats following in the footsteps of the 1985 Villanova Wildcats championship run as an eight seed. Also, Captain Crunch taking a 1997 like Arizona Wildcat journey to a championship. Finally, Life Cereal getting inspired by the 2014 UConn Huskies run to the title. Keep voting and stay tuned to find out what happens.

View the video below for some great at-home bowling ideas from Josh Goldstein, Sports & Leagues Director at the J.

Click the buttons below that to view scorecards and how to score for each type of bowling mentioned by Josh.

Dallas Aaron Family JCC’s Sports and Leagues Director  demonstrates sports drills and activities that kids can do at home with and without a ball.

Click the button below to view our Drills chart.

THE JCC of DALLAS MADDEN LEAGUE

The JCC of Dallas Madden League is scheduled to start on Monday, April 13. (For bringing the community together and bragging rights)

Register by emailing Josh Goldstein at jgoldstein@jccdallas.org with your online username. Please email by 8:00 PM on Sunday, April 12. That’s it!

LOST TRIBE TOURNAMENT

  • Esports
  • NBA 2K20 XB1 Tournament, Monday, April 13 | 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET [SIGN UP]
  • Madden 20 XB1 Tournament, Tuesday, April 14 | 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET [SIGN UP]
  • Fifa 20 XB1 Tournament, Monday, April 20 | 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET [SIGN UP]
  • Smash Tournament, Tuesday, April 21 | 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM ET [SIGN UP]
  • NHL 20 XB1 Tournament, Monday, April 27 | 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET [SIGN UP]
  • NBA 2K20 XB1 Tournament, Tuesday, April 28 | 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET [SIGN UP]

BASKETBALL

  • Basketball
  • Mighty Macs
  • Glory Road
  • Space Jam
  • Hoosiers
  • Like Mike

BASEBALL

  • The Rookie
  • The Sandlot
  • Angels in the Outfield
  • Rookie of the Year
  • Little Big League
  • A League of their Own
  • Field of Dreams

HOCKEY

  • Miracle
  • The Mighty Ducks

FOOTBALL

  • The Express
  • Remember the Titans
  • Invincible
  • Rudy
  • Little Giants
  • Radio

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Secretariat (Horse Racing)
  • Rocky (Boxing)
  • The Karate Kid (Karate)
  • Cool Runnings (Bobsledding)
  • The Greatest Game Ever Played (Golf)
  • 3 Ninjas (Karate; more of a comedy than sports)

Disney+ Sport Movies

Ultimate streaming destination for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars & National Geographic (subscription streaming channel)

BASKETBALL

  • The Luck of the Irish
  • Full-Court Miracle
  • Double Teamed

RACING

  • Brink (In-Line Skating)
  • Miracle in Lane 2 (Racing)
  • Motorcrossed (Motor Cross)

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Johnny Tsunami (Surfing/Snowboarding/Skiing)
  • Going to the Mat (Wrestling)
  • Alley Cats Strike! (Bowling)
  • Genius (Hockey)

Documentaries

30 for 30 documentaries available on ESPN+ (subscription streaming channel)

BASKETBALL

  • Requiem for a Big East
  • Survive and Advance
  • I Hate Christian Laettner
  • Phi Slama Jama
  • The Fab 5
  • Celtics vs. Lakers
  • There’s no Place like Home

FOOTBALL

  • 85 Bears
  • The Two Bills
  • Four Falls of Buffalo
  • Elway to Marino

SOCCER

  • The 99ers

MISCELLANEOUS (not ESPN+)

  • Ken Burns’ Baseball
  • Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Basketball Rivals
  • The Dream Team

BASEBALL

  • You don’t Know Bo
  • Four Days in October
  • Jordan Rides the Bus
  • Silly Little Game

Adult Sports

We plan to resume adult sports programs as soon as we are allowed. For adult basketball and soccer leagues this will mean resuming seasons from the point of interruption and finishing out the remainder of the season. Registration deadlines for future seasons will be adjusted accordingly.

Introducing the the JCC Dallas Historical Highlight Video Challenge. Every week we will be posting a historical sports highlight and provide a little background about the highlight. After watching the video we want you to re-create the moment at home and video yourself doing it. If you have a basketball and hoop for the basketball videos that’s great, but if you do not get creative. Maybe it’s using a trashcan as a basket and a tennis ball as the ball, you get to decide. Then post your video in the comments section of the original post with the #historicalhighlightchallenge.

This week’s highlight comes from game four of the 1987 NBA Finals. The Celtics and Lakers met in the finals for the third time in four years. This was the rubber match as the Celtics won the 1984 finals and the Lakers won the 1985 finals. (The Lakers forgot to show-up in 1986). The Lakers were leading the series 2-1 but the Celtics took a 106-105 lead after a Larry Bird corner three. Then it was Magic’s turn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQgi1JGohUw

Toucan Sam Follows his Nose to a Championship - Click to View Article

From Monday, April 6 through Wednesday, April 8, Froot Loops faced off against Honey Nut Cheerios in the finals of the Cereal Tournament. Before we get into which cereal won and how. Let’s take a look at how each cereal got to the championship matchup.

Froot Loops seemed to have the more difficult path although their margin of victory was quite impressive at 20 points per matchup. They began by somehow beating the indestructible Twinkies Cereal 50-3 in the round of 64. They followed that up with a 28-18 victory over the dancing raisins of Raisin Bran (I heard it through the grapevine they were not dancing anymore). In the regional semi-final they easily handled Count Chocula 33-3. To win the Cinnamon Region they had to dispose of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and did so with a 27-19 victory to advance to the “Final Four.” Once there, like the 1991 Duke Blue Devils, they took on the heavily favored Lucky Charms, but were able to pull out the 31-26 victory and moved onto the finals.

Honey Nut Cheerios was the favorite as the one seed in the Honey Region, but definitely had some tough tests along the way entering the finals with an average margin of victory of 18.8 points per matchup. The round of 64 saw them take care of Grape-Nuts 48-5 to set up the matchup with Rice Krispies. They were able to silence Snap, Crackle and Pop with a 35-11 win. In the “Sweet 16” they took care of Captain Crunch, a popular underdog, 23-13. Finally, they finished off the region with a hard fought 26-20 win over Cocoa Puffs, knocking out the last of the chocolate cereals. In the “Final Four” they matched up with Frosted Flakes and had the matchup of the tournament squeaking out an overtime victory 29-28 on a buzzer beater to setup the last matchup with Froot Loops.

As the finals started that match up stayed very tight as neither team took larger than a one-point lead until Honey Nut Cheerios took a two-point 9-7 lead. To that point there had already been six ties and three lead changes. Eventually there would be 11 ties and six lead changes for the entire matchup. “Cleary this was going to be a back and forth battle and I thought our experience from the Frosted Flakes game would carry us through,” said BuzzBee. The matchup quickly turned from a close back and forth matchup to a match up of runs. With Froot Loops up 7-6, Honey Nut Cheerios went on a 10-5 run to take the biggest lead any cereal would in the matchup at 16-12. Froot Loops answered right back with a 6-0 run of its own to take an 18-16. “It was a strange matchup that way” said Toucan Sam, “At first we were going back and forth, kind of like trading jabs, then we both had big runs, kind of like exchanging haymakers. I don’t think either of us knew what style the matchup was going to take next.” Well what happened next would help decide the championship.

With Froot Loops up 19-17 Honey Nut Cheerios went on another swarming attack with a 4-0 run to make the score 21-19 and take a two-point lead. “I was just thinking in my head ‘Nobody can say to Honey Nut Cheerios’, but I also knew that the matchup wasn’t over,” continued BuzzBee. Toucan Sam went back to fundamentals and responded with a 4-0 run of his own taking a 23-21 lead with time running out. The next point went to Honey Nut Cheerios to make the score 23-22. “We were down two and got the next point, so we figured if we could get one more point and force another overtime, we would be able to pull out the victory during the extra period,” lamented BuzzBee. However, the final point came in favor of Froot Loops giving the more colorful cereal the 24-22 victory and the Championship. “I know I am beginning to sound like Dan Fouts in ‘The Waterboy’ but it’s because I followed my nose!” exclaimed Toucan Sam “We know, we know we know!” responded the pool of reporters. “I just think the people really like our individualist style, I mean I tell them all the time, ‘whatever Froots your Loops,” finished the Toucan. In the end Froot Loops proved to be the best cereal, but now that the finals have been decided, I am sure the pundits will have much to say about if that is really the case.

Throughout the tournament we had almost 300 votes. The biggest round of voting was in the “Final Four” with 57 votes. We hope you enjoyed the voting, watching the results and reading the articles. We are planning to run another tournament on a different topic starting next week. We look forward to having you participate again. Congratulations Froot Loops and Toucan Sam!

“O” What a Final! Froot Loops and Honey Nut Cheerios Advance - Click to View Article

In the 1991 “Final Four” the Duke Blue Devils took on the UNLV Running Rebels. Duke was the two seed out of the Midwest, while UNLV was the number one overall seed in the tournament and coming out of the West. While this was Duke’s fourth straight “Final Four” appearance, UNLV was the undefeated defending National Champion and heavily favored in the game. Sound familiar?

The second seeded Froot Loops just took on the heavily favored top seeded Lucky Charms. The matchup was a close back and forth battle out of the gate. Froot Loops jumped out the slim 4-3 lead only to have Lucky Charms respond with a 13-11 run to take a 16-15 lead. “It was a battle out there and it could have gotten really overwhelming,” said Toucan Sam, “but I just kept telling myself, ‘Follow your nose’ every time I got a little too excited.” The matchup remained close, but Lucky Charms started to pull away with a 22-19 towards the end of the game. “I thought we had fought through the toughest part of everything and were ready to put them away,” said Lucky the Leprechaun, “I mean ‘Hearts, Stars, Horseshoes, Clovers and Blue Moons, Hourglasses, Rainbows, and Tasty Red Balloons!’ were all playing so well. Our cereal is so deep, we even have Blue Diamonds and Pots of Gold in reserve. I didn’t think there was any way our magic would run out.” There was no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow for the marshmallow cereal as Froot Loops closed out the matchup on a 12 – 4 run to claim victory and move in the Championship game by a final score of 31-26. Just like Duke 29 years ago the two seed defeated the heavily favored one seed. Now, can Froot Loops follow in Duke’s footsteps and complete the championship climb.

The other “Final Four” matchup was not to be outdone. The battle between Frosted Flakes and Honey Nut Cheerios was nip and tuck the whole way. Neither cereal took a lead bigger than three points all game and neither went on a run of more than four unanswered points. “It was just a scratch it out, claw it out type of game and I thought that would favor us, and my large paws” said Tony the Tiger. It was that type of game as Honey Nut Cheerios took a 7-4 lead only to see Frosted Flakes respond with a 12-5 run to take a 15-12 lead. It would go back and forth from there as there were 10 ties during the matchup. With Frosted Flakes up 23-21, Honey Nut Cheerios turned up the pressure and went on a 6-1 run to take a 27-24 lead. “I thought once we took that late lead on the 6-1 run that the matchup was over. I think maybe we relaxed a little too much and it almost cost us the game,” said BuzzBee. Frosted Flakes responded with a 3-0 run to tie the game and force overtime. The tight contest continued with each cereal getting one point to start off the extra period, but then Honey Nut Cheerios got a buzzer beating point to claim victory and advance to the finals. “We had new life, but I guess that was our ninth life because we just didn’t have enough to pull it out in overtime, it’s a disappointing end to our season, but I am proud of our effort,” finished a somber Tony the Tiger. On the other side there was so much joy and celebration. Asked how he was feeling after winning the close matchup BuzzBee responded exuberantly, “It’s like I always say, Bee Happy. Bee Healthy.”

The overtime victory sets up the championship matchup of Honey Nut Cheerios vs. Froot Loops. Once again pitting the bird vs. the bee. “I beat a bird once, I guess I’ll have to do it again” said BuzzBee. Toucan Sam took a little different approach when discussing his next opponent, “Both cereals have been through so much to get here, I’m not as much concerned with matching up with the bee as I am concerned about following my own nose.” It should be a very intriguing and interesting final. It pairs a Kellogg’s cereal vs. a General Mills cereal. Both cereals are “O” shaped cereals with similar nutrition labels. Although, Honey Nut Cheerios is gluten free and claims to help lower cholesterol as a part of a healthy diet. It should be a close final with twists and turns along the way. Voting for the Championship is underway and is open through Tuesday, April 7. The Champion will be crowned on Wednesday, April 8.       

Small but Mighty: Honey Nut Cheerios Swarms Late - Click to View Article

Coming into the “Elite Eight” Froot Loops was the favorite in the matchup with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Even though the Kellogg’s cereal was the two seed in the bracket over the first three rounds the colorful cereal had defeated theoretically tougher opponents by an average score of 29, while Cinnamon Toast Crunch had and average margin of victory of 25. Froot Loops jumped out to an early lead proving the oddsmakers correct and never looked back. They finished with a 27-19 victory. While it was the closest matchup of the tournament so far for them, they still had a comfortable margin and the contest was never in doubt. “It’s a real shame we couldn’t win the region named after us,” said Cinnamon Toast Crunch, “I guess we will just have to go back into the lab and see what crazy concoction we can come up with next year to get over the hump.” Meanwhile, after a quick celebration Toucan Sam was strictly business: “We thought we should have been a one seed from the start, we are not surprised we won the region and are excited for the opportunity to compete in the Final Four.” Compete they will, and they will need their best effort against another legendary cereal.

The Marshmallow Region saw Lucky Charms as the biggest favorite, but some of the pundits were making really strong arguments for Cookie Crisp. These pundits claimed that the matchup would be the most exciting of the round. Unfortunately, for these pundits their prediction was wrong as Lucky Charms continued its tournament dominance with a 36-10 victory. “This has been a General Mills rivalry for years and I am just so upset for all my teammates and our fans that we didn’t put up a good enough fight,” howled Chip the Wolff. He could be heared howling one last “Cooookie Crisp!!!” as he left the arena. Meanwhile, Lucky had a different attitude: “They’re always after me lucky charms; having Cookie Criminal and Chip the Wolf come after them too was nothing new to us. We were really prepared for this matchup and look forward to the next round.” The next round will be intriguing for the tournament favorite a two historically famous mascots face off. Can Toucan Sam’s nose beat out Lucky’s Magic? Vote and stay tuned to find out.

On the other side of the bracket, in the Sugar Region, Frosted Flakes took on Apple Jacks. Apple Jacks can be known as a little bit of a rebel reminding people: “we eat what we want,” before the matchup even started. That rebel attitude might have cost them as Frosted Flakes took care of them 33-13 to win the region and move onto the “Final Four”. After the matchup was over Apple Jacks was happy it made it as far as they did: “We had a lot of doubters out there this year and I think we shocked them when we made it this far. We really appreciate all our fans and will be back next year ready to go all the way.” After the press conference was over, Apple Jacks yelled out “A is for!” and the fans replied “Apple!” followed by “J is for!” and the fans replied again “Jacks!” Clearly there is a strong base for this cereal, but just not strong enough to defeat Tony the Tiger. “We’ll just continue our march towards grrreatness,” said Tony the Tiger, “I’m not sure who we’ll get in the next round, but they’re both amazing cereals and we will need our best round yet to have a chance at the championship.” Frosted Flakes was not the only one unsure of who would win the Honey Region as that was the closest matchup of the “Elite Eight.”

Cocoa Puffs jumped out the early lead vs. Honey Nut Cheerios and many people had upset on their mind. “It was really crazy out there at the start,” said Sonny, “I mean, I know crazy better than anyone I’m cuckoo!” However, Honey Nut Cheerios would not be denied and buzzed back to take a late lead. “Once we finally took the lead and even got some breathing room, we thought it was all over, I didn’t think Sonny could come back from our swarming attack,” said BuzzBee. Comeback is just what Cocoa Puffs did though, “I was really proud of our fight out there. It’s both scary and dangerous when bees start to swarm, but we surprisingly kept our cool and scratched and clawed our way back into the matchup,” said Sonny. After cutting the deficit to two, no one knew which way the matchup would conclude. Honey Nut Cheerios went on a 6-2 run to finish out the round and win the Honey Region 26-20. “It was our toughest matchup yet and Sonny is a great competitor. I guess now we have to use that toughness to prove size doesn’t matter in our matchup vs. Tony the Tiger. We are going to do it for small animals and insects everywhere. That’s our motivation to beat this large beast,” said BuzzBee. While Honey Nut Cheerios proved the bees’ worth over the birds it will be interesting to see what happens vs. the much larger opponent in Tony the Tiger and Frosted Flakes.

The “Final Four” features a toucan, a leprechaun, a tiger and a bee; four very diverse cereal mascots. It also features two General Mills cereals and two Kellogg’s cereals. Lucky Charms comes in with the largest average margin of victory at a 32.75-point differential per matchup. Honey Nut Cheerios comes in with the smallest average margin of victory at a 20.75-point differential per matchup. Froot Loops enters having traveled the toughest path based on seeding. So now it is up to you to vote. Which cereals will be in the Championship? Picks for the “Final Four” can be made through Sunday, April 5. The results and Championship matchups will be released on Monday, April 6.

      

  

How Sweet it is: Sugar Dominates the “Sweet 16”! - Click to View Article

The “Sweet 16” had some of the most highly anticipated matchups of the tournament and possibly answered some age-old questions. Which do people prefer, cinnamon or whole grain? Marshmallows or the chocolate peanut butter combination? Bees or Captains? Are Cookies really a cereal? These questions and more were answered in a fun, but not so close “Sweet 16”.

In the Cinnamon Region, the top seeded Cinnamon Toast Crunch took care of Cheerios knocking out the long time General Mills rival by a score of 24-12. “For years we were the little brother to Cheerios, but now everyone knows that we can matchup with any cereal from any era” said an excited Chef Wendell. Wendell and his long-lost chef friends Bob and Quello are in for a tough matchup as Froot Loops blew out Count Chocula 33-3 to advance to the “Elite Eight”. Count Chocula blamed himself for the loss: “I guess I vanted to eat too many people’s cereal that I forced them to vote for that Tucan. I will have to go back and reexamine my methods for next year.” Just like that, Toucan Sam will face off against the crazy squares in what appears to be an epic battle to win the Cinnamon Region.

In the Marshmallow Region, Lucky Charms continued its dominance with its best performance yet eliminating Reese’s Puffs 34-2. “I thought we had a good game plan with chocolate and peanut butter being able to attack them, but in the end Lucky Charms just had too many options. Just when we would stop Hearts, Stars would take over and when we figured out Stars it was Horseshoes turn. There were just too many of them.” Said Reese’s Puffs. Lucky Charms will continue its march toward the Final Four with a matchup vs. Cookie Crisp. Cookie Crisp fought off Captain Crunch Berries 21-15. “We gave it our best effort for The Captain, but in the end it just wasn’t enough. Cookie Crisp was the better cereal today and we just need to get back at it” said the Berries. Meanwhile Cookie Crisp looks to take on the toughest challenge yet. Lucky Charms has an average margin of victory of 35, “Our goal is to keep it close and see what happens. They have not been in a close matchup yet so they could fall apart if we apply enough pressure” said Officer Crumb.

Over in the Honey Region, Captain Crunch himself did not fare any better than his berry friends. Honey Nut Cheerios knocked the Captain out with a 23-13 victory. The Captain was pretty bitter in defeat: “I always say ‘you and The Captain make it happen,’ but this time ‘you’ didn’t do enough for the captain and I lost to a Bee!” With both Captain Crunch Cereals losing; Quaker Oats last hope was Life Cereal. Life Cereal did jump out to the early lead over Cocoa Puffs and looked to give all Cinderella Cereals a hope for the future, but in the end too many people were coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs! The chocolate cereal won 22-14 “You can’t win all the time, I guess that’s just life” said Life Cereal. With Cocoa Puffs victory it sets up the matchup of the bird vs. the Bee in an attempt to prove which one is more important. Or just to see if people prefer chocolate or honey cereal.

Finally, in the Sugar Region, Tony the Tiger continued his stay of grrreatness with a 24-12 victory over Golden Grahams. “Not only am I going to prove that I am the grrreatest cereal, but I am also going to prove I am the real Tiger King” said Tony the Tiger as he prepares for the “Elite Eight Matchup vs. Apple Jacks. Apple Jacks defeated Rice Krispy Treats Cereal 21-15 defeating the fellow Kellogg’s rival. “I guess we’ve snapped crackled and popped our last sounds of the tournament” said the marshmallow form of the cereal. In the end not even, the added marshmallows were enough to keep the trio together.

As we enter the “Elite Eight” General Mills and Kellogg’s remain the only two conferences (parent companies) left in the tournament. The remaining four matchups feature all four one seeds, a two seed and three third seeds. The biggest question as we had to the Final Four is will cereal taste like chalk with all four one seeds advancing again or do the two and three seeds have what it takes to cut down the nets. Voting for the “Elite Eight” runs through Thursday, April 2. The “Final Four” will be revealed at 12:00 am on Friday, April 3.

General Dominance - Nine General Mills Cereals Enter the “Sweet 16” - Click to View Article

The round of 32 opened with many questions. Would any “healthy cereal” make it to the sweet 16. Which “conference” (parent company) would have the most cereals in the sweet 16? Will there be a Cinderella story this year? As voting closed Thursday night we all started to get some answers.

The one seeds continued their dominance with each of the four one seeds winning by at least 14. Frosted Flakes had the most dominant appearance winning 40-6. Tony the Tiger showed off his confidence reminding everyone of his greatness: “We’re grrreat!” The Tiger said after the matchup ended.

It was not as smooth sailing for the two seeds in the round. While Froot Loops and Captain Crunch Berries were able to take care of business and move on, the same fate was not in store for French Toast Crunch or Honeycomb. Both Life Cereal and Rice Krispy Treats Cereal, a pair of seven seeds, beat the aforementioned cereals 26-19 respectively.  “I guess there are a lot of Mikeys out there” said Life Cereal. “We are just excited for opportunity to be in the Sweet 16 and the opportunity to compete to win the Honey Region”. Compete they will, as they will face the three seed Coco Puffs.

The three seeds fared better than the two seeds did. As previously mentioned, Coco Puffs beat out Trix, 27-18. “I guess there just weren’t enough kids out there voting” said the Trix Rabbit. Meanwhile Apple Jacks beat Corn Pops 27-18 and will enter as the favorite again Rice Krispy Treats. Cookie Crisp continued its dominance with a 31-14 victory over Wheaties. This win came even as the cereal is under investigation for criminal activity. “We’re only worrying about what we can control and looking forward to our matchup against Captain Crunch Berries” said Cookie Jarvis. While three matchups went the way of the higher seed the final matchup show cased everyone’s love for Chocolate. Count Chocula defeated Waffle Crisp 24-21 for the right to take on Froot Loops in what will be a highly anticipated matchup.

The four vs. five and twelve matchups were the closest matchups of the round. Cheerios took on Cocoa Pebbles and eked out a 23-22 win. “Some people think you have to have a special taste to be a great cereal” said the historically great Cheerios, “but we believe in whole wheat and cholesterol reduction.” For this round that was enough for the five seed to pull out the win and set up the matchup with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The Flintstones had a tough round as Fruity Pebbles lost to Golden Grahams 24-22. “It was Yabba Dabba Don’t for us this round” said Fred as both Pebbles cereals suffered losses. “I guess we’ll have to try our hand in the vitamins tournament” said Barney. Meanwhile Golden Grahams will face Frosted Flakes. Reese’s Puffs put an end the Cinderella dreams of Chocolate Frosted Flakes with a 27-22 win proving at least for now that adding peanut butter to chocolate is better than chocolate by itself. Reese’s Puffs’ win sets up the matchup with Lucky Charms. Finally, Captain Crunch continues to make it happen with a 31-14 victory over Oreo O’s. Now the Captain gets a chance to take on the Bee in a much-hyped matchup vs. Honey Nut Cheerios.

After two rounds at least one cereal traditionally known as “healthy” has made it to the sweet 16 as Cheerios continues its journey toward the Final Four. To this point General Mills has been the most successful boasting nine of the sweet 16 cereals. Meanwhile Kellogg’s has four cereals and Quaker Oats has three cereals to finish out the round. Post has had a poor showing with no cereals entering the sweet 16. Cinderella dreams for the 12th seeded Chocolate Frosted Flakes flamed out in the round of 32. However, glass slipper stories are still in play for the seven seeds Life and Rice Krispy Treats cereals as well as for the sixth seeded Count Chocula. The “Sweet 16” is underway and voting takes place through Monday, March 30. The results and “Elite Eight” matchups will be released on Tuesday, March 31. Who do you think will advance?

Shockolate Frosted Flakes With Big Upset - Click to View Article

The round of 64 began and the tournament favorites proved right away why they deservingly received the top seeds. There was no tournament magic for Sour Patch Kids Cereal as the magically delicious Lucky Charms took care of business 49-4. Similar fates were in store for the remainder of the top seeds as all matchups between first, second, third and fourth seeds went chalk in the round of 64.

It seemed as though the five seeds would have similar success to their top four counterparts as historically successful cereals like Cheerios and Golden Grahams easily defeated Bran Flakes and Franken Berry respectively. The Honey Region, though, saw the best matchup of the tournament so far as Golden Crisp got out to a small lead making Oreo O’s fans cringe as they thought their beloved cereal with big expectations might lose to their Post Cereal’s rival. “I really had to dig in in the second half” said Oreo O’s. Sugar Bear was dancing with delight thinking of pulling off the upset, but in the end Oreo O’s had barely enough to squeak out the 27-26 victory to move on to the round of 32. “I thought I had the upset and was ready for a Cinderella story” said Sugar Bear. In the end Golden Crisp is going home and Oreo O’s gets a chance to take on Captain Crunch.

There was less drama in the other five vs. 12 match-up but the result was even more shocking. The 12th seeded Chocolate Frosted Flakes jumped out to a huge lead vs. the fifth seeded Boo Berry. “I guess I was really prepared for the match-up, because Boo Berry just disappeared like a ghost almost as soon as it started” said The Chocolate Tiger. For fans it was really shocking, not that Chocolate Frosted Flakes won, but that the matchup was not even close. Citing the seasonal challenges of playing in March, Boo stated his thoughts of moving this tournament to October: “I don’t usually come out other than in September and October so to expect my best showing in March might have been a little much. Still, in the end you have to credit the Tiger, he just got more votes than I did.” Chocolate Frosted Flakes did more than just get more votes the Tiger beat the Ghost by a final score of 41-12. Now after a wide margin of victory Chocolate Frosted Flakes has history on its mind. If they can win their next three matchups, they will be the first 12 seed to make it to a Final Four besting the 2002 Missouri Tigers’ run to the elite eight.

There was one other extremely close match-up over the weekend with the sixth seeded Wheaties taking down Peanut Butter Toast Crunch 27-25. The Breakfast of Champions was caught off guard by the cereal that few knew existed before this tournament began. However, everyone’s love for peanut butter is not really that stunning. “We really did not know what to expect and knew that we had to weather the storm out of the gate. Once we did that we learned how to attack them. We also felt pressure of having to represent all the great athletes that have graced our box” said Wheaties. In the end, the pressure of all the Champions that have been on the Wheaties box might have helped as they squeaked out the win. Still, Peanut Butter Toast Crunch took the positives from the match-up “While we’re disappointed that we lost, we are excited that we have so many fans and know our future is bright” said Peanut Butter Toast Crunch. Wheaties will continue to try to prove the truth of its slogan while taking on the modern-day bad boy of cereals in Cookie Crisp.

The round of 32 is underway with voting taking place through Thursday, March 26. The sweet 16 will be revealed on Friday, March 27. The anticipation and excitement surrounding the coming rounds is ramping up with predictions. Some of these include, Frosted Mini Wheats following in the footsteps of the 1985 Villanova Wildcats championship run as an eight seed. Also, Captain Crunch taking a 1997 like Arizona Wildcat journey to a championship. Finally, Life Cereal getting inspired by the 2014 UConn Huskies run to the title. Keep voting and stay tuned to find out what happens.

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