Magnificent Match Madness

Every Spring, Brother Andre's infamous Match Madness happens! This fundraising event is known for its fun and  exciting twenty-four hours. The kick-off is Saturday night's famous Priests vs Firefighters Basketball Game, and on Sunday- there's Mass, outdoor activities, and fundraising drive (with ALL contributions matched). It's great from start to finish!

So, on Saturday night, April 6th,  everyone gathered at Central Catholic. This is the first time the game was at Central; it had always been at St Alexis' gym -which had become too  small. In my opinion, moving to the Central gym is a good thing because it means even more people are supporting Brother Andre's. 

My parents and I arrived at Central right before the game. I found my BA peeps and we all sat together - chatting, laughing, and very loudly cheering!  Let's just say that it was a really big, engaged, loud crowd! In fact, I kind of felt bad for the Firefighters who had to listen to constant, raucous cheering for the Priests.

At half-time, all the Brother Andre's employees got center-court recognition. Bridgette named each of us, gave us a general shout-out, then she introduced Matt, our new Manager. The employees passed out t-shirts and cookies to the crowd; I gave cookies to every kid I saw. It was a total blast to be in front of the crowd, hyping them up!

Unfortunately, the Priests lost, but not because of lack of effort. Right before half-time, the Priests made a basket from half-court. Then, at the end of the game, the Firefighters also sunk a basket from half-court, how ironic. Even though we lost, everyone had a fantastic time- laughing and cheering together. We were all-round bonding as the Brother Andre's crew.

The next day, Sunday, April 7, was a day of giving. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it, but I heard it was crazy. There were a ton of people, and, to make matters even more challenging, there was a very, very long line of cars wrapped around the entire block (including the Church and BA parking lot). These cars held Pens fans who came to pick-up their 'stolen-then-found' Jaromir Jagr bobble-head at PPG. (If you want more information, you're going to have to look it up.) That Sunday was also Divine Mercy Sunday and a Brother Andre's Mass day, so, yeah, it was busy.

At the Mass, all of the employees participated, as usual. Patrick said some decades of the Chaplet, and Sister Pawla sang the other decades. I bet that was beautiful.

After Mass, everyone in the Church went down to the lower level. (FYI, we don't like to call it the basement anymore.) Since there was soo much going on, the Cafe experienced a serious people overflow!

Some after-Mass activities included inside Hockey, with games and a bounce-house outside. There was also food outside and it was BBQ. This sounds great to me because I think BBQ is ALWAYS great and delicious! And, to top it off, there was ice cream!

I saw pictures and videos from that day and all of our employees were smiling and having a blast! So many people seemed to be thoroughly enjoying everything.  Kids were living it up, too! They had lots of fun things to do - especially the bounce house!

Match Madness is definitely one of my favorite Brother Andre's events of the year. Seeing the magnificent support for our wonderful organization is incredible, and I wouldn't change it for the world. See ya next year for some more Match Madness fun.